Cainites

As Kindred is called the followers of a Gnostic sect of the second and third century .

The Cainites venerated the Old Testament sinners, such as Cain , Esau , Korach, and the Sodomites , whom they believed had more perfect knowledge of Abel , Enoch , Abraham, and Moses . In contrast to the New Testament Gospels , they also saw in Judas Iscariot not the despised traitor, but the disciple who was the only one who had recognized the truth (compare: Judas Gospel ).

The most important tradition of the sect of the Cainites is the Panarion (refutation of all heresies) of Epiphanius , Bishop of Salamis († 403). Irenaeus of Lyon mentions them in his work adversus haereses (Against the Heresies). Whether Tertullian deals with them in his writing de baptismo (From Baptism) is controversial. Tertullian turns against a certain group that rejects baptism, but in the oldest versions of the text this is not referred to as "Caina", but as "canina" or "Gaiana". Since a rejection of baptism by the Cainites is only documented here, but Gaius' heresy is otherwise unknown, it remains uncertain who Tertullian is addressing.

They are mentioned in the literature, for example in Hermann Hesse's Demian . The Cainites' view of the story of Cain and Abel is described there in the second chapter.

See also

• Kenites

Individual evidence

1. ^ Tertullian: De Baptismo Liber. E. Evans, 1964. Latin and English. Cap. 1, line 5, text-critical apparatus. Retrieved May 20, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Weidemann: Baptism and meal community: Studies on the prehistory of the early church baptismal eucharist . Mohr Siebeck. P. 178 m. Note 3, 2014, ISBN 978-3-16-153362-4 ( google.de [accessed on May 20, 2020]).