This concept originated in the Hellenistic period, where it was used in a syncretic context, though differentiated from foreign figures like the Phoenician prophets mentioned by Celsus.[2] Famous exponents of theios aner were the famed Pythagoras, Empedocles, Apollonius of Tyana, Peregrinus Proteus and Alexander of Abonoteichus, among others.[3] Precisely due to those illustrious connotations, the term would have been chosen by writers of Judaism as a way to make figures like that of Moses more palatable to Greek thinking.[2]
It was seemingly during the rise of Christianity when the term popularized, in no small part for its association to the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as a maker of miracles.[2][3] Paul's Pagan opponents considered Jesus a mere member of this tradition instead of the Son of God as he preached, which might have influenced the writing of gospels to avoid this identification.[2] The Gospel of Mark, which already intended to fend off the newly formed Docetic Gnosticism by emphasizing Jesus' human traits,[4] was also object of this reaction, as it identifies other miracle-makers as false prophets.[3][5][6]
