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Mandaeism – the Sole Extant Tradition of Sethian Gnosticism

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Mandaeism – the Sole Extant Tradition of Sethian Gnosticism ARAM, 22 (2010) 31-59. doi: 10.2143/ARAM.22.0.2131031 MANDAEISM – THE SOLE EXTANT TRADITION OF SETHIAN GNOSTICISM Dr. MARK J. LOFTS (Perth – Australia) Working on the largely unpublished materials from the Nag Hammadi Library (NHL) through the 1960s Hans-Martin Schenke defined Sethian Gnos- ticism only on the basis of features found in the NHL texts. Mandaeism was all but ignored. Even with the publication of the complete NHL, Schenke’s passing comment and footnote on the defilement of baptismal water refers to a possible parallel to Mandaeism, but without calling attention to Seth (Sitil) at all!1 Nevertheless Mandaeism too is unambiguously Sethian but its relation to the other forms of Sethianism (i.e. Sethian Gnosticism generally) has not been specifically studied. This article details the evidence and the issues arising from this connection, emphasizing the astrological connection through Ophitic Gnosticism that elucidates hitherto obscure features of Sethian belief. Follow- ing the formal definition of Sethianism and categorization of Sethian texts, the overall absence of similarities between NHL and Mandaean Sethianism is contrasted with the abundant similarities among NHL Sethian texts. While that invokes the question of the time of origin of Sethianism, Gnosticism per se, and the subsequent ‘evolution’ into NHL, Mandaean and other forms, that question will be ignored in favor of establishing common fundamental Sethian teach- ings i.e. those shared by Mandaeism and NHL Sethianism. The need for detailed study of the Sethian question is all the more pressing due to further complexities arising in the 21st century! Mandaeans themselves, clergy and laity, are now writing about their religion even while discovering the NHL for the first time! Furthermore, since 2006 this has been accentuated with the publication of the Tchacos Codex containing the Gospel of Judas (GJudas), this latter a clearly Sethian text, a status that might also apply to the Book of Allogenes, an associated fragment from the codex. These works have significant implications for the evolution of Sethianism – notably the apparent absence of Cain in Mandaean literature, already resolved by a Mandaean investigator, con- trasting with the claimed origin of the GJudas from a sect called the ‘Cainites’! 1 Schenke p. 606 n.44. Another study claimed that “Sitil… is always mentioned with Hibil and Anos.” (Klijn p. 107), obscuring Seth’s role by converting a general observation on formu- laic and introductory passages into an absolute rule. Contrast their strikingly different roles in book 1 of the Left Ginza (LG). 993793_Aram_22_03_Lofts.indd3793_Aram_22_03_Lofts.indd 3311 118/10/118/10/11 115:115:11 32 MANDAEISM – THE SOLE EXTANT TRADITION OF SETHIAN GNOSTICISM Hence a wider perspective is adopted, based on the parallels uncovered between Mandaeism and the NHL. Highlighted are the Sethian Four Luminar- ies, perhaps the most elaborate of such parallels. Combined with Mandaean evidence, the identity of the hitherto unexplained ‘Samblo’ is revealed. Subse- quently outlined is the strange association between Mandaeism and Gnostic literature concerning the Apostle Thomas. From this arises the ‘Two Labyrinths’ Mystery, i.e. the significance and associations of the two famous labyrinths of the ancient world, in Crete and Egypt, with Mandaeism and Thomas Christian- ity respectively! So what does the labyrinth represent, both for Gnosticism and the ancient world generally? This perplexity is resolved by combining Man- daean and NHL evidence enabling key astrological features of Sethianism to be identified. This in turn allows for the astronomical identification of the ‘celestial’ or ‘upward-flowing’ Yardna (Jordan), so integral to Mandaean teach- ing and ritual. The final conclusion reaffirms the essential identity between Sethian and Ophitic Gnosticism while suggesting potential divisions and polemic among the earliest Sethians. 1. DEFINITION AND SOURCES OF SETHIAN GNOSTICISM For a text or a religious denomination to qualify as Sethian Gnosticism, Seth, the son of Adam as otherwise found in the Old Testament (OT) – i.e. not the Egyptian deity Set – must fulfil a soteriological role. He may be identifi- able with another one-and-only savior e.g. Jesus Christ, be himself the preem- inent or sole savior, or be a comparatively minor savior figure with a specific agenda. This last is closer to the Mandaean situation, where, despite his role as the most perfect ¨ Uthra, Sitil is largely overshadowed by Hibil and Anos.2 Seth may also share the soteriological role both with OT figures and/or other deities familiar from other religious traditions. Josephus described Seth as a man “of excellent character;” his children, while of “like character… were the inventors of that peculiar sort of wisdom which is concerned with the heavenly bodies and their order.”3 While astrology alone is not Gnosticism, the description of Ophitic ‘Serpent-worshipping’ Gnosticism by the Christian heresiologists, particularly Origen and Hippolytus, has led to a consensus that if not identical, Sethian and Ophitic Gnosticism are overlapping systems of thought. There are actually six but formally seven primary sources of Sethianism, i.e. Sethian Gnostics speaking or writing about their own teachings. 