Marsanes
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Marsanes is a Sethian Gnostic text from the New Testament apocrypha. Scholars speculate that the text was originally written by a Syrian in Greek. Like Zostrianos, and Allogenes, the text describes a very elaborate esoteric cosmogony of successive emanations from an original God, as revealed by Marsanes, who is recognized as a Gnostic prophet.
Within the text there are indications that the Sethians had developed ideas of monism, an idea comparable to Heracleon's notion of universal perfection and permanence as expressed through the constancy of the total mass of things within it (that is, all matter in the universe may only change form, and may not be created or destroyed), and the later Stoic insistence of nothing existing beyond the material.
Common Gnostic thought is especially prominent through the text’s discussion on the power of sacred knowledge, which can allow readers to ascend through the levels of the universe until they reach the highest heaven where God resides.
Year: 270-330 AD
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IMPORTANT: All Scripture text has context and background. Scripture should never be read literally or in isolation. Always seek clarification from religious scholars and teachers. In general, Scripture adheres to four principles: (1) Literal Meaning - What the Scripture says (2) Historical Setting - The story events; how the Scripture was understood in its time (3) Grammar - The surrounding sentence and paragraph; textual context (4) Synthesis - A comparison with similar Scripture to give a better contextual understanding
