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Five Seals
In Sethian Gnostic texts, the Five Seals are typically described as a baptismal rite involving a series of five full immersions in holy running or "living water," symbolizing spiritual ascension to the divine realm. The Five Seals are frequently mentioned in various Sethian Gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi library. While some scholars consider the Five Seals to be literary symbolism rather than an actual religious ritual, Birger A. Pearson believes that the Five Seals refer to an actual ritual in which the initiate was ritually immersed in water five times. Pearson also finds many parallels between the Sethian ritual of the Five Seals and the Mandaean baptismal ritual of masbuta. Tractates Tractates in the Nag Hammadi library that mention the Five Seals include: *Apocryphon of John *Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit *Trimorphic Protennoia *Zostrianos The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, Trimorphic Protennoia, Zostrianos, and Apocalypse of Adam also mention Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sethianism
The Sethians were one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century CE, along with Valentinianism and Basilideanism. According to John D. Turner, it originated in the 2nd century CE as a fusion of two distinct Hellenistic Judaic philosophies and was influenced by Christianity and Middle Platonism. However, the exact origin of Sethianism is not properly understood. History Mentions The Sethians (Latin ''Sethoitae'') are first mentioned, alongside the Ophites, in the 2nd century, by Irenaeus (who was antagonistic towards gnosticism) and in Pseudo-Tertullian (Ch. 30). According to Frederik Wisse, all subsequent accounts appear to be largely dependent on Irenaeus. Hippolytus repeats information from Irenaeus. According to Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 375), Sethians were in his time found only in Egypt and Palestine, but fifty years earlier, they had been found as far away as Greater Armenia. Philaster's (4th century CE) ''Catalogue of Heresies'' places the Ophit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gospel Of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is an extra-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in December 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate that the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius declaring a strict canon of Christian scripture. Scholars have proposed dates of composition as early as 60 AD and as late as 250 AD. Since its discovery, many scholars have seen it as evidence in support of the existence of a "Q source" which might have been very similar in its form as a collection of sayings of Jesus without any accounts of his deeds or his life and death, referred to as a sayings gospel. The Coptic language text, the second of seven contained in what modern-day scholars have designated as Nag Hammadi Codex II, is composed of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Almost two-thirds of these sayings resemble those found in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three Seals (Manichaeism)
In Manichaeism, the behavior of the Elect, the priestly class was traditionally bound by the Three Seals: Mouth, Hands, and Heart. By the Seal of the Mouth they were prohibited from eating meat or drinking wine. Once a day they ate food with the highest concentrations of light. By the Seal of the Hands, also called the Rest (of the Hands), they were prohibited from causing injury or pain to the light entrapped in water, fire, trees and living things. From a practical standpoint, this meant that they were unable to do any physical work, so they depended on the Auditors to bring them food (more on this below). By the Seal of the Breast they were prohibited from marriage, sex and lust. (The male and female Elect had no contact with each other.) Some Manichaeans said the Three Seals correspond to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. An alternative formulation divided the ethics of the Elect into Five Commandments: truth, non-injury, chastity, purity of mouth, and poverty. (The Elect were supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that God established with the Israelites, their ancestors. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah, as it is commonly understood by Jews, is part of the larger text known as the ''Tanakh''. The ''Tanakh'' is also known to secular scholars of religion as the Hebrew Bible, and to Christians as the " Old Testament". The Torah's supplemental oral tradition is represented by later texts s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikveh
Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purified through immersion in any natural collection of water. However, some impurities, such as a zav, require "living water", such as springs or groundwater wells. Living water has the further advantage of being able to purify even while flowing, as opposed to rainwater which must be stationary to purify. The ''mikveh'' is designed to simplify this requirement, by providing a bathing facility that remains in contact with a natural source of water. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered to; consequently, the mikveh is central to an Orthodox Jewish community. Conservative Judaism also formally holds to the regulations. The existence of a mikveh is considered so important that a Jewish community is required to construct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual Washing In Judaism
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. ''Tevilah'' (טְבִילָה) is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and ''netilat yadayim'' is the washing of the hands with a cup (see Handwashing in Judaism). References to ritual washing are found in the Hebrew Bible, and are elaborated in the Mishnah and Talmud. They have been codified in various codes of Jewish law and tradition, such as Maimonides' ''Mishneh Torah'' (12th century) and Joseph Karo's ''Shulchan Aruch'' (16th century). These practices are most commonly observed within Orthodox Judaism. In Conservative Judaism, the practices are normative, with certain leniencies and exceptions. Ritual washing is not generally performed in Reform Judaism. Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible requires immersion of the body in water as a means of purification in several circumstances, for example: : And when the '' zav'' is cleansed of his issue, then he shall number to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Immersion Baptism