2 Buckley (1979) p. 186; also compare (2002) pp. 35-39. 3 Josephus, Antiquities 1:2:3. 993793_Aram_22_03_Lofts.indd3793_Aram_22_03_Lofts.indd 3322 118/10/118/10/11 115:115:11 M.J. LOFTS 33 – Recovered Texts 1. Nag Hammadi Library (Sethian and non-Sethian material) 2. Tchacos Codex (…, GJudas, Book of Allogenes) 3. Berlin Gnostic Codex 8502 (Apocryphon of John only) 4. Untitled Brucian Text (plus Sethian effect in Bruce & Askew Codices) 5. Manichaeism (retention of Seth and earlier Sethian conceptions) – Living Tradition(s) 6. Mandaeism (sole living tradition?) 7. [Druze] Of the first five sources listed, the older material with little modification appears primarily in the first two, source three providing a variant version of the preeminent Sethian NHL text. From the next two sources, Schenke included only the Untitled Brucian Text as authentically Sethian but the associated materials, the Books of Jeu and Pistis Sophia, indicate a residual Sethian influ- ence on the sects utilizing these texts. This situation is paralleled in Man- ichaeism where Sethel maintains a soteriological role (I. Gardner, this issue). That, as claimed in the title, Mandaeism is the sole living Sethian tradi- tion, is belied even by Mandaean tradition, which instead asserts the existence of Mandaeans in Lebanon! While decidedly not Mandaean, the one other liv- ing religious tradition that could nevertheless be considered Sethian is that of the Druze, whose major homeland is Lebanon. While Druze scriptures remain obligatorily off-limits to all outsiders, internet websites claiming Druze origin assert a clearly soteriological role for Seth! In contrast the secondary sources of Sethianism are almost exclusively Chris- tian heresiologists – Irenaeus, Epiphanius, Origen, Theodor bar Koni, Pseudo- Tertullian and the sources recorded in Eusebius. From such authors we can identify with certainty the names of at least 15 Sethian sects!4 Above all, the chapters of Hippolytus’ Elenchos allow us to ascertain the astrological features behind Mandaeism and Gnosticism generally. 2. SETHIAN TEXTS AND SECTS: HARD CORE AND RAGGEDY EDGES The Sethian texts defined by Schenke and reaffirmed by John Turner5 are scattered throughout the 13 NHL codices, being absent only in the ‘hermetic’ codex VI, the Valentinism-dominated codex I and the fragmentary codex XII. 4 Apart from Sethians and Ophites per se, Sethianism embraces Barbeloites, Cainites, Basili- deans, Nicolaitans, Archontics, Melchizedekians, Priscillianists, Valesians and Audians. From Hippolytus we would add Naassenes, Peratae, the Justinus-Baruch sect and that of Monoïmus. Bar Koni adds the Kantaeans and Dostaeans – overdone parodies of Mandaeism – along with the ‘Cainite’ Nirigians. 5 Schenke pp. 588-616; Turner pp. 55-86. 993793_Aram_22_03_Lofts.indd3793_Aram_22_03_Lofts.indd 3333 118/10/118/10/11 115:115:11 34 MANDAEISM – THE SOLE EXTANT TRADITION OF SETHIAN GNOSTICISM The non-NHL work included, the Untitled Brucian Text, has explicit canonical Christian quotations revealing its later origin. All texts originally classified as Sethian have retained this classification into the 21st century, the preeminent work being the Apocryphon of John (AphJohn), named after the Evangelist, not the Baptist. The others are Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit (HBGIS – a.k.a. Coptic Gospel of the Egyptians), Reality of the Archons (RealArch), Apocalypse of Adam, Thought of Norea, Trimorphic Protennoia and three quite fragmentary texts, Zostrianos, Marsanes and Melchizedek. Cutting across the Sethian classification is that extensive investigation of the NHL has revealed that these texts most likely derive from three separate ‘communities’ who pooled their resources. Each of these ‘communities’ (per- haps really an alliance of smaller but cooperative sects) included a copy of the preeminent Sethian NHL text, AphJohn. On the differing quality of the covers and the papyrus used the 13 codices divide crudely into products of the poor (IV, V, VIII & XII), the intermediate (I, VII & XI – but III anomalous) and the wealthy alliance (II, VI, IX, X & XIII) respectively. The poor and intermediate alliances share some other texts, whereas the wealthy alliance shares only Aph- John with the other two, despite codex
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