Sethian Gnosticism: A Study in Early Non-Orthodox Christianity

One of the most well known and documented Gnostic sects is also one of the best understood. The Sethians believed themselves to be of the seed of Seth, or direct descendants, of the third son of Adam, the first man. They used the old and the new testaments as resources, as well as several Gnostic texts. These texts, of the Nag Hammadi library, include the Apocraphon of John, the Gospel of the Egyptians, the Hypostasis of the Archons, On the Origin of the World, the Three Steles of Seth, the Thunder; Perfect Mind, and the Zostrianos, among many more.

Although the Sethians are considered Gnostic Christians, (of the first century C.E.) they were known to incorporate other religious theologies and philosophical ideologies as well. Besides the Gnostic and Judeo-Christian ideals, the Sethians incorporated Neo-Platonic philosophy and eastern oriental concepts as well. They believed, among other things, that they were an incorruptible race, who were not to be ruled over by a king, and that they were the holy chosen people of the savior. They thought of themselves as dwelling both in the material, physical world, and the immortal, spiritual realm simultaneously.

The Sethian mythos is interesting indeed. Their differentiations from Orthodox Christians were many; however, we will discuss the most substantial ones here. First, the Sethian trinity; We all know of the Christian trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, the Sethians, however, saw things a little different.

The Sethian Trinity consisted of the Father, or Invisible Spirit, who is above and beyond the concept of what we call God. He is ineffable and the source of all that is, and is completely perfect. Second and most interestingly, we come to the Mother, or Barbello. The Mother was created by the first thought of the Father, and He vested Her with the qualities of eternal life, foreknowledge, indestructibility, and truth. The Son is the product of a union between the Mother and the Father and is pure light; he is also the Anointed One, or the Christ. This is to say that Seth is the personification of the Son, and Jesus was one of the Seth-Savior incarnations. The Son is responsible for the salvation of the human race, as well as being the creator of the spirit realm.

Things in the Sethian world view get much more interesting when one comes to their version of the creation of the universe (material) and the legend of Sophia (wisdom). The Sethians, as well as many other Gnostics, believed that the material world was created by a lesser god or Demiurge. This Demiurge was the product of Sophia who was a creation of the Trinity. She, as the story goes, decided she wanted to create without the knowledge, or permission, of the Trinity. The result was this Demiurge, known as Yaldabaoth, Saklas (the fool), or Samael (the blind), the former you may recognize from the Jewish scriptures. It is He who is the creator God and the vengeful and jealous God of the Old Testament and the Jews, known as YHWH.

We see now that the Sethians have a very different interpretation of Jewish scripture. So, where does Jesus fit into all of this? Jesus is believed to one of the incarnations of the Son, sent here to awaken us to the True God, the Father, who is the all forgiving, all merciful, and all loving God of the new testament. This does seem to be in opposition to the vengeful and jealous God, who seemed intent on the fact that He was the only one true God in the Old Testament. For further enlightenment on the subject I recommend you look into the Gnostic scriptures and the library of Nag Hammadi.