El ritual gnóstico cristiano (siglos II-IV D.C.)
- Autores: Elena Sol Jiménez
- Directores de la Tesis: Mar Marcos (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad de Cantabria ( España ) en 2019
- Idioma: español
- Títulos paralelos:
- Christian gnostic ritual (2nd-4th century A.D.)
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Ramón Teja Casuso (presid.), Carmen Bernabé Ubieta (secret.), Francesco Berno (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias de la Antigüedad por la Universidad de Cantabria y la Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: UCrea
- Resumen
- español
Esta Tesis doctoral estudia los rituales gnósticos en la Antigüedad, entre los siglos II y IV, a través de un estudio detallado de las fuentes disponibles, tanto heresiológicas como los textos gnósticos. Hubo dos rituales fundamentales en la liturgia gnóstica, al menos de acuerdo con las fuentes disponibles actualmente: bautismo y eucaristía. Estos rituales estuvieron directamente relacionados con las teologías de los diferentes grupos gnósticos, por lo que el análisis de los aspectos dogmáticos constituye una parte muy importante de esta Tesis. Sin él, el significado de los ritos, que varían de uno a otro grupo gnóstico, no podría ser comprensible. Como demostrará esta Tesis, el objeto es complejo, dada la naturaleza esotérica de los textos gnósticos y la naturaleza polémica de las fuentes heresiológicas. Es un tema amplio con matices que sólo un estudio profundo y un análisis comparativo de las fuentes, muy diferentes unas de otras debido a su diversa naturaleza y finalidad, nos permite apreciar.
- English
This PhD thesis aims to study Christian Gnostic rituals in antiquity, between the second and fourth centuries, based on a detailed study of all the available sources, both heresiological and Gnostic texts. Its chronological parameters are defined by the sources themselves: the first ones date from the second century, and the last providing relevant information are from the fourth century. Their rituals were directly related to the theologies of the different Gnostic groups, which were extraordinarily complex, such that the analysis of dogmatic aspects constitutes a very important part of this thesis; without it, the meaning of the rites, which varied between different Gnostic groups, would not be understandable. As this thesis will demonstrate, the subject is complex, given the esoteric nature of the Gnostic texts and the polemical nature of the heresiological literature. It is a topic rife with nuances that only an in-depth study and a comparative analysis of the sources, very different from each other due to their varying natures and objectives, allows us to appreciate.
There were two fundamental rituals in the Gnostic liturgy, at least according to the sources available to us today: baptism and the Eucharist. Between the two the most important, due to its initiatory nature, was baptism, on which we have, consequently, more information. Baptism took different forms depending on the Gnostic group's type of exegesis. In most cases it consisted of immersion in water, accompanied by post-baptismal anointing. In some groups anointing took on great importance, even to the point of becoming the core of the initiatory ritual. In the Gnostic sources contemplative practices are identified too, expressed in baptismal language, even when they did not actually involve immersion in water. In some texts the ritual corresponded to an initiatory ascent through the planetary spheres, through password formulae. In these cases baptismal language is absent, although they refer to the same type of initiatory experience. Information about the Eucharist is scarcer, appearing above all accompanying the initiatory rite in the form of a baptismal Eucharist. The texts present a variety of substances, depending on the group, though the Eucharist with bread and water stands out, compared to the use of wine.
The Gnostic groups in which it is possible to study ritual aspects correspond to the two major divisions identified in the historiography: Valentinians and Sethians. The Valentinians had a mythology that allows us to identify their ritual practices, primarily baptismal, with relative ease, containing descriptions of the baptism of the initiate and the redemption acquired through it, at times expressed in nuptial language referring to salvation in the Gnostic divinity. The Sethian groups are more difficult to elucidate, as their sources feature greater dogmatic diversity than those of the Valentinians. In this thesis we accept as Sethian those texts identified as such by Schenke, which are also those containing the most information on rituals, together with the information about the Ophites found in other sources, identified by Rasimus.
As a whole, we can affirm that gnostic thought added a notion of returning to Christian salvation. The gnostic Christian understood himself as proceeding from a superior divinity, and existing in a temporary state of imperfection, from which he had to free himself through ritual, which afforded him the capacity to be reintegrated into his divine origin. Salvation, then, was not linear, from a sinful state to a saved one, but rather circular, as the beginning and the end are states of perfection. The material world, which represented the intermediate point, was governed by cosmic powers and the imperfect Law of the Old Testament. They had their own order and, sometimes, the capacity to participate in a limited salvation. Between matter and the divine was found the esoteric revelation of gnostic exegesis, which shaped ritual.
Already thoroughly analysed, together with the information provided by heresiologists, the gnostic texts are an important source of information for research on the Christian liturgy of the 2nd to 3rd centuries. Gnostic allegorical exegesis does not constitute a radical change in practice, but rather in the interpretation of the liturgical celebration, save for some specific developments resulting from the greater exegetical independence of some gnostic groups from other Christians, where the ritual acquired more esoteric and exclusive content. In cases such as Valentinian baptism, developed as a perfect form of redemption, it is possible that the liturgical act featured the same organisation of gestures and initiatory meaning as baptism in other Christian groups. The baptismal tradition of the Five Seals could have also evolved towards baptismal practices of a single immersion, more common among Christian groups, instead of the complexity linked to Barbeloite mythology, which is still visible in the Gospel of the Egyptians. In cases such as Zostrianos, the Christian imagery gives way to an individual, contemplative experience linked to Neoplatonic philosophy. An extreme case would be that of gnostic authors who rejected water baptism, but who may have, nevertheless, kept celebrating a liturgy through other gestures, such as anointing, which might have replaced the material allusions attributed to baptism, as revealed in the Second Treatise of the Great Seth. Gnostic sources also represent an important source of information on the Christian rituals of the first centuries. This thesis does not undertake a comparative study of gnostic rituals and those of Christian groups of the Great Church, this constituting a possible focus of future research.
- español
