Priscillianists
Priscillianists [1]
The followers of Priscillian, in the fourth century. It appears from authentic records, that the difference between their doctrine and that of the Manicheans was not very considerable. For they denied the reality of Christ's birth and incarnation; maintained that the visible universe was not the production of the Supreme Deity, but of some daemon or malignant principle; adopted the doctrines of aeons, or emanations from the divine nature; considered human bodies as prisons formed by the author of evil to enslave celestial minds; condemned marriage, and disbelieved the resurrection of the body. Their rule of life and manners was rigid and severe; the accounts, therefore, which many have given of their lasciviousness and intemperance deserve not the least credit, as they are totally destitute of evidence and authority. That the Priscillianists were guilty of dissimulation upon some occasions, and deceived their adversaries by cunning stratagems, is true; but that they held it as a maxim, that lying and perjury were lawful, is a most notorious falsehood, without even the least shadow of probability.
