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The Cainites or Cainians (, ''Kainoi'', and , ''Kaianoi'') were a heresy allegedly venerating
Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
and celebrating him for his sins, described by
Irenaeus Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by oppos ...
. Irenaeus asserts in his ''Against Heresies''. i. 31 that the Cainites are enemies of the God of Israel and venerated everyone who opposed him, including Cain. They would claim fellowship with
Esau Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and by the minor prophet, prophets Obadiah and Malachi. The story of Jacob and Esau reflects the historical relationship between Israel and Edom, aiming ...
,
Korah Korah ( ''Qōraḥ''; ''Qārūn''), son of Izhar, is an individual who appears in the Biblical Book of Numbers of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and four different verses in the Quran, known for leading a rebellion against Moses. Some olde ...
, and the men of Sodom. Liberation would be achieved by committing sins against the Creator. He further asserts that their holy scripture is the
Gospel of Judas The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical religious text. Its content consists of conversations between Jesus and his disciples, especially Judas Iscariot. The only copy of it known to exist is a Coptic language text that is part of the Codex ...
, which he believed to teach immorality. However, since the discovery of primary sources in the
Nag Hammadi library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the Chenoboskion Manuscripts and the Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus c ...
, the descriptions by Irenaeus do not match the actual sources, and there is no reference to Cain in the sole extant manuscript of the Gospel of Judas. Although some descriptions attributed to Cainites bear resemblences to certain Gnostic sects, no Gnostic sect held a positive depiction of Cain or encouraged sins. In none of the known Gnostic sources has Cain ever been portrayed in a positive light. In the Secret Book of John, Cain is identified with
Yahweh Yahweh was an Ancient Semitic religion, ancient Semitic deity of Weather god, weather and List of war deities, war in the History of the ancient Levant, ancient Levant, the national god of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Judah, Judah and Kingdom ...
and the evil brother of Abel (identified with
Elohim ''Elohim'' ( ) is a Hebrew word meaning "gods" or "godhood". Although the word is plural in form, in the Hebrew Bible it most often takes singular verbal or pronominal agreement and refers to a single deity, particularly but not always the Go ...
). The Apocalypse of Adam, found in the
Nag Hammadi library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the Chenoboskion Manuscripts and the Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus c ...
, also portrays Cain, as a son of
Yaldabaoth Yaldabaoth, otherwise known as Jaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth (; ; ; ''Ialtabaôth''), is a malevolent God and demiurge (creator of the material world) according to various Gnostic sects, represented sometimes as a theriomorphic, lion-headed ser ...
, entirely negatively. The Valentinian Gospel of Phillip describes murder as the result of adultery, and blames Cain for introducing murder into the world, following into the footsteps of his demonic father. The Cainites did not exist outside the mind of heresiologists and was merely a designation for whatever belief-system they accused of heresy. The Cainites are also mentioned by his contemporary
Tertullian Tertullian (; ; 155 – 220 AD) was a prolific Early Christianity, early Christian author from Roman Carthage, Carthage in the Africa (Roman province), Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive co ...
. He describes a Cainite woman using the Acta Pauli as authority for her teachings.Dabiri, G., & Ruani, F. (Eds.). (2022). Thecla and medieval sainthood: the Acts of Paul and Thecla in Eastern and Western hagiography. Cambridge University Press. p. 43


In popular culture

*The book ''
Demian ''Demian: The Story of a Boyhood'' is a bildungsroman by Hermann Hesse, first published in 1919 in literature, 1919; a prologue was added in 1960 in literature, 1960. ''Demian'' was first published under the pseudonym "Emil Sinclair", the name of ...
'', by
Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...
, extensively draws upon the beliefs of the ''Cainite'' sect. The eponymous character Max Demian even convinces the protagonist Emil Sinclair that Christianity had misunderstood Cain's virtue over Abel's. *The sect is mentioned by
Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...
in ''The Sandman'' #22 when talking to
Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
in Hell, noting "no greater percentage of them turned up
here Here may refer to: Music * ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994 * ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016 * ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979 * ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012 * ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004 * ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...
than of any other religion". *The sect is included as a dualist heresy in the computer game Crusader Kings 3. *The Cainites are featured as antagonists in the Spanish
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
series ''
30 Coins ''30 Coins'' () is a Spanish mystery horror television series created by Álex de la Iglesia for HBO Europe. Directed and written by De la Iglesia and co-written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría, the series follows Father Vergara, an exorcist who ...
''. *In Vampire: the Masquerade, the Cainites are re-imagined as a heretical vampire sect that persisted secretly into the Middle Ages.


See also

*
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 ...
*
Valentinianism Valentinianism was one of the major Gnostic Christian movements. Founded by Valentinus ( CE – CE) in the 2nd century, its influence spread widely, not just within the Roman Empire but also from northwest Africa to Egypt through to Asia Minor ...


Notes


Bibliography


"Cainites" from the Catholic Encyclopedia
Attribution * * {{Gnosticism-stub Antinomian Gnostic sects Early Gnostic sects Gnostic religions and sects Propaganda