Five SealsIn Sethian Gnostic texts, the Five Seals are typically described as a baptismal rite involving a series of five full immersions in holy running or "living water," symbolizing spiritual ascension to the divine realm. The Five Seals are frequently mentioned in various Sethian Gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi library. While some scholars consider the Five Seals to be literary symbolism rather than an actual religious ritual, Birger A. Pearson believes that the Five Seals refer to an actual ritual in which the initiate was ritually immersed in water five times.
DémiurgeLe démiurge, ou le créateur, est la déité responsable de la création de l'univers physique dans diverses cosmogonies. Il peut désigner par extension tout créateur d'une œuvre. Le mot vient du grec , démiourgos, formé de « démos », signifiant « gens du commun » (soit « peuple ») et de « ergon », « travail ». Littéralement, le mot signifiait artisan ou fabricant. Au avant notre ère, Platon suppose dans son Timée, que la cause première de l'univers et son créateur sont un bon et sage « démiurge ».
Refutation of All HeresiesThe Refutation of All Heresies (Φιλοσοφούμενα ή κατὰ πασῶν αἱρέσεων ἔλεγχος; Refutatio Omnium Haeresium), also called the Elenchus or Philosophumena, is a compendious Christian polemical work of the early third century, whose attribution to Hippolytus of Rome or an unknown "Pseudo-Hippolytus" is disputed. It catalogues both pagan beliefs and 33 gnostic Christian systems deemed heretical by Hippolytus, making it a major source of information on contemporary opponents of Christian orthodoxy as understood today.
NaassenesThe Naassenes (Greek Naasseni, possibly from Hebrew נָחָשׁ naḥaš, snake) were a Christian Gnostic sect known only through the writings of Hippolytus of Rome. The Naassenes claimed to have been taught their doctrines by Mariamne, a disciple of James the Just. The retention of the Hebrew form shows that their beliefs may represent the earliest stages of Gnosticism. Hippolytus regards them as among the first to be called simply "Gnostics", alleging that they alone have sounded the depths of knowledge.
