APHTHARTODOCETÆ, a name given to the followers of Julian of Halicarnassus, who taught, A.D. 519, that the body of Christ changed its nature and became incorruptible (ἀφθαρτος) from the moment of his conception, by the infusion of the divine nature. They were called also Docetæ
and Phantasiastæ, because their doctrine implied that the sufferings of Christ were not real but only seeming (δοκᾶν). This opinion was favoured by the Emperor Justinian, in whose reign it was agitated with great warmth.—(Mosheim, p. 237, Reid's edit.)