ARABICI

ARABICI. – Heretical sect of the 2nd century, which arose in Arabia, especially in the region of Damascus. The name was given to its followers by St Augustine (De haeres., 83: PL 17, 46). Eusebius also mentions it (Hist. eccles., VI, 37: PG 20, 597). Neither its founder nor its development is known. The doctrine of the A. was a form of materialism. Misinterpreting a passage from I Tim. (6:16), they taught that the body is the principal part of man and that the soul dies with the body and then rises again together with it; they were therefore called θνητοψυγίται. According to Nicephorus Callistus (Hist. eccl., V, 23: PG 145, 1112), after several fruitless gatherings of bishops to combat them, Origen was invited and supposedly triumphantly persuaded them to return to the Church.