Oct '25 (edited) • General discussion
A word on Sethian Gnosticism
These are some of the things I have started to learn this past year. I know my next deep dive is going to be Gnosticism…. I wonder if Sethian Gnosticism is connected to Jane Robert’s channeled Seth….. according to what we find in the lost gospels and other books (ex. Pistis Sofia) Yeshua did speak extensively about Gnosticism.
I KNOW this is deep stuff! But I’m very interested in what Christ was learning and teaching!!
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Sethian Gnosticism was a branch of ancient Gnosticism that flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, distinguished by its reverence for the biblical Seth, Adam's third son, as the spiritual ancestor of the Gnostics. These Gnostics believed salvation came through gnôsis (secret knowledge) that allowed them to ascend from the material world, created by a lesser demiurge, to the true, spiritual divine realm. Our primary understanding of Sethian Gnosticism comes from texts found in the Nag Hammadi library.
Key Beliefs
Seth as Spiritual Ancestor: Sethians identified with Seth, seeing him as the first to understand the flawed nature of the material world and the first to initiate a path to spiritual liberation.
Dualism: A fundamental belief was that the material world was a lower reality created by a lesser deity (the demiurge) and that the true reality was spiritual.
Salvation through Knowledge: Unlike mainstream Christianity, which emphasized faith, Sethian Gnostics saw knowledge (gnôsis) as the path to salvation and to return to the true spiritual realm.
The Demiurge: A divine being, often a creator figure distinct from the true God, was believed to have created the flawed physical world and its traps.
Ritual and Ascent: Through ritual and understanding these cosmic myths, Sethians believed they could ascend through various spiritual levels and escape the demiurge's control.
Origins and Evidence
Hellenistic Jewish Roots: Sethian Gnosticism originated in the 2nd century AD as a blend of Hellenistic Judaism, Christianity, and Middle Platonism.
Nag Hammadi Discovery: Most of what is known about Sethian Gnosticism comes from the Nag Hammadi collection of Coptic manuscripts, discovered in 1945, which includes numerous Sethian texts.
Heresiological Writings: Writings by early Christian theologians like Irenaeus (2nd century CE) and Hippolytus of Rome (3rd century CE) also describe these Gnostics, though often negatively.
Relationship with Christianity
Competing Tradition: Sethian Gnosticism emerged as a religious alternative to mainstream Christianity, though it drew from its stories and figures, including Seth and Jesus.
Focus on Teachings: While mainstream Christianity often emphasized Jesus's actions (like his crucifixion), Sethians focused more on his teachings and the pursuit of secret knowledge.
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A word on Sethian Gnosticism
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