CERINTHIANS, an ancient heretical sect, so called from Cerinthus their founder, who lived at the extreme close of the apostolic age, and is said to have been contemporary with the apostle John at Ephesus. In his opinions he seems to have combined the peculiarities of Gnosticism with the maintenance of extreme Judaism, the former element exclusively being combatted by Irenæus, the latter by Cæus, Dionysius, and Epiphanius. Judging from the statements of his adversaries, the doctrines which he held most prominently seem to have been the following, viz. the existence of different orders of angels in the pleroma, the lowest of whom only come in contact with the world of matter; the creation of the world by those angels under the control of a superior being who is yet infinitely removed in nature and intelligence from the deity; the distinction
of the man Jesus and the Christ or Logos in the person of the Saviour, the former alone being born and crucified, the latter descending on him at his baptism and ascending again at his apprehension by the Jews; and lastly, although this seems to contradict the whole tendency of his other opinions, the reign of Jesus and his attendant Logos on the earth during a millennium of sensuous enjoyment. It is probable the Gospel of John was written specially to counteract the growth of Cerinthian doctrine.