Alexander of Lycopolis was the writer of a short treatise, in twenty-six chapters, against the
Manicheans
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani ( ...
(
J. P. Migne
Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a u ...
, ''
Patrologia Graeca
The ''Patrologia Graeca'' (or ''Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca'') is an edited collection of writings by the Christian Church Fathers and various secular writers, in the Greek language. It consists of 161 volumes produced in 1857– ...
'', XVIII, 409–448). He says in the second chapter of this work that he derived his knowledge of
Manes
In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the ''Lares'', ''Lemures,'' '' Genii'', and ''Di Penates'' as deities ('' ...
' teaching ''apo ton gnorimon'' (from the man's friend).
The work is a specimen of Greek analytical procedure, "a calm but vigorous protest of the trained scientific intellect against the vague dogmatism of the Oriental theosophies".
Photius
Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...
says (''Contra Manichaeos'', i, 11) that he was Bishop of
Lycopolis (in the Egyptian
Thebaid
The Thebaid or Thebais ( grc-gre, Θηβαΐς, ''Thēbaïs'') was a region in ancient Egypt, comprising the 13 southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos to Aswan.
Pharaonic history
The Thebaid acquired its name from its proximity to ...
). This view lived on well into the 19th century, although
Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont
Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont (30 November 163710 January 1698) was a French ecclesiastical historian.
Life
He was born in Paris into a wealthy Jansenist family, and was educated at the ''Petites écoles'' of Port-Royal, where his histori ...
had concluded in 1697 that the author was a pagan and a
Platonist
Platonism is the philosophy of Plato and school of thought, philosophical systems closely derived from it, though contemporary platonists do not necessarily accept all of the doctrines of Plato. Platonism had a profound effect on Western though ...
.
Otto Bardenhewer
Bertram Otto Bardenhewer (Mönchengladbach, 16 March 1851 – Munich, 23 March 1935) was a German Catholic patrologist. His ''Geschichte der altkirchlichen Literatur'' is a standard work, re-issued in 2008. For Bardenhewer, a patrologist was no ...
also opined this in (''Patrologie'', 234).
Sources
*
Attribution
*
External links
''The writings of Methodius, Alexander of Lycopolis, Peter of Alexandria, and several fragments''1883 English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander Of Lycopolis
4th-century Romans
Pagan anti-Gnosticism
Ancient Lycopolitans