Book of Nepos

Book of Nepos

The Book of Nepos is one of the texts of the New Testament apocrypha, written by an Egyptian bishop, Nepos. He was a literalist (believing the entire Bible was literally true), and his text, also known as the "Refutation of the Allegorisers" was aimed at demolishing the argument of those who held that certain parts of the Bible were mere allegory. In particular, the text is aimed at refuting those who hold that "Revelations" is an allegorical rather than literal text.

Amongst the teachings in the text is the belief that Jesus would come to earth and reign for 1000 years over an age of corporal delight. This belief was regarded as fairly orthodox in the early church (e.g. it was held by Irenaeus, and Justin Martyr), however, the later church came to view revelations as slightly more allegorical. Indeed, Dionysius of Alexandria felt moved to write a text ("On the Promises") against it, although he regarded Nepos highly and was at pains to criticise the doctrine without insulting the memory of Nepos.

The "Book of Nepos" was so popular within the villages around Alexandria, that Dionysius went there in person to attack it. Still respecting Nepos, and the prior orthodoxy of extreme literalism of this manner, he did so politely, entering a respectful dialogue with those from the village and contesting each of the arguments they took from the "Book of Nepos" in turn.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nepos — is a Latin word originally meaning “grandson” or “descendant , that evolved with time to signify nephew . The word gives rise to the term nepotism. It may also may refer to: Cornelius Nepos, the Roman biographer Julius Nepos, sometimes considered …   Wikipedia

  • Nepos, Cornelius — ▪ Roman historian born c. 110 BC died c. 24 BC       Roman historian, the earliest biographer to write in Latin. He was a correspondent and friend of Cicero (Cicero, Marcus Tullius) and Atticus (Atticus, Titus Pomponius), and he was the friend… …   Universalium

  • Cornelius Nepos — (c. 100 BC – c. 25 BC) was a Roman biographer. He was born at Hostilia, a village in Cisalpine Gaul not far from Verona. His Gallic origin is attested by Ausonius, and Pliny the Elder calls him Padi accola ( a dweller on the River Po, Natural… …   Wikipedia

  • Dionysius of Alexandria — • Also called Dionysius the Great. Bishop, d. 264 or 265 Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Dionysius of Alexandria     Dionysius of Alexandria      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Hasdrubal the Fair — (ca. 270 221 BC) was a Carthaginian leader. [http://www.bc enschede.nl/wenglish/grassroots/clashofthetitans/3g/lamain meijer/HannibalwebsitedoorMarloesLamainenEstherMeijer/Hannibalslife.htm] [http://fr.ca.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia… …   Wikipedia

  • New Testament apocrypha — Part of a series on The Bible …   Wikipedia

  • Alcibiades — Infobox Military Person name= Alcibiades Ἀλκιβιάδης Alkibiádēs caption= Alcibiades allegiance= Athens (415–412 BC Sparta) rank= general (strategos) commands= nickname= lived= 450–404 BC placeofbirth= Athens placeofdeath=… …   Wikipedia

  • Decline of the Roman Empire — This article is about the historiography of the decline of the Roman Empire. For a description of events, see Roman Empire. For the book by Edward Gibbon, see The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. For the film, see The Fall of… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Marathon — Infobox Military Conflict conflict=Battle of Marathon partof=the Greco Persian Wars caption=The plain of Marathon today date=September 490 BC place=Marathon, Greece result=Athenian victory territory=Persians fail to conquer Attica… …   Wikipedia

  • Hannibal — Infobox Military Person name=Hannibal, son of Hamilcar Barca lived=247 BC ndash; 183 BC caption=A Roman marble bust of Hannibal originally found at the ancient city state of Capua in Italy. No authenticated image of Hannibal is known, so this… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”