E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Bardesanists.
Followers of Bardesanes, of Edessa, founder of a Gnostic sect in the second century. They believed that the human body was ethereal till it became imbruted with sin. Milton, in his Comus, refers to this:—
chebas (Shimeon).
