Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von The Three Steles of Seth
Für wen es gedacht ist
For readers who love ancient religion, Gnostic studies and mystical prayer, and anyone drawn to hymns of praise and worship as a climb toward the source of all things.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
The Three Steles of Seth is a short Sethian text of praise. It survives in Coptic in Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi library, found in Egypt in 1945. Scholars think it was translated from a Greek original, with estimates of its date ranging from the second to the fourth century. No author is known.
The work is made of three hymns attributed to Seth. They are prayers of thanks to three divine beings in rising order. You will hear how the text is arranged, what each stele praises, and how its first readers may have used it.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1Seth and the three stelesFree
- 2The first stele praises the Self-begotten
- 3The second and third steles climb higher
- 4How the steles were used and read
Punkt 1 von 4
Seth and the three steles
The first hymn opens with praise addressed to Geradamas. Seth speaks as his son and gives thanks for his own existence. In Sethian tradition he is the third son of Adam and Eve, and his line is the people who receive true knowledge.
The hymns are attributed to Seth. At the close, the work calls itself a book of fatherhood and says that the son writes it.
A stele is a carved pillar or slab, often used for praise, law or memory in the ancient world. The word suggests that these prayers are meant to last. Readers meet the three steles one after another, and each turns toward a higher being than the one before. The structure already tells you the aim, which is to climb from the lower praise to the highest.
Scholars have noticed that the name Dositheos also belongs to a teacher in other ancient reports. Whether this is the same man is not settled, but Dositheos does not appear in these hymns.
That’s 1 of 4 key points.
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Questions about The Three Steles of Seth
What is the Three Steles of Seth about?
It is a set of three prayers of praise, each said to be carved on a stele by Seth. They address the heavenly Adam, the divine Mother Barbelo, and the highest God, in rising order.
Who was Dositheos in the Three Steles of Seth?
Scholars do not agree on whether he is the same man as other ancient teachers of that name.
Who is Barbelo?
Barbelo is a divine feminine being in Sethian Gnostic writings. She is the first image or thought of the highest God and is often called the Mother. The second stele is addressed to her.
When was the Three Steles of Seth written and where was it found?
Scholars place a Greek original in the second or third century. The Coptic copy is in Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi library, found in Egypt in 1945.
Is the Three Steles of Seth hard to read?
No. It is a short text with a simple plan of three hymns, one after another. Each hymn praises a higher being than the one before, so you always know where you are, and there is no plot to follow.