Immersion baptism (also known as baptism by immersion or baptism by submersion) is a method of baptism that is distinguished from baptism by affusion (pouring) and by aspersion (sprinkling), sometimes without specifying whether the immersion is total or partial, but very commonly with the indication that the person baptized is immersed in water completely.'One of their strongest arguments revolves around the Greek word for baptism in the New Testament. Its predominant meaning is "to immerse" or "to dip," implying that the candidate was plunged beneath the water.', Youngblood, R.F., Bruce, F.F., Harrison, R.K., & Thomas Nelson. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary The term is also, though less commonly, applied exclusively to modes of baptism that involve only partial immersion (see Terminology, below). Terminology Baptism by immersion is understood by some to imply submersion of the whole body beneath the surface of the water. Others speak of baptismal immersion as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of Baptism
John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, used baptism as the central sacrament of his messianic movement. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism. The earliest Christian baptisms were by immersion. By the third and fourth centuries, baptism involved catechetical instruction as well as chrismation, exorcisms, laying on of hands, and recitation of a creed. In the West, affusion became the normal mode of baptism between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, though immersion was still practiced into the sixteenth. In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther retained baptism as a sacrament, but Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli considered baptism and the Lord's supper to be symbolic. Anabaptists denied the validity of infant baptism, which was the normal practice when their movement started and practiced believer's baptism instead. Several groups related to Anabaptism, notably the Baptists and Dunkards, soon practiced baptism by immer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masiqta
The masiqta ( myz, ࡌࡀࡎࡉࡒࡕࡀ) is a mass or ritual practiced in the Mandaean religion in order to help guide the soul (''nišimta'') towards the World of Light in Mandaean cosmology. They are typically performed as funerary rites for Mandaeans who have just died. Although usually translated as "death mass", a few types of ''masiqta'' are also performed for living people, such as when priests are ordained. Purpose The complex ritual involves guiding the soul through the ''maṭarta'', or toll houses located between the Earth (Tibil) and the World of Light, which are guarded by various uthras and demons. A successful masiqta merges the incarnate soul ( myz, ࡍࡉࡔࡉࡌࡕࡀ ; roughly equivalent to the ''psyche'' or " ego" in Greek philosophy) and spirit ( myz, ࡓࡅࡄࡀ ; roughly equivalent to the ''pneuma'' or "breath" in Greek philosophy) from the Earth (Tibil) into a new merged entity in the World of Light called the ''ʿuṣṭuna''. The ''ʿuṣṭuna'' can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamasha (ablution)
In Mandaeism, tamasha or ṭamaša ( myz, ࡈࡌࡀࡔࡀ, translit=ṭmaša) is an ablution ritual that does not require the assistance of a priest. Tamasha is performed by triple immersion in river (''yardna'') water. It is performed by women after menstruation or childbirth, men and women after sexual activity or nocturnal emission, touching a dead corpse, or any other type of defilement (''ṭnupa''). It is also performed after subsiding from unclean thoughts or anger at another person. Rishama is another type of ablution performed by Mandaeans, in which the face and limbs are washed (similar to the wudu in Islam). However, unlike the tamasha, it does not involve full-body immersion in water. The rishama and tamasha ablution rituals, which do not require priestly assistance, are distinct from masbuta, which needs to be performed by a priest. Whereas the tamasha is a "self-immersion" in which devotees dip themselves into the water, during the masbuta, devotees need to be immerse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masbuta
Maṣbuta ( myz, ࡌࡀࡑࡁࡅࡕࡀ) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaeism, Mandaean religion. Overview Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as a Ritual purification, ritual of purification, not of initiation. They are possibly one of the earliest peoples to practice ritual baptism. Mandaeans undergo baptism on Sundays (''Habshaba''), wearing a white sacral robe (''Rasta (Mandaeism), rasta''). Baptism for Mandaeans consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple ''signing'' of the forehead with water and a triple drinking of water. The priest (''Mandaean priest, rabbi'') then removes a ring made of myrtle (''klila'') worn by the baptized and places it on their forehead. This is then followed by a handshake (''kušṭa'' - hand of truth) with the priest. The final blessing involves the priest laying his right hand on the baptized person's head. ''Living water'' (fresh, natural, flowing water, called ''mia hayyi'') is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian prophet Mani (prophet), Mani (AD 216–274), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the conflict between good and evil, struggle between a goodness and value theory, good, spirituality, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. Through an ongoing process that takes place in human history, light is gradually removed from the world of matter and returned to the world of light, whence it came. Its beliefs are based on local Mesopotamian religious movements and Gnosticism. It reveres Mani as the final prophet after Zoroaster, Gautama Buddha, and Jesus. Manichaeism was quickly successful and spread far through the Aramaic language, Aramaic-speaking regions. It thrived be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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