The Antidicomarians or Antidicomarianites, also called Dimoerites, were a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century.
[William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity'' (Scarecrow Press, 2012 [])]
p. 31
Their name was invented by an opponent, Epiphanius of Salamis, who described them as
Christian heresy, heretical in his ''
Panarion
In early Christian heresiology, the ''Panarion'' ( grc-koi, Πανάριον, derived from Latin ''panarium'', meaning "bread basket"), to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name ''Adversus Haereses'' (Latin: "Against Heresies"), is t ...
''. The existence of the Antidicomarians as an organized sect may be doubted, as it is attested only in Epiphanius, but the doctrines he attributes to them were certainly matters of live debate in the late 4th century.
The Antidicomarians refused to accord any special status to
Mary, mother of Jesus
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
, and rejected the doctrine of her
perpetual virginity
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do some Lutherans, Anglica ...
.
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
they considered a widower with six children from a previous marriage. At first, they rejected the
virgin birth and considered Joseph the father of Jesus. Later, they came to accept the virgin birth, but held that Joseph and Mary had normal sexual relations after Jesus' birth.
[ They viewed the ]brothers of Jesus
The brothers of Jesus or the adelphoi ( grc-gre, ἀδελφοί, adelphoí, of the same womb)Greek singular noun ''adelphos'', from a- ("same", equivalent to homo-) and delphys ("womb," equivalent to splanchna). are named in the New Testament a ...
mentioned in the New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
as Mary and Joseph's other children. The sect can be seen as a reaction to the rise of Marian devotion
Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of God, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orien ...
and celibacy. According to Epiphanius, the Antidicomarians attributed their position to Apollinaris of Laodicea
Apollinaris the Younger, also known as Apollinaris of Laodicea and Apollinarius ( grc, Ἀπολινάριος; died 382) was a bishop of Laodicea in Syria. He is best known as a noted opponent of Arianism. Apollinaris's eagerness to emphasize t ...
. He wrote a letter defending the majority opinion about Mary to the Christians of Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...
, a copy of which he included in his ''Panarion''.
The view that the brothers of Jesus were the children of Mary and Joseph was held independently of the Antidicomarian sect in the early church: Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
, Hegesippus and Helvidius
Helvidius (sometimes Helvetius) was the author of a work written prior to 383 against the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Helvidius maintained that the biblical mention of "sisters" and "brothers" of the Lord constitutes solid evidence ...
held it, while Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, ...
mentions it. The Antidicomarian position on Mary became standard in Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
.[
]
See also
*Bonosus of Sardica
Bonosus was a Bishop of Sardica in the latter part of the fourth century, who taught against the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. His followers were later labelled "Bonosians" and considered heretical.
The council of Capua (391) conde ...
, 4th-century theologian who rejected the perpetual virginity of Mary
*Collyridianism Collyridianism (or Kollyridianism) was an alleged Early Christian heretical movement in Arabia whose adherents apparently worshipped the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus as a goddess The existence of the sect is subject to some dispute by scholars, as ...
, a contemporary Arabian sect said to have worshipped Mary
References
{{Beliefs condemned by the Catholic Church
Ancient Christian controversies
Mariology