The Jewish Christians then--the congregation of Jerusalem, and their immediate successors, the Ebionites or Nazarenes--saw in their master nothing more than _a man_. From this, and the other facts which we have seen in this chapter, it is evident that the man Jesus of Nazareth was deified long after his death, just as many other men had been deified centuries before his time, and even _after_. Until it had been settled by a council of bishops that Jesus was not only _a God_, but "_God himself in human form_," who appeared on earth, as did Crishna of old, to redeem and save mankind, there were many theories concerning his nature. Among the early Christians there were a certain class called by the later Christians _Heretics_. Among these may be mentioned the "_Carpocratians_," named after one Carpocrates. They maintained that Jesus was a _mere man_, born of Joseph and Mary, _like other men_, but that he was good and virtuous. "Some of them have the vanity," says _Irenæus_, "to think that they may equal, or in some respects exceed, Jesus himself."[135:2] These are called by the general name of _Gnostics, and comprehend almost all the sects of the first two ages_.[135:3] They said that "all the ancients, and even the Apostles themselves, received and taught the same things which they held; and that the truth of the Gospel had been preserved till the time of _Victor_, the thirteenth Bishop of Rome, but by his successor, _Zephyrinus_, the truth had been corrupted."[135:4] Eusebius, speaking of _Artemon_ and his followers, who denied the divinity of Christ, says: "They affirm that all our ancestors, yea, and the Apostles themselves, were of the same opinion, and taught the same with them, and that this their true doctrine (for so they call it) was preached and embraced unto the time of Victor, the thirteenth Bishop of Rome after Peter, and corrupted by his successor Zephyrinus."[136:1] There were also the "_Cerinthians_," named after one Cerinthus, who maintained that Jesus was _not_ born of a virgin, which to them appeared impossible, but that he was the son of Joseph and Mary, _born altogether as other men are_; but he excelled all men in virtue, knowledge and wisdom. At the time of his baptism, "_the Christ_" came down upon him in the shape of a dove, and _left him_ at the time of his crucifixion.[136:2] Irenæus, speaking of Cerinthus and his doctrines, says: "He represents Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary, according to the ordinary course of human generation, and _not_ as having been born of a virgin. He believed nevertheless that he was more righteous, prudent and wise than most men, and that _the Christ_ descended upon, and entered into him, at the time of his baptism."[136:3] The _Docetes_ were a numerous and learned sect of Asiatic Christians who invented the _Phantastic_ system, which was afterwards promulgated by the Marcionites, the Manicheans, and various other sects.