Basilides (Greek: Βασιλείδης) was an early Christian Gnostic religious teacher in Alexandria, Egypt[1] who taught from 117 to 138 AD,[* 1] and claimed to have inherited his teachings from the apostle Saint Matthias.
On the other hand, Hippolytus presented Basilides' teachings as proposing a state of nonexistence prior to creation, brought into existence by a desireless and passionless Not-Being God, who generated the seed of the world.
In the context of Christian history, Basilides constructed an elaborate metaphysical system which, among other features, attributed distinct eras to varying Archons, or rulers of the cosmos.
This chronology culminated in what Basilides referred to as the reign of the Gospel, a period where spiritual enlightenment through the teachings of Jesus Christ becomes paramount, marking a significant shift from the previously held dominion of the Archons.
The psychic element, linked with the soul and consciousness, returns to the Hebdomad, a term that in Basilides' system may refer to the realm governed by the second Archon.
Basilides' idea of a divine blissful Ignorance, thus, suggests a kind of heavenly serenity, marking the final stage of the cosmic journey towards ultimate redemption.
Extracts from Basilides' son and successor suggest indulgence in sensual desires for spiritual peace, possibly corroborating accusations of immorality among Gnostics.
Isidore purportedly developed a more ethically balanced approach, emphasizing the need to abstain from worldly desires in order to achieve the purifying knowledge (Gnosis).
The Basilidian tradition is believed to have survived until the fourth century AD, primarily in Egypt, before eventually fading out due to a combination of external pressure and internal conflicts.
However, the influence of Basilides' teachings has permeated through history and has been rekindled in the modern era due to increased interest in Gnostic texts.
Despite its demise, Basilidianism has left a lasting impact on religious thought, particularly in terms of its challenge to orthodoxy and its innovative approach to issues of the divine, the cosmos, and the nature of humanity.
His view of creation, according to the orthodox heresiologists, was likely similar to that of Valentinus, whom he rivaled, being based on a doctrine of emanations proceeding from an uncreated, ineffable Pleroma.
Like his rival, Basilides taught that matter, and the material universe, are evil, and that the God of the Old Testament, who was responsible for creation, is a misguided archon or lesser deity.
[16] Because Basilides believed faith was a matter of nature, doubtlessly he pushed election so far as to sever a portion of mankind from the rest, as alone entitled by Divine decree to receive a higher enlightenment.
[29] The Basilideans were accustomed to call the passions Appendages, stating that these are certain spirits that append (προσηρτημένα) themselves to rational souls in a certain primitive turmoil and confusion.
[30] It is impossible to determine the precise origin of this singular theory, but it was probably connected with the doctrine of metempsychosis, which seemed to find support in Plato's Timaeus.
He first reports the exposition of Matthew 19:12 (or a similar evangelic passage), in which there is nothing specially to note except the interpretation of the last class of eunuchs as those who remain in celibacy to avoid the distracting cares of providing a livelihood.
But suppose a young man either poor or depressed, and in accordance with the word [in the Gospel] unwilling to marry, let him not separate from his brother; let him say 'I have entered into the holy place, nothing can befall me'; but if he have a suspicion, let him say, 'Brother, lay thy hand on me, that I may sin not,' and he shall receive help both to mind and to senses; let him only have the will to carry out completely what is good, and he shall succeed.
The Venice MS. states that the Basilideans celebrated the night before the Epiphany singing and flute-playing in a heathen temple at Alexandria: so that probably the Basilidian rite was a modification of an old local custom.
[36] Eusebius of Caesarea is quoting Agrippa Castor, when he states that Basilides: "taught also that the eating of meat offered to idols and the unguarded renunciation of the faith in times of persecution were matters of indifference".
[4] However, from St. Clement of Alexandria's Stromata, it appears that Agrippa Castor misunderstood the purpose of Basilides's argument, partly from the actual doctrine and practices of later Basilidians; but it may also have had some justification in incidental words which have not been preserved.
[41] The writer of Acts held Basilides responsible for dualism, yet his language on this point is loose, as if he were not sure of his ground; and the quotation which he gives by no means bears him out.
It is at least strange that our Basilides should be described simply as a "preacher among the Persians," a character in which he is otherwise unknown; and all the more since he has been previously mentioned with Marcion and Valentinus as a heretic of familiar name.
[46] He insists on the unity of the soul, and maintains that bad men will find "no common excuse" in the violence of the "appendages" for pleading that their evil acts were involuntary: "our duty is", he says, "by overcoming the inferior creation within us through the reasoning faculty, to show ourselves to have the mastery".
There is at all events no serious chronological difficulty in supposing that the Valentinian system was the starting-point from which Basilides proceeded to construct by contrast his own theory, and this is the view which a comparison of doctrines suggests.
[25] An antecedent matter was expressly repudiated, the words of Genesis 1:3 eagerly appropriated, and a Divine counsel represented as foreordaining all future growths and processes; yet the chaotic nullity out of which the developed universe was to spring was attributed with equal boldness to its Maker: Creator and creation were not confused, but they melted away in the distance together.
Thus though faith regained its rights, it remained an energy of the understanding, confined to those who had the requisite inborn capacity; while the dealings of God with man were shut up within the lines of mechanical justice.