John and Cerinthus

Standard abbreviation: John Cer.

Other titles: none

Clavis numbers: ECCA 877

Category: Patristic Anecdotes

Related literature: the story of John and Cerinthus is found in Irenaeus, Adversus haereses (Against Heresies), 3.3.4 and quoted or paraphrased in Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.28.6, 4.14.6; Epiphanius, Pan. 30.24.1–6; Nicephorus, Hist. eccl. 3.30; and Theodoret of Cyrus, Haer. Fab. 11.3 .

Compiled by Lorne R. Zelyck, St. Joseph’s College – University of Alberta ([email protected])

Citing this resource (using Chicago Manual of Style): Zelyck, Lorne R. “John and Cerinthus.” e-Clavis: Christian Apocrypha. Accessed DAY MONTH YEAR. https://www.nasscal.com/e-clavis-christian-apocrypha/john-and-cerinthus/.

Created July 2020. Current as of April 2023.

1. SUMMARY

In Against Heresies, composed by Irenaeus in the last quarter of the second century CE, various gnostic, Valentinian, and heretical sects, doctrines, and individuals are described and refuted. Irenaeus champions the “rule of truth” (an articulation of one creator God), which was established by John, the disciple of the Lord, and the other apostles (Haer. 1.22.1), who transmitted it to Polycarp, who then handed it down to Irenaeus and the rest of the Asiatic churches (3.3.4). Irenaeus summarizes the teachings of Cerinthus (1.26.1), and claims that John composed the Fourth Gospel “to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men” (3.11.1). An interpersonal conflict between these two Asiatic figures is most explicit in the Story of John Meeting Cerinthus. Irenaeus recounts:

There are also those who heard from him [Polycarp] that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, “Let us flee, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within.” (3.3.4; trans. Philip Schaff in ANF 1:1062)

It is possible that John, according to Irenaeus, thought the bath-house could immediately collapse from dilapidation or an earthquake, but it is more probable that he thought its destruction would be the result of divine judgment upon Cerinthus. This story reveals “the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth” (3.3.4), and its polemical purpose is to encourage Christians to not extend a greeting to false teachers nor allow them to enter into their house (Titus 3:10–11; 2 John 10–11), but even in the public sphere, they should flee from these heretics whose imminent judgment is looming overhead.

Named Historical Figures and Characters: Cerinthus, John (son of Zebedee), Polycarp (bishop).

Geographical Locations: Ephesus.

2. RESOURCES

3. BIBLIOGRAPHY

3.1 Manuscripts and Editions

3.1.1 Greek (text quoted by Eusebius in Hist. eccl. 4.14.6)

3.1.2 Latin (manuscripts of Adversus Haereses; the Greek text of this portion of the text no longer survives)

A  London, British Library, Arundel 87 (12th cent.)

Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Phillipps 1669 (9th cent.)

Stockholm, Kungliga biblioteket, A 140 (16th cent.)

O  Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. lat. 752 (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Ott. lat. 1154 (16th cent.)

Q  Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 187 (15th cent.)

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vat. lat. 188 (15th cent.)

Salamanca, Biblioteca Universitaria, 202 (15th cent.)

V  Leiden, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, Voss. lat. F. 33 (14th cent.)

Otto Reimherr and F. Edward Cranz, “Irenaeus Lugdunensis.” Pages 13–54 in vol. 7 of Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum: Mediaeval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries. Edited by Virginia Brown, Paul O. Kristeller, and F. Edward Cranz. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1992 (manuscripts listed, p. 34).

Rousseau, Adelin, and Louis Doutreleau, eds. Irénée de Lyon: Contre les hérésies, Livre III, Tome II: Edition critique, texte et traduction. SC 211. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1974 (Latin text of the story with French translation, pp. 40–42).

Unger, Dominic J., and John J. Dillon, eds. St. Irenaeus of Lyons: Against the Heresies, Book 1. Ancient Christian Writers 55. New York: The Newman Press, 1992 (manuscripts listed, pp. 12–13).

3.2 Modern Translations

3.2.1 English

Roberts, Alexander, and James Donaldson, eds. The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. 10 vols. Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark, 1898. Repr. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1995 (English translation by Philip Schaff, p. 1062).

Steenberg, Matthew C., and Dominic J. Unger, St. Irenaeus of Lyons: Against the Heresies, Book 3. ACW 64. New York: The Newman Press, 2012 (English translation of the story, p. 34).

Zelyck, Lorne R. “The Story of John Meeting Cerinthus.” Pages 231–40 in vol. 3 of New Testament Apocrypha: More Noncanonical Scriptures. 3 vols. Edited by Tony Burke with Brent Landau. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016–2023.

3.2.2 French

Rousseau, Adelin, and Louis Doutreleau, eds. Irénée de Lyon: Contre les hérésies, Livre III, Tome II: Edition critique, texte et traduction. SC 211. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1974 (Latin text of the story with French translation, pp. 40–42).

3.3 General Works

Auinger, Johanna. “The Sculptural Decoration of Ephesian Bath Buildings in Late Antiquity.” Pages 67–80 in Archaeology and the Cities of Asia Minor in Late Antiquity. Edited by Ortwin Dally and Christopher Ratté. Kelsey Museum Publication 6. Ann Arbor: Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, 2011.

Fagan, Garrett G. Bathing in Public in the Roman World. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1999.

Guidoboni, Emanuela. Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean Area up to the 10th Century. Rome: Instituto Nazionale di Geofisica, 1994 (see pp. 174–95).

Hill, Charles E. “The Epistula Apostolorum: An Asian Tract from the Time of Polycarp.” JECS 7 (1991): 1–53.

Kok, Michael J. “Cerinthus.” In Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements. Edited by James Crossley and Alastair Lockhart. Online. 2021.

———. “Classifying Cerinthuss Christology.” JECS 9.3 (2019): 1–19.

———. The Beloved Apostle? The Transformation of the Apostle John into the Fourth Evangelist. Eugene, OR; Cascade, 2017 (pp. 114–25).

Miszczak, Izabela. The Secrets of Ephesus. Fairfield, CT: Aslan Publishing House, 2020 (see p. 104).

Murray, James S. “The Urban Earthquake Imagery and Divine Judgement in John’s Apocalypse.” NovT 47 (2005): 142–61.

Myllykoski, Matti. “Cerinthus.” Pages 213–46 in A Companion to Second-Century Christian ‘Heretics.’ Edited by Antti Marjanen and Petri Luomanen. Leiden: Brill, 2008.

Nielsen, Inge. Thermae et Balnea: The Architecture and Cultural History of Roman Public Baths, II Catalogue and Plates. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 1990.

Steskal, Martin. “The Bath-Gymnasium Complex of Vedius in Ephesus.” Pages 557–62 in Proceedings of the IX Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology, Chieti (Italy), 2426 February 2005. Edited by Olivia Menozzi, Marialuigia Di Marzio, and Domenico Fossataro. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2008.

Yegül, Fikret. Bathing in the Roman World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Zelyck, Lorne R. “Irenaeus and the Authorship of the Fourth Gospel.” Pages 239–58 in The Origins of John’s Gospel. Edited by Stanley E. Porter and Hughson T. Ong. Johannine Studies 2. Boston: Brill, 2016.

Zytka, Michal. A Cultural History of Bathing in Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium. New York: Routledge, 2019.