Epiphanes
(c.315-403)
Annotations on the New Testament: Compiled from the Best Critical Authorities (1829)
(On Early Date of Revelation)
“after (John’s) return from Patmos, under the Emperor Claudius ;” (51st Heresy)
“when John prophesied in the days of the Emperor Claudius, while he was in the island of Patmos.” (51st Heresy)
(On The Millennial Reign of Christ)
“There is indeed a millennium mentioned by St. John; but the most, and those pious men, look upon those words as true indeed, but to be taken in a spiritual sense.” (Epiphanies, Heresies, 77:26.)
(Pella Flight Tradition)
“The Nazoraean sect exists in Beroea near Coele Syria, in the Decapolis near the region of Pella, and in Bashan in the place called Cocaba, which in Hebrew is called Chochabe. That is where the sect began, when all the disciples were living in Pella after they moved from Jerusalem, since Christ told them to leave Jerusalem and withdraw because it was about to be besieged. For this reason they settled in Peraea and there, as I said, they lived. This is where the Nazoraean sect began.” (Panarion 29:7:7-8)
“Their sect began after the capture of Jerusalem. For when all those who believed in Christ settled at that time for the most part in Peraea, in a city called Pella belonging to the Decapolis mentioned in the gospel, which is next to Batanaea and the land of Bashan, then they moved there and stayed..” (Panarion 30:2:7)
“For when the city was about to be captured and sacked by the Romans, all the disciples were warned beforehand by an angel to remove from the city, doomed as it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it they settled at Pella, the town already indicated, across the Jordan. It is said to belong to Decapolis ” (On Weights and Measures 15)
WHAT OTHERS HAVE SAID
Nathaniel Lardner
“Epiphanius is singular, he ought not be regarded” / “one would think Sir Isaac Newton had little reason to mention Epiphanius, when he does not follow him.”
Isaac Newton
“Epiphanius represents the Gospel of John as written in the time of Domitian, and the Apocalypse even before that of Nero.”
What do YOU think ?