Gnosticism is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) above the proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity who is responsible for creating the material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment.
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.
The Apocryphon of John, also called the Secret Book of John or the Secret Revelation of John, is a 2nd-century Sethian Gnostic Christian pseudepigraphical text attributed to John the Apostle. It is one of the texts addressed by Irenaeus in his Against Heresies, placing its composition before 180 AD. It is presented as describing Jesus appearing and giving secret knowledge (gnosis) to his disciple John. The author describes it as having occurred after Jesus had "gone back to the place from which he came".
Zostrianos is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the first tractate of two in Codex VIII of the Nag Hammadi library. It takes up 132 of the 140 pages in the codex, making Zostrianos the longest tractate of the entire library. However the text is extensively damaged, especially in the center, making the document difficult to fully understand. The Coptic manuscript is a translation of a Greek original, likely written in Alexandria in c. 200 AD. In the text, Zostrianos goes on a heavenly journey and receives divine knowledge from the aeons.
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.
The Three Steles of Seth is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the fifth tractate in Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi library. The writing is in Coptic and takes up the last nine pages of the codex.
The Thought of Norea is a Sethian Gnostic text. It is the second of three treatises in Codex IX of the Nag Hammadi library texts, taking up pages 27–29 of the codex's 74 pages. The text consists of only 52 lines, making it one of the shortest treatises in the entire library. The work is untitled; editor Birger A. Pearson created the title from the phrase "the thought of Norea" that appears in the final sentence of the text. The text expands Norea's plea for deliverance from the archons in Hypostasis of the Archons. It is divided into four parts: an invocation, Norea's cry and deliverance, her activity in the Pleroma, and salvation.
Allogenes is a series of Gnostic texts. The main character in these texts is Allogenes, which translates as 'stranger,' 'foreigner,' or 'of another race.' The first text discovered was Allogenes as the third tractate in Codex XI of the Nag Hammadi library. The Coptic manuscript is a translation of a Greek original, likely written in Alexandria before 300 AD. In this text, containing Middle Platonic or Neoplatonic elements, Allogenes receives divine revelations.
Trimorphic Protennoia or Three Forms of First Thought is a Sethian Gnostic text from the New Testament apocrypha. The only surviving copy comes from the Nag Hammadi library. The text describes three descents using the voice of Barbelo in first person. The voice is the source of life, knowledge, and the first thought. The voice is said to have three names, three masculinities, and three powers, and it is described as androgynous. It explains that Sophia descended to help counter the plan of the demon Yaldabaoth and the archons. The speaker invites the reader to enter the high perfect light and receive glory, enthronement, and 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 immersion as following the Biblical example.
Living water is a biblical term which appears in both the Old and New Testaments. In Jeremiah 2:13 and 17:13, the prophet describes God as "the spring of living water", who has been forsaken by his chosen people Israel. Later, the prophet Zechariah described Jerusalem as a source of "living water", "half [flowing] east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter". The Pulpit Commentary notes that the city of Jerusalem "was, as we know, abundantly supplied with water by many conduits and subterranean channels; but standing, as it does, surrounded by hills higher than itself, it is physically impossible that the waters could literally flow as stated. The description is symbolical …" However, this does not take into the account the various topological changes prophesied in the previous verses, such as Zechariah 14:4: "On that day His feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward."
Archons, in Gnosticism and religions closely related to it, are the builders of the physical universe. Among the Archontics, Ophites, Sethians and in the writings of Nag Hammadi library, the archons are rulers, each related to one of seven planets; they prevent souls from leaving the material realm. The political connotation of their name reflects rejection of the governmental system, as flawed without chance of true salvation. In Manichaeism, the archons are the rulers of a realm within the "Kingdom of Darkness", who together make up the Prince of Darkness. In The Reality of the Rulers, the physical appearance of Archons is described as hermaphroditic, with their faces being those of beasts.
Maṣbuta is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion.
In Sethian Gnosticism, a luminary is an angel-like being. Four luminaries are typically listed in Sethian Gnostic texts, such as the Secret Book of John, the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, and Zostrianos. The luminaries are considered to be emanations of the supreme divine triad consisting of the Father, the Mother (Barbelo), and the Child (Autogenes). Listed from highest to lowest hierarchical order, they are:
- Harmozel
- Oroiael
- Daveithe
- Eleleth
In Mandaeism, Bihram or Bihram Rabba is an uthra who presides over the masbuta, or baptism ritual. Bihram is mentioned in Mandaean texts such as the Qolasta. Many Mandaean masbuta ritual prayers invoke the name of Bihram.
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.
In Mandaeism, rishama (rišama) is a daily ablution ritual. Unlike the masbuta, it does not require the assistance of a priest. Rishama (signing) is performed before prayers and involves washing the face and limbs while reciting specific prayers such as the rushma. It is performed daily, before sunrise, with hair covered and after evacuation of bowels, or before religious ceremonies.
In Sethian Gnostic texts, Micheus, Michar, and Mnesinous are the three heavenly spirits that preside over the rite of baptism, performed in the wellspring of Living Water. They are mentioned in the Nag Hammadi tractates of the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, Trimorphic Protennoia, Zostrianos, and Apocalypse of Adam. In the texts, the trio is frequently mentioned along with Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus, the name of the Living Water.
In Sethian Gnostic texts, Yesseus Mazareus Yessedekeus is the personification of the Living Water. He is mentioned in the Nag Hammadi tractates of the Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, Zostrianos, and Apocalypse of Adam.
