Sethites

The Sethites were a Gnostic Christian sect that flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. They derived their name from Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, whom they considered a divine figure and the ancestor of a spiritual lineage. According to Sethite cosmology, Seth was a redeemer and the progenitor of a pure, spiritual race destined to overcome the material world.

Sethite beliefs often emphasized dualism, positing a stark opposition between the spiritual realm, represented by the light and the divine, and the material realm, associated with darkness and the forces of ignorance. They believed that knowledge, or Gnosis, was the key to salvation, enabling individuals to awaken their divine spark and ascend back to the spiritual source. This knowledge was often transmitted through secret teachings and revelations.

Their theological system typically involved a complex hierarchy of aeons and emanations from a supreme, unknowable God. Seth played a crucial role in this cosmology, often seen as an intermediary or even a manifestation of the divine. Sethite literature, though largely lost, is known through the writings of early Church Fathers who debated and refuted their doctrines, and through discoveries like the Nag Hammadi library, which contains texts attributed to or reflecting Sethite thought. While the Sethites eventually faded as a distinct movement, their ideas contributed to the broader tapestry of early Christian and Gnostic thought.