Mandaeans are a small religious sect who maintain an ancient belief resembling that of Gnosticism and that of the Parsis. They are also known as Christians of St. John, Nasoraeans, Sabians, and Subbi. There are about 60,000 Mandaeans worldwide, most…
Mandaeans are a small religious sect who maintain an ancient belief resembling that of Gnosticism and that of the Parsis. They are also known as Christians of St. John, Nasoraeans, Sabians, and Subbi. There are about 60,000 Mandaeans worldwide, most now in Jordan and Syria (having fled there from Iraq), some near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq, others in the area of Shushtar, Iran, and in cities of Asia Minor; emigration has led also to communities in Sweden, Britain, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Their customs and writings indicate early Christian, perhaps pre-Christian, origin. Their system of astrology resembles those of ancient Babylonia and the cults of the Magi in the last centuries B.C. Their emanation system and their dualism suggest a Gnostic origin, but unlike the Gnostics, they abhor asceticism and emphasize fertility. Although some of their practices were influenced by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, they reject all three. The Mandaeans respect St. John the Baptist because of his baptizing, since their principal concern is ritual cleanliness and their chief rite is frequent baptism. The custom, which antedated the baptisms of St. John, stems from the belief that living water is the principle of life. They have a communion sacrament, which is offered for the remembrance of the dead and resembles Parsi ritual meals. Their chief holy book, the Ginza Rba, like their other books, is a compendium of cosmology, cosmogony, prayers, legends, and rituals, written at various times and often contradictory. The origin of the Mandaeans is not known; it is conjectured that they came from a mountainous region N of Babylonia and Persia, where they settled in ancient times; however, more recent scholarship places their origin in Palestine or Syria. The sect is diminishing because younger members tend to apostatize, and because Mandaeans do not practice conversion. They have been discriminated against in Iran under the Islamic republic and have been persecuted in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
By atheistnomads, Mar 27, 2018. Episode 244 - John the Baptist’s religion
Literature:
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince - The Templar Revelation: Secret Guardians of the True Identity of Christ
Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince - The Masks of Christ: Behind the Lies and Cover-ups About the Life of Jesus
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley - The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People
Andrew Philip Smith - John the Baptist and the Last Gnostics: The Secret History of the Mandaeans
G.R.S. Mead - Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandaean John-Book
E.S. Drower - Secret Adam: A Study of Nasoraean Gnosis https://archive.org/details/DrowerE.S.TheSecretAdam.AStudyOfNasoraeanGnosis
!!! MUST WATCH - Psychic project on "Freedom from Soul-Loosh Harvesting"!!! https://odysee.com/@SergeantSchultz:2/Samsara-and-Rebirth:b
