Book of Nepos

The Book of Nepos is one of the texts of the New Testament apocrypha, written by an Egyptian bishop, Nepos. It no longer exists, and is known only indirectly through Eusebius, who quoted a work by Dionysius criticizing Nepos.^[1]

Nepos was a strict literalist (believing the entire Bible is true in a literal sense), and his text, also known as the Refutation of the Allegorisers or Refutation of the Allegorists was aimed at refuting the arguments of those who held that certain sections of the Bible were mere allegory. In particular, the text is aimed at discrediting the position, held by a minority of Christians at the time, that the book of Revelation should be interpreted allegorically rather than literally.

Amongst the teachings in the text is the belief that Jesus would come to earth and physically reign as monarch for 1000 years during an age of righteous delight. This belief was regarded as fairly orthodox in the early church (e.g. it was held by Irenaeus, and Justin Martyr), however, the later church came to view Revelation as more allegorical. Indeed, Dionysius of Alexandria felt moved to write a text (On the Promises) against it, although he regarded Nepos highly and attempted to criticize the doctrine without insulting Nepos personally.

The Book of Nepos was so popular within the villages around Alexandria that Dionysius went there in person to refute it. In deference to Nepos and the prior orthodoxy of strict literalism, he did so politely, entering a respectful dialogue with those from the village and contesting each of the arguments they took from the Book of Nepos in turn.

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