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THE SHAPE OF EDEM ACCORDING TO JUSTIN THE GNOSTIC BY R. VAN DEN BROEK Justin the Gnostic constructed his system on the presupposition that there were from the beginning three unbegotten principles of the universe. To the third of these principles, called Edem or Israel, Justin assigned the external appearance of a half-maiden, a virgin above and a viper below. In this short study I hope to show that in formulating his ideas about Edem, Justin was influenced by a similar conception of Isis which had been current in Egypt since Hellenistic times. This background of the shape of Edem clarifies to some extent also the dark background of Justin himself, which will lead us to some remarks on the origin of the main themes of Justin's thinking. Hippolytus of Rome, who in his Refutatio (5,23-28) divulged the secret doctrine of Justin basing himself on Justin's book Baruch, was of the opinion that this Gnostic had been inspired by the myth of Heracles and the half-maiden Echidna, as related in Herodotus 4,8-10. In the introduc- tion to his report Hippolytus explicitly states that he will show that one of the many mythological stories contained in Baruch derives from
Vigiliae Christianae – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 1973
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