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Ophites
Sign in to saveThe Ophites, also called Ophians (Greek Ὀφιανοί Ophianoi, from ὄφις ophis "snake"), were a Christian Gnostic sect depicted by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) in a lost work, the Syntagma ("arrangement").
~21 min read
Article
23 sectionsContents
- Pseudo-Tertullian
- Hippolytus
- ''Syntagma''
- ''Philosophumena''
- Irenaeus
- ''Against Heresies''
- Sophia
- Ialdabaoth
- Redemption
- Significance
- Clement of Alexandria
- Origen
- Hebdomad
- Diagrams
- Epiphanius
- Nag Hammadi texts
- Modern emulation
- See also
- References
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Sources
- External links
The Ophites, also called Ophians (Greek Ὀφιανοί Ophianoi, from ὄφις ophis "snake"), were a Christian Gnostic sect depicted by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) in a lost work, the Syntagma ("arrangement").
It is now thought that later accounts of these "Ophites" by Pseudo-Tertullian, Philastrius and Epiphanius of Salamis are all dependent on the lost Syntagma of Hippolytus. It is possible that, rather than an actual sectarian name, Hippolytus may have invented "Ophite" as a generic term for what he considered heretical speculations concerning the serpent of Genesis or Moses.