Ancient heretics, who denied the deity of Jesus Christ; so named from Cerinthus. They believed that he was a mere man, the son of Joseph and Mary; but that in his baptism a celestial virtue descended on him in the form of a dove; by means whereof he was consecrated by the Holy Spirit, made Christ, and wrought so many miracles; that, as he received it from heaven, it quitted him after his passion, and returned to the place whence it came; so that Jesus, whom they called a pure man, really died, and rose again; but that Christ, who was distinguished from Jesus, did not suffer at all. It was partly to refute this sect that St. John wrote his Gospel. They received the Gospel of St. Matthew, to countenance their doctrine of circumcision; but they omitted the genealogy. They discarded the epistles of St. Paul, because that apostle held circumcision abolished.