|
Ophites
The Ophites, also called Ophians (Ancient Greek, Greek Ὀφιανοί ''Ophianoi'', from ὄφις ''ophis'' "snake"), were a Christian Gnosticism, Gnostic sect depicted by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) in a lost work, the ''Syntagma'' ("arrangement"). It is now thought that later accounts of these "Ophites" by Pseudo-Tertullian, Philastrius and Epiphanius of Salamis are all dependent on the lost ''Syntagma'' of Hippolytus. It is possible that, rather than an actual sectarian name, Hippolytus may have invented "Ophite" as a generic term for what he considered heretical speculations concerning the Serpents in the Bible, serpent of Genesis or Moses. Apart from the sources directly dependent on Hippolytus (Pseudo-Tertullian, Philastrius and Epiphanius), Origen and Clement of Alexandria also mention the group. The group is mentioned by Irenaeus in ''On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, Adversus Haereses''1:30. Pseudo-Tertullian Pseudo-Tertullian (probably the La ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naassenes
The Naassenes (Greek ''Naasseni,'' possibly from Hebrew נָחָשׁ ''naḥaš'', snake) were a Christian Gnosticism, Christian Gnostic sect known only through the accounts in the books known as the ''Philosophumena'' or the ''Refutation of all Heresies'' (which have been attributed to Hippolytus of Rome but may in fact not be by him). Therein, the Naassenes are said to have been taught their doctrines by Mariamne, a disciple of James the Just. The retention of the Hebrew form shows that their beliefs may represent the earliest stages of Gnosticism. The Philosophumena's author regards them as among the first to be called simply "Gnostics", alleging that they alone have sounded the depths of knowledge. Naassene Sermon The Naassenes are said to have had one or more books containing discourses communicated by James, the brother of Jesus, to Mariamne: these treatises were of a mystical, philosophic, devotional, and Exegesis, exegetical character, rather than a cosmological exposition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, [ɣnostiˈkos], 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Early Christianity, early Christian sects. These diverse groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the Proto-orthodox Christianity, proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Generally, in Gnosticism, the Monad (Gnosticism), Monad is the supreme God who emanates divine beings; one, Sophia (Gnosticism), Sophia, creates the flawed demiurge who makes the material world, trapping souls until they regain divine knowledge. 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 co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sophia (Gnosticism)
Sophia ( "Wisdom", "the Sophia") is a figure, along with Knowledge ( ''gnosis'', ), among many of the early Christian knowledge theologies grouped by the Heresiology, heresiologist Irenaeus as (), "knowing". Gnosticism is a 17th-century term expanding the definition of Irenaeus' groups to include other Syncretism, syncretic faiths and the Greco-Roman mysteries. In Gnosticism, Sophia is a feminine figure, analogous to the human soul but also simultaneously one of the feminine aspects of God. Gnostics held that she was the ''syzygy'', or female twin, of Jesus, i.e. the Bride of Christ, and the Holy Spirit of the Trinity. She is occasionally referred to by the term (, ) and as (). In the Nag Hammadi library, Nag Hammadi texts, Sophia is the lowest aeon (Gnosticism), aeon or anthropic emanationism, emanation of the godhead. Gnostic mythos Many Gnostic systems, particularly those of the Gnosticism#Major Gnostic schools and their texts, Syrian or Egyptian, teach that the unive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serpents In The Bible
Serpents () are referred to in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. The Serpent (symbolism), symbol of a serpent or snake played important roles in the religious traditions and cultural life of ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Canaan. The serpent was a symbol of evil power and Chaos (cosmogony), chaos from the underworld as well as a symbol of fertility, life, healing, and rebirth. ''Nāḥāš'' (), Hebrew for "snake", is also associated with divination, including the Semitic root, verb form meaning "to practice divination or fortune-telling". ''Nāḥāš'' occurs in the Torah to identify the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, it is also used in conjunction with ''seraph'' to describe vicious serpents in the wilderness]. The ''Tannin (monster), tannin'', a dragon monster, also occurs throughout the Hebrew Bible. In the Book of Exodus, the staves of Moses and Aaron are turned into serpents, a ''nāḥāš'' for Moses, a ''tann ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perates
The Perates or Peratae (, "to pass through"; Wikt:πέρας, πέρας, "to penetrate") were a Gnostic sect from the 2nd century AD. The ''Philosophumena'' of Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus is our only real source of information on their origin and beliefs. The founders of the school were a certain Euphrates (whom Origen calls the founder of those Ophites to whom Celsus referred about 175 AD) and Celbes, elsewhere called Acembes and Ademes. It had been known from Clement of Alexandria that there was a sect of that name, though he tells nothing as to its tenets. Hippolytus was acquainted with more books of the sect than one. One called ''Oi Proasteioi'' appears to have been of an astrology, astrological character, treating of the influence of the stars upon the human race, and connecting various mythologies with the planetary powers. There was besides a treatise which resembles the doctrine of the Naassenes. Etymology The title "Peratic," as applied to the sect, is explained by C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sethians
