Paul of Samosata nothing is known, though a phrase in the synodal letter appears to imply that
he was still alive. What is clear is that the Adoptianist heresy here referred
to is (rather obscurely) described by Eusebius as having originated in Rome
in the late second century under the impulse of one Theodotus of Byzan-
tium.^174 If there is a ‘‘local’’ element in the nature of Paul’s heresy, it is rather,
perhaps, to be found in its resemblance to that of Beryllus of Bostra, who
thought that Christ did not pre-exist his birth and had no divinity except
that of the Father dwelling in him—and was duly corrected by an assembly
of bishops, assisted by Origen, in about –.^175
Some claims for a local origin can be advanced for some of the innova-
tions of Paul in liturgy and church practise. The synodal letter speaks of ‘‘the
females introduced into his house, as the Antiochians call them’’;^176 the refer-
ence is tovirgines subintroductae, that is (in theory), women living with priests
without sexual relations. It is sometimes suggested that this was a distinc-
tively Syrian form of asceticism.^177 But the practice, with its associated scan-
dals, is clearly attested a few years earlier in Africa.^178 Paul also had a chorus
of women who sang psalms specially composed in honour of himself—and
were alleged to proclaim that he was in fact an angel who had descended from
heaven.^179 Here one can only note, for lack of detail in the account of Paul,
that other evidence indicates a particularly rich tradition of hymn compo-
sition in Syriac, beginning with Bardesanes and his son Harmonius (see text
to nn. – above), and the hymns incorporated in theActs of Thomas.^180 It
is at least a reasonable speculation that Paul’s compositions were related to
this tradition.
These indications of specifically Syrian deviations in the belief and prac-
tice of Paul of Samosata are no more than hints (though often claimed as
.HE, .
.HE, ; the connection is indicated by J. Daniélou and H. Marrou (n. ), .
For the documentary record of the confutation by Origen of another local heresy, almost
certainly Arabian also, see J. Scherer,Entretien d’Origène avec Héraclide().
.HE, , .
. See A. Vööbus,History of Asceticism in the Syrian OrientI (), .
. See Cypr.,Ep..
.HE, , –.
. See I.-M. Dalmais, ‘‘L’apport des églises Syriennes à l’hymnographie chrétienne,’’
Orient Syrien (): . Note the significant generalisation (made without reference
to Paul), : ‘‘la grande Église doit s’être toujours défiée des chants aussi capiteux, trop
éloignées de cette ‘sobre ivresse’ et de cette réserve qui furent toujours siennes....Aucours
du IIIesiècle une nette réaction se fait sentir en faveur de l’emploi exclusif des psaumes et
des cantiques scriptuaires.’’