|
Sethian Texts
The Sethians (Greek: Σηθιανοί) were one of the main currents of Gnosticism during the 2nd and 3rd century AD, along with Valentinianism and Basilideanism. According to John D. Turner, it originated in the 2nd century AD 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 AD) ''Catalogue of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Setianism
The Temple of Set (ToS) is an Occultism, occult religious organization founded in 1975. A new religious movement and form of Western esotericism, the Temple espouses a religion known as Setianism, whose practitioners are called Setians. This is sometimes identified as a form of Satanism. The Temple was established in the United States in 1975 by Michael Angelo Aquino, Michael Aquino, an American political science, political scientist, military officer, and a high-ranking member of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan. Dissatisfied with LaVey's Materialism, materialistic approach, abolition of regional groups, and commercialization of Church degrees, Aquino resigned and – according to his own claim – embarked on a ritual to invoke Satan, who revealed to him a sacred text called ''The Book of Coming Forth by Night''. According to Aquino, in this work Satan revealed his true name to be that of Set (deity), Set, which had been the name used by his followers in ancient Egyp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syncretic
Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. While syncretism in art and culture is sometimes likened to eclecticism, in the realm of religion, it specifically denotes a more integrated merging of beliefs into a unified system, distinct from eclecticism, which implies a selective adoption of elements from different traditions without necessarily blending them into a new, cohesive belief system. Etymology The English word is first attested in the early 17th century. It is from Modern Latin , drawing on the (), supposedly meaning "Cretan federation". However, this is a spurious etymology derived from the naive idea in Plutarch's 1st-century AD essay on "Fraternal Love (Peri Philadelphias)" in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borborites
According to the ''Panarion'' of Epiphanius of Salamis (ch. 26), and Theodoret's ''Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium'', the Borborites or Borborians (; in Egypt, Phibionites; in other countries, Koddians, Barbelites, Secundians, Socratites, Zacchaeans, Stratiotics) were a Christian Gnostic sect, said to be descended from the Nicolaitans. It is difficult to know for sure the practices of the group, as both Epiphanius and Theodoret were opponents of the group. According to Epiphanius, the sect were libertines who embraced the pleasures of the earthly world. Etymology The word ''Borborite'' comes from the Greek word , meaning "mud"; the name ''Borborites'' can therefore be translated as "filthy ones", and is unlikely to be the term the sect used for themselves. The name ''Koddian'' is claimed by Epiphanius to derive from an Aramaic term for a dish or bowl; J. J. Buckley writes that the likely root, ''kuda'', refers in both Syriac Aramaic and Mandaic Aramaic to a hemorrha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Audianism
Audianism, or Anthropomorphism, was a sect of Christians in the 4th century in Syria and the Pontic–Caspian steppe, named after its founder Audius or Audaeus, who interpreted the text of the First Epistle to Timothy 3:16 to mean that God created man in His image in a literal physical sense. Beliefs The distinguishing beliefs and practices included both theological anthropomorphism and quartodecimanism. * Anthropomorphism holds that God has human form. Audius took the text of Genesis 1:27 literally and held that God created humans to resemble his physical form. * Quartodecimans honoured the death of Jesus on the eve of Passover instead of following the Roman tradition of celebrating Easter on a Sunday. History Audius lived in Syria in the 4th century. His views extended into Scythia. Towards the end of the 4th century, the opinion of the Audians appeared among some African Christians. One Syrian village, Jubb'addin's, name (in Aramaic) means "the well of Audius." In 325 at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archontics
The Archontics, or Archontici, were a Gnostic sect that existed in Palestine, Syria and Armenia, who arose towards the mid 4th century CE. They were thus called from the Greek word , "principalities", or "rulers", by reason that they held the world to have been created and ruled by malevolent ''Archons''. History Epiphanius of Salamis seems to be the earliest Christian writer who speaks of this sect. He relates that a young priest in Palestine named Peter had been charged with heresy, deposed from the office of the priesthood and expelled by Bishop Aëtius. He fled into a part of Arabia, where there was a center of Ebionitism. In his old age, he returned to Palestine, where he lived the life of an anchorite in a cave near Jerusalem and attracted followers by the austerity of his life and the practice of extreme poverty. Shortly before the death of Constantius II (337–361), Eutactus, coming from Egypt, visited the anchorite Peter and was imbued by him with the doctrines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plotinus
