Cainites
Template:Short description Template:Gnosticism The Cainites or Cainians (Template:Langx, Kainoi, and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, Kaianoi)<ref>The name is variously written; Καϊνοί (Hippol. Ref. viii. 20; Theodoret, Haer. Fab. i. 15); Caini (Praedest. Cod.); Καϊανισταί (Clem. Alex. Strom. vii. 17), Καϊανοί (Epiphanius, Haer. 38; Origen, contra Celsum, iii. 13, but his translator Gelenius gives Cainani); Caiani (Philast. 2; Augustin. Haer. 18, Praedest. 18, codd.); Gaiana haeresis (Tertullian de Praescrip. 33, and de Bapt. 1), but Jerome writing with a clear reference to the latter passage of Tertullian has Caina (Ep. 83, ad Oceanum, and contra Vigilantium). Elsewhere he seems to have Cainaei (Dial. adv. Lucifer. 33); but many MSS. here have Chaldaei. So also Cainaei (Pseudo-Tertullian, 7), Cainiani (Praedest. Codd.). Irenaeus (i. 31) describes the doctrines of the sect, but gives them no title.</ref> were a heresy allegedly venerating Cain and celebrating him for his sins, described by Irenaeus.
Irenaeus asserts in his Against Heresies. i. 31 that the Cainites are enemies of the God of Israel and venerated everyone who opposed him, including Cain.<ref>Grypeou, Emmanouela, and Helen Spurling, eds. The exegetical encounter between Jews and Christians in late antiquity. Vol. 18. Brill, 2009. p. 119</ref> They would claim fellowship with Esau, Korah, and the men of Sodom. Liberation would be achieved by commiting sins against the Creator.<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 106</ref> He further asserts that their holy scripture is the Gospel of Judas, which he believed to teach immorality. However, since the discovery of primary sources in the Nag Hammadi library, the descriptions by Irenaeus do not match the actual sources,<ref>Dabiri, G., & Ruani, F. (Eds.). (2022). Thecla and medieval sainthood: the Acts of Paul and Thecla in Eastern and Western hagiography. Cambridge University Press. p. 43</ref> and there is no reference to Cain in the sole extant manuscript of the Gospel of Judas.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Although some descriptions attributed to Cainites bear resemblences to certain Gnostic sects, no Gnostic sect held a positive depiction of Cain or encouraged sins.<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 106</ref>
In none of the known Gnostic sources has Cain ever been portrayed in a positive light.<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 101-102</ref> In the Secret Book of John, