Encratites Heresies Early Church By Time Period

The Encratites were an ascetic Christian sect led by Tatian, a 2nd-century Syrian rhetorician. The name derived from the group’s doctrine of continence (Greek: enkrateia). The sect shunned marriage, the eating of flesh, and the drinking of intoxicating beverages, even substituting water or milk for wine in the Eucharist. The name of Tatian (c. 120-173 CE), who edited a complilation of the gospels called the Diatesseron is associated with this heresy. Around 172, Tatian became a Gnostic of the Encratite sect. Tatian reinterpreted the story of Adam and Eve and Christian documents such as 1 Corinthians 7:3-6 to support the idea that humans must abandon sexual intercourse in order to regain the Spirit of God that had been lost because of Adam and Eve's fraility. People were to be married to God, not to each other.

• The Heresy of Tatian - The writing of Eusebius on Tatian and the heresies Encratites.
• Encratites - An article with an emphasis on the teaching of Tatian and his harmony of the Gospels called the Diatessaron. Tatian seceded from the Church, forming the Gnostic Encratites.

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