The Ophites, also called Ophians (Greek Ὀφιανοί Ophianoi, from ὄφις ophis "snake"), were a Christian Gnostic sect depicted by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) in a lost work, the Syntagma ("arrangement").
It is now thought that later accounts of these "Ophites" by Pseudo-Tertullian, Philastrius and Epiphanius of Salamis are all dependent on the lost Syntagma of Hippolytus. It is possible that, rather than an actual sectarian name, Hippolytus may have invented "Ophite" as a generic term for what he considered heretical speculations concerning the serpent of Genesis or Moses.[1]
Apart from the sources directly dependent on Hippolytus (Pseudo-Tertullian, Philastrius and Epiphanius), Origen and Clement of Alexandria also mention the group. The group is mentioned by Irenaeus in Adversus Haereses (1:30).
^"In fact, because the Pseudo-Tertullian Ophite entry is the only one in the catalogue that discusses serpents, Hippolytus may well have used 'Ophite' as a generic term for heretical snake speculations in his Syntagma." Rasimus 2007, p. 432.
source to mention Ophites, and the first source to discuss the connection with serpents. He claims (Haer. 2.1-4) that the Ophites taught that Christ...
up ophite or ophitic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Ophite or Ophitic may refer to: Ophites, an ancient Gnostic sect in Syria and Egypt Ophite or...
square, with words said at the gates of Paradise. Further to this, the Ophites are said by Celsus to add the sayings of prophets, and circles upon circles...
to summon spirits of the deceased. The term "Ophite" refers to the ancient gnostic sect of the Ophites, who revered the Serpent of Eden. The Latin phrase...
venerating the biblical serpent of the Garden of Eden. Therefore, he calls them Ophites, naming after the serpent they are supposed to worship. In this belief...
intended by it corresponds more or less closely with the Yaldabaoth of the Ophites, the great Archon of Basilides, the Elohim of Justinus, etc. The Valentinian...
understood. The Sethians (Latin Sethoitae) are first mentioned, alongside the Ophites, in the 2nd century, by Irenaeus (who was antagonistic towards gnosticism)...
Mystery of Baphomet, by which the Knights Templars, like the Gnostics and Ophites, are convicted of Apostasy, of Idolatry and of moral Impurity, by their...
possession of Gnosis respecting these things. Like Gnosticism in general, the Ophites teach the existence of a Supreme Being, standing infinitely high above...
incomprehensible, and can be perceived only through the Only Begotten (Nous). The Ophites held that the demiurge Ialdabaoth, after coming into conflict with the...
Suriel as one of seven angels who are considered primordial powers by the Ophites. In Gnosticism, Sariel is invoked for his protective powers. He is commemorated...
of the demiurge. According to Origen's Contra Celsum, a sect called the Ophites posited the existence of seven archons, beginning with Iadabaoth or Ialdabaoth...
serpent, instead of being identified with Satan, is seen as a hero by the Ophites. Still other Gnostics believed that Satan's fall, however, came after the...
aus dem Gebiete der Naturwissenschaften, Hamburg 9: 1-19 + Plates I-II. (Ophites ruhstrati, new species, pp. 16–18 + Plate II, figures 6a, 6b, 6d). (in...
declaring that Pherecydes took Ophion and the Ophionidae from the Phoenicians. Ophites Martin Litchfield West, "Three Presocratic Cosmologies." In: The Classical...
extensive outcrops of limestone penetrated by igneous rocks described as ophites (varieties of diabase) and lherzolites (peridotites). At the contacts scapolite...
Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking: Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-474-2670-7. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Basilides"...
male and female. The sect's doctrines were often similar to those of the Ophites and later Jewish Kabbalah. Basilidianism survived until the end of the...
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