Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandaean John-Book

Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandaean John-Book PDF

Author: G. R. S. Mead

Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 3849621774

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This is the extended and annotated edition including * an extensive annotation of almost 10.000 words about the history and basics of Gnosticism, written by Wilhelm Bousset * an interactive table-of-contents * perfect formatting for electronic reading devices The main materials contained in these pages will certainly be new for the vast majority of readers. Moreover the Mandæan narratives, legends and discourses are not only interesting because of their own distinctive matter and manner, but they are also arresting; for they raise a number of problems, some of which are far-reaching and one is fraught with implications of immense importance. The definite solutions of these problems, however, lie in the future, and the most important of them will perhaps never be reached; for, in the absence of straightforward historical information, general agreement on any subject that concerns Christian origins immediately or even indirectly is now well-nigh a psychological impossibility.

Gnostic John the Baptizer

Gnostic John the Baptizer PDF

Author: G. R. S. Mead

Publisher:

Published: 2020-07-16

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13:

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Chapters include: John the Baptist and Christian Origins; From the John-Book of the Mandæans (Introduction, The Gnostic John the Baptizer, The Story of the Breach with Judaism, Some Typical Extracts); The Slavonic Josepus' Account of the Baptist and Jesus; and, The Fourth Gospel Proem.

Gnostic John the Baptizer

Gnostic John the Baptizer PDF

Author: G. R. S. Mead

Publisher:

Published: 2020-04-17

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13:

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Gnostic John the Baptizer (Selections from the Mandaean John-Book), was written by English historian, writer, editor, translator and Theosophist G.R.S. Mead, and originally published in 1924.In this work, Mead turns his hand to illustrating the beliefs of the Mandaeans regarding John the Baptist, who are a small and little-known religious community living mainly in Iraq. The group are the last group of traditional Gnostics left in the world, and because of this, their beliefs present a fascinating study of living Gnosticism. Whilst not Christians per se, they trace their lineage back to John the Baptist, of the Christian tradition, and before, to be commonly known as the Nazoraeans, however, they hold themselves aside from both Christianity and Judaism, both of which they regard, in true Gnostic fashion, as perverted versions of the true faith.

Gnostic John the Baptizer

Gnostic John the Baptizer PDF

Author: G. R. S. Mead

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 3734776325

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THE main materials contained in these pages will certainly be new for the vast majority of readers. Moreover the Mandæan narratives, legends and discourses are not only interesting because of their own distinctive matter and manner, but they are also arresting; for they raise a number of problems, some of which are far-reaching and one is fraught with implications of immense importance. The definite solutions of these problems, however, lie in the future, and the most important of them will perhaps never be reached; for, in the absence of straightforward historical information, general agreement on any subject that concerns Christian origins immediately or even indirectly is now well-nigh a psychological impossibility. The writer's intention in publishing these selections is not to speculate about the problems, for we are not yet in a position to state them with sufficient accuracy, but the very modest undertaking of making accessible for English readers some specimens of narrative and doctrine from one collection only of the traditional gnostic material which the Mandæan scribes have preserved to our own day through centuries of copying, and which hands on an early literature purporting at least in part to go back to times contemporaneous with Christian origins.

The Mandaean Book of John

The Mandaean Book of John PDF

Author: Charles G. Häberl

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2019-11-18

Total Pages: 474

ISBN-13: 3110487861

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Given the degree of popular fascination with Gnostic religions, it is surprising how few pay attention to the one such religion that has survived from antiquity until the present day: Mandaism. Mandaeans, who esteem John the Baptist as the most famous adherent to their religion, have in our time found themselves driven from their historic homelands by war and oppression. Today, they are a community in crisis, but they provide us with unparalleled access to a library of ancient Gnostic scriptures, as part of the living tradition that has sustained them across the centuries. Gnostic texts such as these have caught popular interest in recent times, as traditional assumptions about the original forms and cultural contexts of related religious traditions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, have been called into question. However, we can learn only so much from texts in isolation from their own contexts. Mandaean literature uniquely allows us not only to increase our knowledge about Gnosticism, and by extension all these other religions, but also to observe the relationship between Gnostic texts, rituals, beliefs, and living practices, both historically and in the present day.