The Evil Creator and The Sethians

The idea of a deficient Demiurge was widespread in early Christian times. Why? Between a literal reading of the Hebrew Bible and pagan polemics, the moral and authoritative standing of the creator was fiercely questioned. From Egyptian priests to Gnostic sects, from Paul to Marcion, we read the ancient Yelp reviews of Yahweh. As a bonus, I provide a spanning exposition of the Sethians, including theology, history, culture, and impact.

Astral Guest – Dr. David Litwa, author of The Evil Creator: Origins of an Early Christian Idea.

– TIMESTAMPS –
0:00 PART 1: The Evil Creator and The Sethians: intro
6:58 David Litwa’s book thesis
11:56 The god of Israel as an evil god
20:40 “Yao” in Egyptian means “donkey”
22:32 A donkey-headed god in the Holy of Holies!
24:04 Counter-mythologies all the rage
27:08 Reframing the Bible in its historical settings
30:27 Marcion’s reading of Jehovah’s actions
33:25 Vance’s opinion: Jehvah as a mafia boss
34:50 And then Platonists say: “God was good”
37:09 Jehovah has a mafia-like justice
38:29 John 8:44 and “the father, the Devil”
43:32 Blame the Devil? No, blame the Creator!
47:58 Paul in Litwa’s thesis
53:55 Did Marcion read first Paul or the OT?
55:27 The Devil is not the god of this world
57:33 Litwa’s stance on the term “Gnosticism”
1:05:01 David Litwa’s Patreon
1:09:39 PART 2: Miguel Conner on the Sethians
1:12:23 Sethians’ 1º stage: mystic Jewish
1:16:14 Sethians’ 2º stage: Christian
1:18:38 Sethians’ 3º stage: Platonic
1:20:41 Sethians’ 1º element: A distinctive cosmology
1:23:43 2º Element: Children of Seth as “another seed”
1:24:51 3º Element: Teachings about Sophia
1:27:18 4º Element: Baptism/astral ritual
1:31:33 What happened to the Sethians?
1:35:18 Sethian factoids
1:38:46 Characteristics of Sethian ritual
1:40:56 The Trimorphic Protennoia’s ritual
1:44:08 The Three Steles of Seth’s ritual
1:45:03 The Secret Book of John’s ritual
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