Plotinus (; , ''Plōtînos''; – 270 CE) was a Greek Platonist philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher was the self-taught philosopher Ammonius Saccas, who belonged to the Platonic tradition. Historians of the 19th century invented the term "neoplatonism" and applied it to refer to Plotinus and his philosophy, which was vastly influential during late antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. Much of the biographical information about Plotinus comes from Porphyry's preface to his edition of Plotinus' most notable literary work, '' The Enneads''. In his metaphysical writings, Plotinus described three fundamental principles: the One, the Intellect, and the Soul. His works have inspired centuries of pagan, Jewish, Christian, Gnostic, and early Islamic metaphysicians and mystics, including developing precepts that influence mainstream theological concepts within religion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Docetism
In the history of Christianity, docetism (from the ''dokeĩn'' "to seem", ''dókēsis'' "apparition, phantom") was the doctrine that the phenomenon of Jesus, his historical and bodily existence, and above all the human form of Jesus, was mere semblance without any true reality. Broadly, it is taken as the belief that Jesus only seemed to be human, and that his human form was an illusion. The word ''Dokētaí'' ("Illusionists") referring to early groups who denied Jesus's humanity, first occurred in a letter by Bishop Serapion of Antioch (197–203), who discovered the doctrine in the Gospel of Peter, during a pastoral visit to a Christian community using it in Rhosus, and later condemned it as a forgery. It appears to have arisen over theological contentions concerning the meaning, figurative or literal, of a sentence from the Gospel of John: "the Word was made Flesh". Docetism was unequivocally rejected at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. and is regarded as heretical by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anointing
Anointing is the ritual, ritual act of pouring aromatic oil over a person's head or entire body. By extension, the term is also applied to related acts of sprinkling, dousing, or smearing a person or object with any perfumed oil, milk, butter, or other fat. Scented oils are used as perfumes and sharing them is an act of #Hospitality, hospitality. Their use to #Religion, introduce a divine influence or presence is recorded from the earliest times; anointing was thus used as #Health, a form of medicine, thought to rid persons and things of dangerous spirits and demons which were believed to cause disease. In present usage, "anointing" is typically used for ceremonial blessings such as the #Royalty, coronation of European monarchs. This continues an #Judaism, earlier Hebrew practice most famously observed in the anointings of Aaron as high priest and both Saul and David by the prophet Samuel (Bible), Samuel. The concept is important to the figure of the Messiah or the Christ (Hebre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autogenes
In Sethian Gnosticism, Autogenes (Meaning "Self-Born One" in Greek) is an emanation or son of Barbelo (along with Kalyptos and Protophanes according to '' Zostrianos''). Autogenes is mentioned in Nag Hammadi texts such as '' Zostrianos'', ''The Three Steles of Seth'', '' Allogenes the Stranger'', and '' Marsanes''. Autogenes in Gnosticism is roughly parallel to the Platonic soul. See also *Aeon (Gnosticism) *Plato's theory of soul Plato's theory of the soul, which was inspired variously by the teachings of Socrates, considered the psyche () to be the essence of a person, being that which decides how people behave. Plato considered this essence to be an incorporeal, etern ... References Gnostic deities {{Gnosticism-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seth
Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, and Eve believed that God had appointed him as a replacement for Abel. Genesis According to the Book of Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old (according to the Masoretic Text), or 230 years old (according to the Septuagint), "a son in his likeness and image". The genealogy repeated at . states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. According to Genesis, Seth died at the age of 912 (that is, 14 years before Noah's birth). Jewish tradition Seth figures in the biblical texts of the ''Life of Adam and Eve'' (the ''Apocalypse of Moses''). It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. While the surviving versions were composed from the e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbelo
Barbēlō (Greek: Βαρβηλώ) refers to the first emanation of God in several forms of Gnostic cosmogony. Barbēlō is often depicted as a supreme female principle, the single passive antecedent of creation in its manifold. This figure is also variously referred to as 'Mother-Father' (hinting at her apparent androgyny), 'The Triple Androgynous Name', or 'Eternal Aeon'. So prominent was her place amongst some Gnostics that some schools were designated as ''Barbeliotae'', Barbēlō worshippers or Barbēlō gnostics. The nature of Barbēlō Nag Hammadi Library In the ''Apocryphon of John'', a tractate in the Nag Hammadi Library containing the most extensive recounting of the Sethian Gnostic creation myth, the Barbēlō is described as "the first power, the glory, Barbēlō, the perfect glory in the aeons, the glory of the revelation". All subsequent acts of creation within the divine sphere (save, crucially, that of the lowest aeon Sophia) occurs through her coaction with Go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
