Gnosticism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Persian origins or influences=== Early research into the origins of Gnosticism proposed Persian origins or influences, spreading to Europe and incorporating Jewish elements.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3531}} According to [[Wilhelm Bousset]] (1865–1920), Gnosticism was a form of Iranian and Mesopotamian [[syncretism]],{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3532}} and [[Richard August Reitzenstein]] (1861–1931) situated the origins of Gnosticism in Persia.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3532}} Carsten Colpe (b. 1929) has analyzed and criticised the Iranian hypothesis of Reitzenstein, showing that many of his hypotheses are untenable.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|pp=3534–3535}} Nevertheless, Geo Widengren (1907–1996) argued for the origin of Mandaean Gnosticism in [[Mazdean]] (Zoroastrianism) [[Zurvanism]], in conjunction with ideas from the Aramaic Mesopotamian world.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3534}} However, scholars specializing in Mandaeism such as [[Kurt Rudolph]], [[Mark Lidzbarski]], [[Rudolf Macúch]], [[E. S. Drower|Ethel S. Drower]], [[James F. McGrath]], [[Charles G. Häberl]], [[Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley]], and Şinasi Gündüz argue for a Palestinian origin. The majority of these scholars believe that the Mandaeans likely have a historical connection with John the Baptist's inner circle of disciples.<ref name=Drower1960>{{Cite book | last =Drower | first =Ethel Stephana | author-link =E. S. Drower | date =1960 | title =The secret Adam, a study of Nasoraean gnosis | location =London UK | publisher =Clarendon Press | no-pp =true}}</ref>{{sfn|Rudolph|1987|p=4}}<ref name="Gunduz 1994">{{cite journal|title=The Knowledge of Life: The Origins and Early History of the Mandaeans and Their Relation to the Sabians of the Qur'ān and to the Harranians|first=Şinasi|last=Gündüz|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1994|issn=0022-4480|isbn=0-19-922193-6|journal=Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement|volume=3}}</ref><ref name="Buckley 2002"/><ref>McGrath, James F.,{{cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1194&context=facsch_papers|title=Reading the Story of Miriai on Two Levels: Evidence from Mandaean Anti-Jewish Polemic about the Origins and Setting of Early Mandaeism}}ARAM Periodical / (2010): 583–592.</ref><ref>Lidzbarski, Mark 1915 Das Johannesbuch der Mandäer. Giessen: Alfred Töpelmann.</ref><ref>Macuch, Rudolf A Mandaic Dictionary (with E. S. Drower). Oxford: Clarendon Press 1963.</ref><ref>R. Macuch, “Anfänge der Mandäer. Versuch eines geschichtliches Bildes bis zur früh-islamischen Zeit,” chap. 6 of F. Altheim and R. Stiehl, Die Araber in der alten Welt II: Bis zur Reichstrennung, Berlin, 1965.</ref> Charles Häberl, who is also a linguist specializing in [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]], finds Palestinian and Samaritan Aramaic influence on Mandaic and accepts Mandaeans having a "shared Palestinian history with Jews".<ref>Charles Häberl, "Hebraisms in Mandaic" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDSDXF5_K8Q, Mar 3, 2021]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Häberl |first1=Charles |year=2021 |title=Mandaic and the Palestinian Question |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:37489/ |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=141 |issue=1 |pages=171–184 |doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.141.1.0171 |issn=0003-0279 |s2cid=234204741 |doi-access=free}}Journal of the American Oriental Society 141.1 (2021) pp. 171–184.</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page