Monoimus (lived somewhere between 150 - 210
CE) was an Arab
gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
(Arabic name probably ''Mun'im'' منعم), who was known only from one account in
Theodoret
Theodoret of Cyrus or Cyrrhus ( grc-gre, Θεοδώρητος Κύρρου; AD 393 – 458/466) was an influential theologian of the School of Antioch, biblical commentator, and Christian bishop of Cyrrhus (423–457). He played a pi ...
(''Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium'' i. 18) until a lost work of anti-heretical writings (''
Refutation of All Heresies
The ''Refutation of All Heresies'' ( grc-gre, Φιλοσοφούμενα ή κατὰ πασῶν αἱρέσεων ἔλεγχος; la, Refutatio Omnium Haeresium), also called the ''Elenchus'' or ''Philosophumena'', is a compendious Christian po ...
'', book 8, chapter V) by
Hippolytus was found. He is known for coining the usage of the word
Monad
Monad may refer to:
Philosophy
* Monad (philosophy), a term meaning "unit"
**Monism, the concept of "one essence" in the metaphysical and theological theory
** Monad (Gnosticism), the most primal aspect of God in Gnosticism
* ''Great Monad'', a ...
in a Gnostic context. Hippolytus claims that Monoimus was a follower of
Tatian
Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; la, Tatianus; grc, Τατιανός; syc, ܛܛܝܢܘܣ; c. 120 – c. 180 AD) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century.
Tatian's most influential w ...
, and that his cosmological system was derived from that of the
Pythagoreans
Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the ancient Greek colony of Kroton, ...
, which indeed seems probable. But it was also clearly inspired by
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
,
monism
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
and
Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
.
According to Monoimus, the world is created from the Monad (or iota, or Yod meaning "one horn"), a
tittle
A tittle or superscript dot is a small distinguishing mark, such as a diacritic in the form of a dot on a letter (for example, lowercase ''i'' or ''j''). The tittle is an integral part of the glyph of ''i'' and ''j'', but dot (diacritic), diacri ...
that brings forth the duad, triad, tetrad, pentad, hexad, heptad, ogdoad, ennead, up to ten, producing a decad. He thus possibly identifies the gnostic
aeon
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...
s with the first elements of the
Pythagorean cosmology. He identifies these divisions of different entities with the description of creation in
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
. This description from Hippolytus also corresponds to two versions of a text called ''
Epistle of Eugnostos
The Epistle of Eugnostos or Eugnostos the Blessed is a Gnostic epistle found in Codices III and V of the Nag Hammadi library. Both copies seem to be a Coptic translation of a Greek original that was composed in Egypt around the late 1st century; ...
'' found in
Nag Hammadi
Nag Hammadi ( ; ar, نجع حمادى ) is a city in Upper Egypt.
It is located on the west bank of the Nile in the Qena Governorate, about north-west of Luxor. It had a population of close to 43,000 .
History
The town of Nag Hammadi is name ...
, where the same monad to decad relationship is described. (''Eugnostos'' in turn, has apparent resemblances to the gnostic text ''
The Sophia of Jesus Christ
The Sophia of Jesus Christ is a Gnostic text that was first discovered in the Berlin Codex (a Codex purchased in Cairo in 1896 and given to the Berlin Museum which also contains the ''Gospel of Mary'', the ''Apocryphon of John'', and a summary of ...
'', where the word ''monad'' appears again.)
Doctrine
Monoimus is famous for his quote about the unity of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
and man (from Hippolytus):
This idea resembles the viewpoint of the much later
Sufi Ibn Arabi
Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , ' Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influen ...
, but no connection between the two is known. The starting point is the ascription in the New Testament of the work of creation to the
Son of Man, whence it was inferred that the first principle was properly called Man. It follows that it is a mistake to look for God in creation; we must seek Him in ourselves, and can best find Him by the study of the involuntary operations of our own soul. The relation between the "Man" and "Son of Man" exists from beyond time. The latter is derived from the former, but, it would seem, by an immediate and eternal necessity of His nature, just as from fire is necessarily derived the light which renders it visible. Thus, concerning the first principle, the Scriptures speak both of a "being" and a "becoming" (''ēn kai egeneto''), the first word properly applying to the "Man," the second to the "Son of Man." in order to illustrate how in this first principle are combined unity and multiplicity, perfect simplicity with the most contradictory attributes, we are referred to the Greek letter ι, the single stroke of which represents units; and which also represents the number ten. Then again from the units all other numbers flow. The process of creation is further illustrated by a mathematical theory of the generation from numbers of the regular solids, and from those the elementary bodies are supposed to be formed. A type of the activity of the Son of Man, who works all the transformations of nature, is found in
Moses' rod; which was also an iota, a single branch, but having a tenfold operation. The speculations of Monoimus, as reported to us, only relate to the work of creation; we are not told whether he had any theory as to the problem of redemption.
The use made by Monoimus of the phrases "Man" and "Son of Man" reminds us of the system of the
Naassenes
The Naassenes (Greek ''Naasseni,'' possibly from Hebrew נָחָשׁ ''naḥaš'', snake) were a Christian Gnostic sect known only through the writings of Hippolytus of Rome.
The Naassenes claimed to have been taught their doctrines by Mariamne, ...
(Hippol. ''Ref''. § 7), and a closer examination shows that this is no chance coincidence, and that Monoimus is really to be referred to that sect, although Hippolytus himself has classed them separately; for Monoimus describes his first principle as bisexual, and applies to it the titles "Father, Mother, the two immortal names," words taken out of a Naassene hymn. But there is a common source of this language in the ''
Apophasis Megale'' of
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, this passage also being clearly the original of the description given by Monoimus of the contradictory attributes of his first principle. Further traces of the obligations of Monoimus to Simon are found in the reference to the six powers instrumental in creation, which answer to Simon's six "roots," while a similar indebtedness to Simon on the part of the Naassene writer in Hippolytus is found on comparing the anatomical speculations connected with the name
Eden (v. 9; vi. 14). A more doubtful question is whether there be any relation of obligation between Monoimus and the
Clementine Homilies
Clementine literature (also called Clementina, Pseudo-Clementine Writings, Kerygmata Petrou, Clementine Romance) is the name given to the religious romance which purports to contain a record made by one Clement (whom the narrative identifies as ...
, there being in both a contrast drawn between the "Son of Man" and those who are "born of women" (''Hom''. ii. 17). Monoimus has mysteries in connexion with the number 14, showing that he attached importance to
Paschal celebration.
Attribution
*
External links
Refutation of All Heresies, book 8by Hippolytus
{{Authority control
150s births
210s deaths
2nd-century Arabs
Gnostics
3rd-century Arabs
Arabs in the Roman Empire