Book of Nepos

The Book of Nepos is one of the texts of the New Testament apocrypha, written by an Egyptian bishop, Nepos. He was a literalist (believing the entire Bible was literally true), and his text, also known as the "Refutation of the Allegorisers" was aimed at demolishing the argument of those who held that certain parts of the Bible were mere allegory. In particular, the text is aimed at refuting those who hold that "Revelations" is an allegorical rather than literal text.

Amongst the teachings in the text is the belief that Jesus would come to earth and reign for 1000 years over an age of corporal delight. This belief was regarded as fairly orthodox in the early church (e.g. it was held by Irenaeus, and Justin Martyr), however, the later church came to view revelations as slightly more allegorical. Indeed, Dionysius of Alexandria felt moved to write a text ("On the Promises") against it, although he regarded Nepos highly and was at pains to criticise the doctrine without insulting the memory of Nepos.

The "Book of Nepos" was so popular within the villages around Alexandria, that Dionysius went there in person to attack it. Still respecting Nepos, and the prior orthodoxy of extreme literalism of this manner, he did so politely, entering a respectful dialogue with those from the village and contesting each of the arguments they took from the "Book of Nepos" in turn.