Sethian Religion

ABOUT SETHIANISM
Sethians view the biblical Seth as their hero, who some believe was reincarnated as Jesus.

Sethianism speaks of a trinity, which is similar to the Christian one. Sethianism takes it's name from Seth, who is the ancestor of Noah and hence the father of all mankind.

Adam instructed Seth in fundamental science, mathematics, astronomy, agriculture and wisdom.

And followers of Seth named themselves after him, to follow his path of study and science, which leads to Enlightenment,
and for some, to Salvation.


According to sources (Nag Hammadi Library) the "Sethians" believed the following:


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THE SETHIAN BELIEF SYSTEM proclaims a trinity of
darkness (1) / light (2) / pure spirit (3).


Through fusion and mixture of these,
all that exists,
comes into being.


Contrary to other beliefs the darkness is not passive nor lazy,
but a counter-force.


This darkness equates to water and the snake.


Darkness bears fruit to a son,
called Nous (4) (reason) that is not of this world,
but a lost particle of light and spirit,
that cannot deliver himself from within.


To free himself, the logos of light becomes "absolute reality" (5).
Deutsch: (Um ihn zu befreien, mache sich der Logos des Lichts dem Nous gleich).
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And that in a nutshell is an ancient belief from 300BCE, that has elements of the trinity. What I like about it, is that it talks about a particle of light and attempts to describe it's behaviour.

It is a very modern sounding interpretation.

We then look at the connection between the Sethians and the Jewish sect of the Samaritans.

A Samaritan by the name of Dositheus claimed to have discovered and transmitted the text "The Three Steles of Seth".

Accordingly then we must leave open the possibility that the Sethian movement could have arisen inside the Samaritan sect of the Dositheans.

http://ww3.haverford.edu/religion/courses/222a/schenke.htm