Zostrianos
Encyclopedia
Zostrianos is a Sethian Gnostic text from the New Testament apocrypha
. The main surviving copies come from the Nag Hammadi library
, but it is heavily damaged (although on a word-by-word basis).
Like Marsenes and Allogenes
, the text concerns a vision received by a man named Zostrianos and explains and enumerates, in great detail, the emanations that the Gnostics said are produced by God (the true, highest, god), in the Gnostic's esoteric cosmology
. Within the text there are indications that the Sethians had developed ideas of monism
, an idea from Neoplatonism
which is thought to have become part of Sethianism towards the end of the 3rd century.
New Testament apocrypha
The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...
. The main surviving copies come from the Nag Hammadi library
Nag Hammadi library
The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. That year, twelve leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by a local peasant named Mohammed Ali Samman...
, but it is heavily damaged (although on a word-by-word basis).
Like Marsenes and Allogenes
Allogenes
Allogenes is a Sethian Gnostic text from the New Testament apocrypha. The main surviving copies come from the Nag Hammadi library, though there are many missing lines. A small fragment also survives in the more recently discovered Codex Tchacos, which may help in filling the gaps.The text concerns...
, the text concerns a vision received by a man named Zostrianos and explains and enumerates, in great detail, the emanations that the Gnostics said are produced by God (the true, highest, god), in the Gnostic's esoteric cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
. Within the text there are indications that the Sethians had developed ideas of monism
Monism
Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry. Accordingly, some philosophers may hold that the universe is one rather than dualistic or pluralistic...
, an idea from Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism , is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists, with its earliest contributor believed to be Plotinus, and his teacher Ammonius Saccas...
which is thought to have become part of Sethianism towards the end of the 3rd century.