Christian sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century
TheAntidicomarians orAntidicomarianites,[1] also calledDimoerites,[2] were aChristian sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century.[3] Their name was invented by an opponent,Epiphanius of Salamis, who described them asheretical in hisPanarion.[4] 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,[5] and were condemned as heresy by prominent Christians such asSt. Augustine of Hippo,[6] andSt. Ambrose of Milan.
The Antidicomarians refused to accord any special status toMary, mother of Jesus, and rejected the doctrine of herperpetual virginity.Joseph they considered a widower with six children from a previous marriage. At first, they rejected thevirgin 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.[3] They viewed thebrothers of Jesus mentioned in theNew Testament as Mary and Joseph's other children. The sect can be seen as a reaction to the rise ofMarian devotion andcelibacy.[7] According to Epiphanius, the Antidicomarians attributed their position toApollinaris of Laodicea. He wrote a letter defending the majority opinion about Mary to the Christians ofArabia, a copy of which he included in hisPanarion.[8]
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 andHelvidius held it,[9] whileOrigen mentions it.[10] The Antidicomarian position on Mary became standard inProtestantism.[3]
^Epiphanius uses the term Dimoerite for both theApollinarians and the Antidicomarians. See Frank Williams (ed.),The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Books II and III. De Fide, 2nd rev. ed. (Brill, 2013), §§77–78.
^abcWilliam H. Brackney,Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity (Scarecrow Press, 2012 [ISBN978-0-8108-7179-3]),p. 31.
^Petri Luomanen,Recovering Jewish-Christian Sects and Gospels (Brill, 2012), p. 77n.
^Stephen J. Shoemaker, "Epiphanius of Salamis, the Kollyridians, and the Early Dormition Narratives: The Cult of the Virgin in the Fourth Century",Journal of Early Christian Studies, Vol. 16, No. 3 (2008), pp. 371–401.doi:10.1353/earl.0.0185
^Augustin; Teske, Roland John; Rotelle, John E. (1994).Arianism and other heresies: Heresies, Memorandum to Augustine, To Orosius in refutation of the Priscillianists and Origenists, Arian sermon, Answer to an Arian sermon, Debate with Maximinus, Answer to Maximinus, Answer to an enemy of the Law and the Prophets. The works of Saint Augustine. Hyde Park (N.Y.): New City Press.ISBN978-1-56548-038-4.
^Vasiliki Limberis,Divine Heiress: The Virgin Mary and the Making of Christian Constantinople (Routledge, 1994), pp. 119–120.
^Frank Williams (ed.),The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis: Books II and III. De Fide, 2nd rev. ed. (Brill, 2013), §§77–78.
^Cross, FL, ed. (2005), "Brethren of the Lord", The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, New York: Oxford University Press.
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