TheAgnoetae (Greek ἀγνοηταίagnoetai, from ἀγνοέωagnoeo, to be ignorant of[1]) orThemistians[1] were aMonophysite Christian sect ofLate Antiquity that maintained that the nature ofJesus Christ was like other men's in all respects, including limited knowledge despite being divine.[2]
The sect grew out of the dispute betweenSeverus of Antioch andJulian of Halicarnassus concerning the nature of Christ's body. Julian held the view, termedAphthartodocetism, that Christ's body was incorruptible from birth. The followers of Severus, the Severans, rejected this, holding that only after theResurrection was Christ's body incorruptible.[3] Around 534,[3] a Severan deacon ofAlexandria in Egypt, Themistius Calonymus, published his views on Christ's knowledge under the titleApology for Theophilus.[4] Although he saw himself as defending the Severan view, he ended up founding a new sect.[1][4]
Themistius' views were based on his exegesis ofMark 13:32 andJohn 11:34, in which Christ appears ignorant of theDay of Judgement and of the location ofLazarus' body. Agnoetae could also citeLuke 2:52, in which Christ is said to grow in knowledge. According toLiberatus of Carthage, he also attributed to Christ the feeling of fear. His interpretations, however, were not widely accepted among the Monophysites, being notably rejected by PatriarchTimothy IV of Alexandria, who died in 535.[3] Themistius attacked the views ofJohn Philoponus, often considered atritheist, who attacked his views in turn.[3][4]
Themistius' successor was Theodosius, not the PatriarchTheodosius I, whose views were opposed by Themistius.[3][5]John of Damascus calls the movement theThemistiani.[4] There is evidence of an Agnoete monastery in Egypt, themonastery of Salamites nearThunis.[5] It spread out of Egypt into the monastic communities ofPalestine.[3] There are surviving fragments of aSyriac treatiseAgainst Themistius.[5]
In 599,Pope Gregory I wrote to PatriarchEulogius of Alexandria to draw his attention to the Agnoetae and to ask him for his advice on the issue.[3] Gregory condemned the Agnoetae as heretics,[1] as did Eulogius, who had written a treatise against them.[3][6] PatriarchSophronius of Jerusalem (r. 634–638) condemned Agnoetism and it was condemned at theLateran Council of 649 and theThird Council of Constantinople in 680 or 681, the council declaring Themistius a heretic alongside Severus of Antioch andApollinaris of Laodicea.[3][7]
No Agnoetic texts survive, but some of Themistius' works are quoted in Greek in the acts of the councils of 549 and 680/1, in the works ofMaximus the Confessor (d. 661) and in the compendiumDoctrina patrum de incarnatione verbi. These quotations, however, demonstrate his Monophysitism and not his Agnoetism.[7]
More generally, the name Agnoetae may be applied to all those who deny theomniscience either ofGod or of Christ.[8] TheCatholic Encyclopedia identifies:
"Though God foreknows that which is not, and knows that which is, and remembers what has happened, he does not always have that knowledge in the same manner with respect to the future and present, and changes his knowledge of the past".[9]
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