Der paradox Eine: Antignostischer Monarchianismus im zweiten Jahrhundert

These essays propose a new dating of, and historical setting for the letters of Ignatius of Antioch . In so doing this volume offers a contribution to the study of Monarchianism and early church history. An examination of the fragments of Noetus of Smyrna , the founder of Monarchianism, leads to the discovery of the oldest Regula fidei , and of its origin as part of anti-gnostic polemics. On the ground of late 2nd-century parallels, this Regula can be dated between 160 and 180 CE. It is within this context that the so-called Letters of Ignatius fit. As a result of these findings this volume argues for a significant revision of our understanding of early church history. Monarchianism ( Sabellianism , Partripassianism ), later considered heretical, is shown to have been the almost universally accepted belief within the Church up to the period of the Roman bishops Zephyrinus and Callistus.