Philetus
Info
- opponent
- Home:: Ephesian Church (likely)
- Other Locales:: None recorded
- References:: 2 Timothy 2:17-18
Notes
- Partnered with Hymenaeus in teaching that “the resurrection has already happened”
- Paul compares their teaching to gangrene
Summary
Philetus appears once in 2 Timothy 2:17, paired with Hymenaeus as a false teacher whose doctrine “will spread like gangrene.” Their error: “saying that the resurrection has already happened, and they are upsetting the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:18).
His name, Philetus (“beloved”), was common in the Greco-Roman world. He is otherwise unknown, no biblical or early church source mentions him. He served as Hymenaeus’s partner in promoting over-realized eschatology that denied future bodily resurrection.
See Hymenaeus for the full discussion of this theological error and its impact on the Ephesian church.