Docetism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /dəʊˈsiːtɪz(ə)m/

Definitions

1. A religious concept asserting that the physical existence of a divine figure was merely an appearance rather than a true reality
2. An early theological belief that the embodiment of a sacred entity was an illusion rather than genuine flesh and blood
3. A theological doctrine positing that a divine being's material presence was an illusion, distinguishing between appearance and physical reality

Etymology: Docetism takes its name from a group the early church writers called the Docetae, a Greek word meaning "those who seem." The name was coined by Serapion of Antioch, a bishop writing around 197 to 203 CE, who used it for Christians he believed taught that Jesus only appeared to have a human body. The Greek verb behind it, "dokein," means "to seem" or "to appear," so the label was built around the idea of mere appearance. The name stuck because it described the core claim so neatly. For these teachers, Christ's flesh, suffering and death were a kind of show, a semblance rather than a reality. The "-ism" ending, a common suffix for doctrines and beliefs, turned the name of a group into the name of their teaching. The same Greek root survives in an unexpected place. The second half of "synecdoche," the figure of speech where a part stands for the whole, comes from the same verb, "dokein," meaning that the two words share a common ancestor in the sense of seeming or taking.