What did the ophites believe?
Much of the serpent worship and the occult ritualism was probably symbolic of certain esoteric knowledge. The Ophites acknowledged Jesus as the savior, but rejected the importance of the crucifixion; Christ came to reveal gnosis (knowledge), not to die for people’s sins.
Is Sophia the serpent?
From ancient Greek philosophy, the Ouroboros, a snake-serpent eating its own tail, is the Gnostic symbol of eternity, rebirth and the unity of everything, representing both the sun and soul of the world.
Who was Abraxas?
As a demon Collin de Plancy’s Infernal Dictionary, Abraxas (or Abracax) is labeled the “supreme God” of the Basilidians, whom he describes as “heretics of the second century”. He further indicated the Basilidians attributed to Abraxas the rule over “365 skies” and “365 virtues”.
What is this sweet snake that is believed to be named after the Persian for bread and the ancient name for China?
“The black-and-white banded krait [Suzhen’s krait] is one of the snakes most similar to the white snake in nature, so we decided to name it after Bai Su Zhen,” the researchers said in a statement.
How does Gnosticism differ from Christianity?
Gnostics were dualists and worshipped two (or more) gods; Christians were monists and worshipped one God. Gnostics focused on eradication of ignorance; Christian concern was the eradication of sin.
Do Gnostics believe in God?
Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. Those bodies and the material world, created by an inferior being, are therefore evil.
What is the difference between apostasy and heresy?
Heresy, then, was a departure from the unity of the faith, while believing to subscribe to the Christian faith. Heresy, denial or doubt of any defined doctrine, is sharply distinguished from apostasy, which denotes deliberate abandonment of the Christian faith itself.
Is Sophia God’s wife?
According to one Gnostic myth the shaping of the material world was the result of Sophia, who was often decribed as an emanation of eternal light, an “immaculate mirror of God’s activity,” and as “the spouse of the Lord.” Through her desire to “know the Father”, she was cast out of the Pleroma (the gnostic heaven) and …
Who is Divine Sophia?
Sophia is the Greek goddess of mythology archetype of spiritual wisdom in women’s spirituality circles, in which she is viewed as the Divine Feminine. Sophia was a major figure in the beliefs of first century Gnostic Christians, who were denounced as heretics and persecuted in the fourth century.
Why are the Ophites the head of all heresies?
Philaster, an author of the fourth century, places the Ophites, the Cainites, and the Sethites at the head of all heresies (ch. 1-3), because he holds that they owed their origin to the serpent (the devil).
Who are the Ophites and what did they do?
The Ophites, also called Ophians (Greek Ὀφιανοί Ophianoi, from ὄφις ophis “snake”), were a Christian Gnostic sect depicted by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) in a lost work, the Syntagma (“arrangement”).
How did Hippolytus come up with the name Ophite?
It is possible rather than an actual sectarian name Hippolytus may have invented “Ophite” as a generic term for what he considered heretical speculations concerning the serpent of Genesis or Moses.
Where did the name Ophites come from in the Bible?
Irenæus, who, toward the end of the second century, wrote a history of heresy, did not know the Gnostics under the name of “Ophites”; but Clement (“Stromata,” vii. 17, § 108) mentions beside the “Cainists” ( see Cain) the “Ophians” (Οφιανοί), saying that their name is derived from the object of their worship.