The Ante-Nicene Church · AD 180–313
Nepos of Arsinoe
d. c. 250 · Bishop of Arsinoë · Chiliast teacher · Arsinoë, Egypt
The Ante-Nicene Church
Who Nepos of Arsinoe was
An Egyptian bishop of the Arsinoïte district, learned and pious, whose book Refutation of the Allegorists defended a literal, millenarian reading of Revelation — a thousand-year earthly kingdom of bodily delights — against the Alexandrian allegorizers. His teaching so divided the district that bishop Dionysius of Alexandria travelled there and spent three days in patient debate with the presbyter Coracion and Nepos’s followers, winning them back by persuasion rather than authority. Nepos himself had died before the debate; Dionysius spoke of him with respect, honouring his faith and his hymns even while refuting his exegesis. A rare irenic episode in the history of doctrinal conflict.
Dionysius's On the Promises (via Eusebius VII.24) only.
Also listed in bishops beyond the great sees.
Common questions
When did Nepos die?
Nepos of Arsinoe is dated d. c. 250 in the archive, which places Nepos in the Ante-Nicene Church (AD 180–313). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
What did Nepos write?
Nepos of Arsinoe has 1 catalogued writing in the archive: Refutation of the Allegorists (lost).
Which early sources mention Nepos?
Nepos of Arsinoe is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Dionysius of Alexandria. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Nepos from?
The archive associates Nepos of Arsinoe with Arsinoë, Egypt. The sources record more than one location, so the places are listed in the order the record moves through them.
Writings (1)
Refutation of the Allegorists (lost)
c. 245He taught that the promises in the divine Scriptures to the saints should be understood in a more Jewish manner, and supposed that there would be a certain millennium of bodily luxury upon this earth.Read the interlinear source text →
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Dionysius of Alexandria, via Eusebius VII.24
c. AD 255I approve and love Nepos for his faith and industry and diligent study of the Scriptures, and for his abundant psalmody, by which many of the brethren are still delighted.Dionysius of Alexandria · VII.24 · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 180 · The Scillitan martyrs, AD 180
- AD 190 · The Quartodeciman controversy, AD 190
- AD 202 · Perpetua and Felicity martyred, AD 202
- AD 235 · Maximinus Thrax targets the clergy, AD 235
- AD 250 · The Decian persecution, AD 250
Place
Places served
The 2 places the sources put Nepos, in the order the record moves through them. This is what the sources attest, not a reconstructed route.