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 o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archon (Gnosticism)
Archons (, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes''), 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 Hypostasis of the Archons'', the physical appearance of Archons is described as hermaphroditic, with their faces being those of beasts. Hebdomad A characteristic feature of the Gnostic concept of the universe is the role played in almost all Gnostic systems by the seven world-creating archons, known as the (). These Seven are, in most systems, semi-hostile powers and a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On The Detection And Overthrow Of The So-Called Gnosis
''Against Heresies'' (Koine Greek: Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως, ''Elenchos kai anatropē tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs'', "Refutation and Overthrowal of Knowledge falsely so-called"), sometimes referred to by its Latin title ''Adversus Haereses'', is a work of Christian theology written in Greek about the year 180 by Irenaeus, the bishop of Lugdunum (now Lyon in France). In it, Irenaeus identifies and describes several schools of Gnosticism, and other schools of Christian thought, whose beliefs he rejects as heresy. He contrasts them with orthodox Christianity. Until the discovery of the Library of Nag Hammadi in 1945, ''Against Heresies'' was the best surviving contemporary description of Gnosticism. Today, the treatise remains historically important as one of the first unambiguous attestations of the canonical gospel texts and some of the Pauline epistles. Irenaeus cites from most of the New Testament canon, as well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moses
In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritanism, and one of the most important prophets in Christianity, Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islam, the Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)#Known messengers, Baháʼí Faith, and Table of prophets of Abrahamic religions, other Abrahamic religions. According to both the Bible and the Quran, God in Abrahamic religions, God dictated the Mosaic Law to Moses, which he Mosaic authorship, wrote down in the five books of the Torah. According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born in a period when his people, the Israelites, who were an slavery, enslaved minority, were increasing in population; consequently, the Pharaohs in the Bible#In the Book of Exodus, Egyptian Pharaoh was worried that they might ally themselves with New Kingdom of Egypt, Eg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tatian
Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; ; ; ; – ) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century. Tatian's most influential work is the Diatessaron, a Biblical paraphrase, or "harmony", of the four gospels that became the standard text of the four gospels in the Syriac-speaking churches until the 5th-century, after which it gave way to the four separate gospels in the Peshitta version. Life Concerning the date and place of his birth, little is known beyond what Tatian tells about himself in his ''Oratio ad Graecos'', chap. xlii ('' Ante-Nicene Fathers'', ii. 81–82): that he was born in "the land of the Assyrians", scholarly consensus is that he died , perhaps in Adiabene. He travelled to Rome, where he first encountered Christianity. During his prolonged stay in Rome, according to his own representation, his abhorrence of the pagan cults sparked deep reflections on religious problems. Through the Old Testament, he wrote, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermaphrodite
A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many taxonomic groups of animals, primarily invertebrates, are hermaphrodites, capable of producing viable gametes of both sexes. In the great majority of tunicates, mollusks, and earthworms, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which either partner can act as the female or male. Hermaphroditism is also found in some fish species, but is rare in other vertebrate groups. Most hermaphroditic species exhibit some degree of self-fertilization. The distribution of self-fertilization rates among animals is similar to that of plants, suggesting that similar pressures are operating to direct the evolution of selfing in animals and plants. A rough estimate of the number of hermaphroditic animal species ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hippolytus Of Rome
Hippolytus of Rome ( , ; Romanized: , – ) was a Bishop of Rome and one of the most important second–third centuries Christian theologians, whose provenance, identity and corpus remain elusive to scholars and historians. Suggested communities include Rome, Palestine, Egypt, Anatolia and other regions of the Middle East. The best historians of literature in the ancient church, including Eusebius and Jerome, openly confess they cannot name where Hippolytus the biblical commentator and theologian served in leadership. They had read his works but did not possess evidence of his community. Photios I of Constantinople describes him in his ''Bibliotheca (Photius), Bibliotheca'' (cod. 121) as a disciple of Irenaeus, who was said to be a disciple of Polycarp, and from the context of this passage it is supposed that he suggested that Hippolytus so styled himself. This assertion is doubtful. One older theory asserts he came into conflict with the popes of his time and seems to have heade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
