The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Hieracas of Leontopolis
c. AD 270 – c. 360 · Egyptian ascetic teacher · Denier of the resurrection of the flesh · Leontopolis, Egypt
The Nicene Age
Who Hieracas of Leontopolis was
The most learned ascetic in Egypt — calligrapher, exegete in Greek and Coptic, composer of psalms, reputedly working at his copying past ninety — who drew the ascetic conclusion the church refused: no resurrection of this flesh, no paradise for the married, no salvation for children dead before the contest. Epiphanius, who fights him at length, plainly respects the opponent; the monks kept the asceticism and anathematized the doctrine.
Epiphanius (Panarion 67) alone.
Also listed in desert fathers & mothers.
Common questions
When did Hieracas live?
Hieracas of Leontopolis is dated c. AD 270 – c. 360 in the archive, which places Hieracas in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Hieracas write?
Hieracas of Leontopolis has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Treatises on the Hexaemeron, with psalms and ascetic works. All are lost, known only from later citation.
Which early sources mention Hieracas?
Hieracas of Leontopolis is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Epiphanius of Salamis. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Hieracas from?
The archive associates Hieracas of Leontopolis with Leontopolis, Egypt. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Treatises on the Hexaemeron, with psalms and ascetic works
Composed in both Greek and Coptic; nothing survives outside Epiphanius's reportHe wrote on the six days of creation, and composed many psalms, in both the Greek and the Egyptian tongue. (after Epiphanius, Panarion 67)Lost — known only from later citation.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Panarion 67
c. AD 377Hieracas, master of every Greek and Egyptian learning, an interpreter of the scriptures, who lived to extreme old age still writing his fine hand — yet denied the resurrection of the flesh, and received none into his company but the celibate.Epiphanius of Salamis · 67 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Hieracas.
- 1Egyptprovince only