Marsanes is a
Sethian Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized p ...
text from the
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha (singular apocryphon) are a number of writings by early Christians that give accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. Some of these writings were cite ...
. The only surviving copy comes from the
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the " Chenoboskion Manuscripts" and the "Gnostic Gospels") is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
Thirteen leather-bound papyr ...
, albeit with four pages missing, and several lines damaged beyond recovery, including the first ten of the fifth page. Scholars speculate that the text was originally written by a Syrian in Greek during the third century.
Overview
Like
Zostrianos, and
Allogenes
Allogenes is a repertoire, or genre, of mystical Gnostic texts dating from the first half of the Third Century, CE. They concern Allogenes, "the Stranger" (or "foreigner"),Greek: (''allogenēs''), used in the Septuagint, meaning "rom adifferent f ...
, the text describes a very elaborate
esoteric
Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...
cosmogony
Cosmogony is any model concerning the origin of the cosmos or the universe.
Overview
Scientific theories
In astronomy, cosmogony refers to the study of the origin of particular astrophysical objects or systems, and is most commonly used ...
of successive emanations from an original
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, as revealed by Marsanes, who is recognized as a Gnostic prophet.
Within the text there are indications that the Sethians had developed ideas of
monism
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
, an idea comparable to
Heracleon
Heracleon was a Gnostic who flourished about AD 175, probably in the south of Italy. He is described by Clement of Alexandria ('' Strom.''
iv. 9) as the most esteemed (δοκιμώτατος)
of the school of Valentinus; and, according to Ori ...
's notion of universal perfection and permanence as expressed through the constancy of the total mass of things within it (that is, ''all'' matter in the universe may only change form, and may not be created or destroyed), and the later
Stoic insistence of nothing existing beyond the material. The text also is an apocalypse that may at one point have been used by the school of Plotinus in Rome. Common Gnostic thought is especially prominent through the text's discussion on the power of sacred knowledge, which can allow readers to ascend through the levels of the universe until they reach the highest heaven where God resides.
Seals
The 13 seals in ''Marsanes'' are listed from in lowest to highest, ascending order.
References
External links
*
{{The Nag Hammadi Codices , state=collapsed
Sethian texts
3rd-century books
Nag Hammadi library