Basilideans
followers of Basilides and Isidore
c. 120 – 4th century (Egypt)
attested. Basilides' existence and Alexandrian base are attested. His doctrine is disputed because Irenaeus and Hippolytus describe incompatible systems, and scholars usually trust Clement's quotations more.
Leaders
- Basilides of Alexandria (fl. c. 117–138)
- Isidore (his son)
Beliefs
The surviving fragments, mainly in Clement, focus on providence, suffering, sin and election. Basilides seems to have held that suffering, including martyrdom, purifies sins, and that faith and election belong to a person's nature. The two hostile summaries conflict: Irenaeus reports 365 heavens ruled by 'Abrasax' and Simon of Cyrene crucified in Jesus' place, while Hippolytus reports a 'non-existent God' who deposits a world-seed.
Home bases
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Alexandria (Basilides, Carpocrates, early Valentinus)
Alexandria, Egypt · 2nd
Alexandria was home to the first named Christian teachers we know of outside the New Testament: Basilides (fl. c. 120–140), Carpocrates and his son Epiphanes, and the young Valentinus. Clement of Alexandria preserves fragments of their writings, which makes the city the best-documented centre of 2nd-century 'Gnostic' teaching.
Own work. CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia CommonsThis photograph shows the modern city, or the Wikipedia lead subject, rather than the ancient site itself.
Spread
The school stayed mainly in Egypt. Basilides claimed teaching from Glaucias, an alleged interpreter of Peter. Epiphanius (c. 375) says Basilideans were still found in the Egyptian nomes.
Books
What happened to it
It faded after the 4th century. 'Abrasax' gems are often called Basilidean, but they belong to wider magical practice, so the link is disputed.
Hostile sources
Irenaeus of Lyon. Against Heresies I.24.3–7 c. 180
Hostile; earliest systematic heresiology; ANF translation (public domain).
Hippolytus of Rome (attrib.). Refutation of All Heresies VII.20–27 c. 222–235
Hostile; ANF translation (public domain). Authorship disputed.
Epiphanius of Salamis. Panarion 24 c. 374–377
Hostile and often careless with groups he never met; no public-domain English translation located (F. Williams translation is in copyright). Link is an overview, not the text.
Clement of Alexandria. Stromata II–IV (quotations) c. 200
Critical; best source because it quotes.
Agrippa Castor. Refutation of Basilides (lost; known from Eusebius HE IV.7) 2nd c.
Hostile, lost.
Their own words
Basilides. Exegetica (24 books; fragments) c. 130
Insider fragments in Clement and in the Acts of Archelaus.
Isidore. Ethics; On the Grown Soul; Expositions of the Prophet Parchor (fragments) 2nd c.
Insider fragments in Clement.