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Five Seals
In Sethianism, 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 Sethianism, 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 Mandaeism, 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 Apo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sethianism
The Sethians (Greek language, Greek: Σηθιανοί) were one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century AD, along with Valentinianism and Basilideans, Basilideanism. According to John D. Turner, it originated in the 2nd century AD as a fusion of two distinct Hellenistic Judaism, 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 Kingdom of Arme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gospel Of Thomas
The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works were buried in response to a letter from Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius declaring a strict canon of Christian scripture. Most scholars place the composition during the second century, while some have proposed dates as late as 250 AD and others have traced its signs of origins back to 60 AD. Some scholars have seen it as evidence of the existence of a "Q source" that might have been 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, though most conclude that Thomas depends on or harmonizes the Synoptics. The Coptic language, Coptic-language text, the second of seven contained in what scholars have designated as Nag Hammadi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikveh
A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ritual purity. 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, according to Halakha, halacha, a Jewish community is required to construct a kosher mikveh even before building a synagogue, and must go to the extreme of selling Torah scrolls, or even a synagogue if necessary, to provide funding for its construction. Etymology Formed from the Semitic root ק-ו-ה (''q-w-h'', "collect"). In the Hebrew Bible, the word is employed in the sense of "collection", including in the phrase מקוה המים (''miqwêh hammayim'', "collection of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritual Washing In Judaism
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. ''Tevilah'' () 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 his clothes; and ... [...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 seem to have been done either by immersion or by pouring water on the head three times. 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 Anabapti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masiqta
The masiqta () 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. Masiqtas are also used to consecrate houses of worship ('' bit manda''). 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 ( ; roughly equivalent to the '' psyche'' or " ego" in Greek philosophy) and spirit ( ; 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 ''ʿuṣṭun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamasha (ablution)
In Mandaeism, tamasha or ṭamaša () 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 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 immersed into water by a priest, not by themselves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masbuta
Maṣbuta (; pronounced ''maṣwottā'' in Neo-Mandaic) is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion. Overview Mandaeans revere John the Baptist and practice frequent baptism (''masbuta'') as ritual 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''). Baptism for Mandaeans consists of a triple full immersion in water, a triple signing of the forehead with water (in which the priest puts his fingers on the baptized person's forehead and moves it from right to left), and a triple drinking of water. The 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 handclasp ('' kušṭa'', "hand of truth") with the priest, using right hands only. The final blessing involves the priest laying his right hand on the baptized person's he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley (born Jorunn Jacobsen, 1944) is a Norwegian-American religious studies scholar and historian of religion known for her work on Mandaeism and Gnosticism. She was a former Professor of Religion at Bowdoin College. She is known for translating the '' Scroll of Exalted Kingship'' and other Mandaean texts, as well as for her various books on the Mandaean religion and people. Her interests include Mandaean genealogy and anthropology. Education Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley was born in Norway. She began her undergraduate studies during the 1960s. As an undergraduate student, she studied psychology, philosophy, and Ancient Greek, and eventually became interested in Gnosticism and Mandaeism. In 1971, she went to the University of Uppsala and then studied briefly at the University of Utrecht. She also visited Iran in 1973 to conduct fieldwork on the Mandaeans. In 1975, she began her doctoral studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School and received a Ph.D. in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manichaeism
Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century CE by the Parthian prophet Mani (216–274 CE), in the Sasanian Empire. Manichaeism teaches an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, 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. Mani's teaching was intended to "combine", succeed, and surpass the teachings of Platonism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Marcionism, Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism, Gnostic movements, Ancient Greek religion, Babylonian and other Mesopotamian religions, and mystery cults.Arendzen, John (1 October 1910).Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
