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Carpocrates
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carpocrates of Alexandria was the founder of an early Gnostic sect from the first half of the second century. As with many Gnostic sects we know of the Carpocratians only through the writings of the Church Fathers, in the case of Carpocrates, principally Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria. As these writers strongly opposed Gnostic doctrine there is a considerable question of negative bias when using these sources. However, whilst the various references to the Carpocratians differ in some details, there is unanimity as to the libertinism of the sect.
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The earliest and most vivid account of Carpocrates and his followers comes from Irenaeus (died 202) Against Heresies [1], in which the writer gives an account of the theology and practice of the sect.
They believe, he writes, that Jesus was not divine but because his soul was "steadfast and pure", he "remembered those things which he had witnessed within the sphere of the unbegotten God". This is simply Plato's concept of Anamnesis. Because of this he was able to free himself from the material powers (what other Gnostics call Archons, the Demiurge etc.). Similarly, the Carpocratians believed they themselves could transcend the material realm and, as a result, were no longer bound by Mosaic law (which was established by the material powers) or any morality (which, they held, was mere human opinion). This belief, Irenaeus offers as an explanation of their licentious behaviour.
Irenaeus then goes on to provide a further, slightly different, but not incompatible, explanation. The followers of Carpocrates, he says, believed that in order to leave this world, one's imprisoned eternal soul must pass through every possible condition of earthly life. Moreover, it is possible to do this within one lifetime. As a result, the Carpocratians did "all those things which we dare not either speak or hear of" in order that when they died that would not be compelled to incarnate again but would return to God.
Of the practices of the sect, Irenaeus says that they practised various magical arts as well as leading a licentious life. He also says that they possessed a purported portrait of Christ, a painting they claimed had been made by Pilate during his lifetime, which they honoured along with images of Plato, Pythagoras and Aristotle "in the manner of the Gentiles".
Carpocrates is also mentioned by Clement of Alexandria in his Stromateis [2]. Clement quotes extensively from On Righteousness which he says was written by Epiphanes, Carpocrates' son. No copy outside of Clement's citation exists but the writing is of a strongly antinomian bent. It claims that differences in class and the ownership of property are unnatural and argues for property and women to be held in common. Clement also affirms the licentiousness of the Carpocratians, claiming that at their Agape (in the sense of an early Christian gathering) they "have intercourse where they will and with whom they will".
According to Clement, Carpocrates was from Alexandria although his sect was primarily located in Cephallenia.
Carpocrates is also mentioned in the controversial "Mar Saba letter", purportedly by Clement of Alexandria, discovered in 1958 by ancient historian Morton Smith. In the letter Clement mentions and quotes from a previously unsuspected Secret Gospel of Mark, which Carpocrates had wheedled an opportunity to copy at Alexandria. A corrupted copy was circulating among Carpocrates' followers.
Other references to Carpocrates exist but are likely to be based on the two already cited.
Epiphanius of Salamis writes that
- "Carpocratians, derived from a native of Asia, Carpocrates, who taught his followers to perform every obscenity and every sinful act. And unless one proceeds through all of them, he said, and fulfils the will of all demons and angels, he cannot mount to the highest heaven or get by the principalities and authorities."
Carpocrates is also mentioned by Tertullian and Hippolytus, both of whom seem to rely on Irenaeus, and also perhaps by Origen and Hegesippus.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book i.xxv
- Clement, Stromateis Book iii.ii
- Carpocrates and the Carpocratians (New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia)
- '’Saint Carpocrates (and The Libertine Companions of Antinous)