Antitactæ, or antitactici, in antiquity, were a

Gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...

who believed that

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

was good and

just Just or JUST may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Just (surname) * Just (given name) Arts and entertainment * ''Just'', a 1998 album by Dave Lindholm * "Just" (song), a song by Radiohead * "Just", a song from the album ''Lost and Found'' by Mudvayne ...

, but that one of his creatures had created evil, and had engaged humans to follow it, in order to set us in opposition to God. They believed that it was the duty of humanity to oppose this author of evil, in order to avenge God of his enemy. Their name is from the ancient

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

for "I oppose; I am contrary". They are described as

licentious Lascivious behavior is sexual behavior or conduct that is considered crude and offensive, or contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. In this sense "lascivious" is similar in meaning to "lewd", "indecent", "lecherous", ...

and

antinomian Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί 'anti''"against" and νόμος 'nomos''"law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term ha ...

gnostics, rather than as a specific sect, by

Philip Schaff Philip Schaff (January 1, 1819 – October 20, 1893) was a Swiss-born, German-educated Protestant theologian and ecclesiastical historian, who spent most of his adult life living and teaching in the United States. Biography Schaff was born ...

's ''History of the Christian Church.'' Also by Schaff, they were linked with Prodicians, followers of

Prodicus Prodicus of Ceos (; grc-gre, Πρόδικος ὁ Κεῖος, ''Pródikos ho Keios''; c. 465 BC – c. 395 BC) was a Greek philosopher, and part of the first generation of Sophists. He came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos, and became known ...

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen an ...

argued that they sought to commit

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and leg ...

to abolish God's commandment against adultery. The ''Diccionario Enciclopédico de Biblia y Teología'' describes them as the antinomian branch of the gnostics, viewing the rule of God as not obligatory for them, and intentional violators of it. It puts the

Carpocratians Carpocrates of Alexandria was the founder of an early Gnostic sect from the first half of the 2nd century. As with many Gnostic sects, one knows of the Carpocratians only through the writings of the Church Fathers, principally Irenaeus of Lyons ...

and

Basilideans The Basilidians or Basilideans were a Gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria in the 2nd century. Basilides claimed to have been taught his doctrines by Glaucus, a disciple of St. Peter, though others stated he was a disciple of the Si ...

, among others, in this group.

Sources

References

* *{{cite wikisource , plaintitle=A Dictionary of All Religions and Religious Denominations , first=Hannah , last=Adams , year=1784 , authorlink=Hannah Adams , chapter=Antitactae *Adams, Hannah, ''

A Dictionary of All Religions and Religious Denominations A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'' Gnosticism

See also

Sources

References