Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

• Theudas was allegedly the name of a Christian Gnostic thinker, who was a follower of Paul of Tarsus. He went on to teach the Gnostic Valentinus. The only evidence of this connection is the testimony of Valentinius' followers and Clement of Alexandria.
  
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Theudas (about 45 CE)

Sources: Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.97-98 and Acts of the Apostles 5.36.

Story: Between 44 and 46 CE, one Theudas, about whom Josephus is predictably negative, caused some consternation with what may have been a claim to be the Messiah.

• It came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain charlatan, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the river Jordan; for he told them he was a prophet, and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it. Many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit them to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them. After falling upon them unexpectedly, they slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem.
  • Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 20.97-98

Comment: Theudas certainly claimed to be the Messiah. The main argument is that one of the messianic prophecies foretold that the Messiah and his followers were to his stay in the wilderness. Theudas' claim to be able to divide the river is a clear allusion to Joshua 3.14-17, which has everything to do with the redemption of Israel. Another argument is that the author of the Acts of the apostles mentions Theudas in a messianic context ([cited] above).

http://www.livius.org/men-mh/messiah/me ... nts08.html

A primary difference between Marcionites and Gnostics was that the Gnostics based their theology on secret wisdom (as, for example, Valentinius who claimed to receive the secret wisdom from Theudas who received it direct from Paul) of which they claimed to be in possession, whereas Marcion based his theology on the contents of the Letters of Paul and the recorded sayings of Jesus — in other words, an argument from scripture, with Marcion defining what was and was not scripture. Also, the Christology of the Marcionites is thought to have been primarily Docetic, denying the human nature of Christ.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcionism#Teachings

• "Theudas, who shares so many characteristics with John the Baptist"
  
  "the author of Luke/Acts manages to name all the first century rebel leaders up until the Jewish war, and does not explain who they are. It it is no mistake when the same author bizarrely chooses to place Judas the Galilean after Theudas (Acts 5:33-38), although he was active decades before Theudas." http://vridar.org/2016/05/25/jesus-and- ... ment-78111

Pontius Pilate, according to Josephus, persecuted and crucified a messiah type named Dositheos (35 CE), who wouldn’t you know it, was a Samaritan, and supposed teacher of Simon Magus – he also was purported to have known John the Baptist. Dositheos claimed to be a messiah, was a contemporary of Jesus Christ, and his name (in Greek) is the reverse of Theudas.

Who is Theudas? The purported companion of Paul and teacher to Valentinus! It’s hard to say whether the relationship between Theudas and Valentinus was real, or if it was a relationship invented to give the Valentinians better leverage against the apostolic side.

https://timsteppingout.wordpress.com/tag/theudas/

• "According to Hegesippus,[13] Dositheus lived later than Simon Magus, the first heresiarch of the Church; other authors speak of him as the teacher of Simon,[14] at the same time confounding him with Simon Magus, connecting his name with Helena, and stating that he was the "being".[15] Origen says that Dositheus pretended to be the Christ (Messiah), applying Deut 18:15 to himself, and he compares him with Theudas and Judas the Galilean.[16] Origen also says that Dositheus' disciples pretended to possess books by him, and related concerning him that he never suffered death, but was still alive.[17]"
  
  • 16 - See "Contra Celsum," i. 57, vi. 11; in Matth. Comm. ser. xxxiii.; "Homil." xxv. in Lucam; "De Principiis," iv. 17.
  There apparently was "another Dositheus, who belonged to the Encratites."[19 - Harnack, "Gesch. der Altchristlichen Litteratur bis Eusebius," i. 152, Leipsic, 1893.]

• "In Acts 8:20 and John 4:10, the phrase 'gift of God', which is the literal meaning of Dositheos, is associated with Samaria"

• 'Among the casualties of the western intervention in Iraq and the recent activities of ISIS are the Mandeans of Southern Iraq. These peace-loving people are now fleeing to the west . They are the last Gnostics, the only surviving remnant of the ancient sects who taught the direct knowledge of God, created their own gospels and myths and were persecuted as heretical by the church in the second and third centuries. The Mandeans place weekly river baptisms at the centre of their religious life and the primary exemplar of their religion is none other than John the Baptist. What is the real history of this mysterious and long lived sect? Can the Mandean peoples really be traced back to the first century? And who was John the Baptist? This book follows the history of the Mandeans from their present plight back through their earliest encounters with the West, their place in Islamic counties, their possible influence on the Templars, back to their origins as a first century baptismal sect connected to John the Baptist and beyond.'
  https://books.google.com.au/books?id=w6 ... navlinks_s

MrMacSon wrote:
Lena Einhorn -

• "the author of Luke/Acts manages to name all the first century rebel leaders up until the Jewish war, and does not explain who they are. It it is no mistake when the same author bizarrely chooses to place Judas the Galilean after Theudas (Acts 5:33-38), although he was active decades before Theudas." http://vridar.org/2016/05/25/jesus-and- ... ment-78111

"[Richard] Pervo points out that Josephus, mindful of the correct chronological order, nevertheless wrote about them [Theudas & Judas (the Galilean)] in reverse, that is, in the same order as that in Gamaliel's speech [Acts 5:36-7]"

https://books.google.com.au/books?id=MU ... as&f=false

"Pontius Pilate, according to Josephus, persecuted and crucified a messiah type named Dositheos (35 CE), who wouldn’t you know it, was a Samaritan, and supposed teacher of Simon Magus – he also was purported to have known John the Baptist. Dositheos claimed to be a messiah, was a contemporary of Jesus Christ, and his name (in Greek) is the reverse of Theudas.

Who is Theudas? The purported companion of Paul and teacher to Valentinus! It’s hard to say whether the relationship between Theudas and Valentinus was real, or if it was a relationship invented to give the Valentinians better leverage against the apostolic side.

https://timsteppingout.wordpress.com/tag/theudas/"

Lena Einhorn wrote:
I don't see a Dositheus/Dositheos in the times of Pilate in the works of Josephus. I do see him in Contra Celsum though, where Origen puts him "after the times of Jesus." (Cels. 1.57)