TY - JOUR
AU1 - Pearson, Birger A.
AB -  PARADISE RECONSIDERED IN GNOSTIC MYTHMAKING: RETHINKING SETHIANISM IN LIGHT OF THE OPHITE EVIDENCE . By Tuomas Rasimus . Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies, 68 . Leiden, The Netherlands : Brill 2009 . Pp . xx + 355 ; plates. $169.00 . This book is a revised edition of the author's 2006 dissertation, completed jointly at the University of Helsinki and Laval University in Canada. Part I is an introduction, wherein Rasimus presents the history of scholarship on the Ophites and Gnostic Sethianism. He argues that the “Sethian” system delineated by Schenke and others is only part of a larger whole, and the Ophite materials ought to be taken into account as part of a “Classic Gnostic” system. Part II is entitled “Myth and Innovation,” and compares the Ophite and Sethian speculations on the Serpent, the Creator and Archons, Sophia, and Adam and Christ. He argues for a “Sethianization” of earlier Ophite and Barbeloite myths. Part III is devoted to ritual. Rasimus considers the patristic evidence for Ophite snake worship, which he concludes is tendentious; Origen's claim that the Ophites cursed Christ; and the evidence for Ophite rituals, which consists of both texts and amulets. While some of his 
TI - Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence – By Tuomas Rasimus
JF - Religious Studies Review
DO - 10.1111/j.1748-0922.2010.01427_29.x
DA - 2010-06-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/paradise-reconsidered-in-gnostic-mythmaking-rethinking-sethianism-in-cCzLUXFeiv
SP - 154
VL - 36
IS - 2
DP - DeepDyve
ER -