The Antidicomarians or Antidicomarianites, also called Dimoerites, were a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

sect active from the 3rd to the 5th century.William H. Brackney, ''Historical Dictionary of Radical Christianity'' (Scarecrow Press, 2012 [])
p. 31
Their name was invented by an opponent, Epiphanius of Salamis, who described them as Christian heresy, heretical in his ''

Panarion In early Christianity, early Christian heresiology, the ''Panarion'' (, derived from Latin , meaning "bread basket"), to which 16th-century Latin translations gave the name ''Adversus Haereses'' (Latin: "Against Heresies"), is the most important o ...

''. 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. The Antidicomarians refused to accord any special status to

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and rejected the doctrine of her perpetual virginity.

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

they considered a widower with six children from a previous marriage. At first, they rejected the virgin 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. They viewed the

brothers of Jesus The brothers of Jesus or the ''adelphoi'' () are named in the New Testament as James, Joses (a form of Joseph), Simon, and Jude; unnamed sisters are mentioned in Mark and Matthew. They may have been: (1) sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus ...

mentioned in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

as Mary and Joseph's other children. The sect can be seen as a reaction to the rise of

Marian devotion Marian devotions are external pious practices directed to the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, by members of certain Christian traditions. They are performed in Catholicism, High Church Lutheranism, Anglo-Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Orie ...

and

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

. According to Epiphanius, the Antidicomarians attributed their position to

Apollinaris of Laodicea Apollinaris the Younger, also known as Apollinaris of Laodicea and Apollinarius (; died 382), was a bishop of Latakia, Laodicea in Syria. He is best known as a noted opponent of Arianism. Apollinaris's eagerness to emphasize the Godhead in Christ ...

. He wrote a letter defending the majority opinion about Mary to the Christians of

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, a copy of which he included in his ''Panarion''. 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 Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...

, Hegesippus and Helvidius held it, while

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

mentions it. The Antidicomarian position on Mary became standard in

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

References

{{Beliefs condemned by the Catholic Church Ancient Christian controversies Mariology

See also

References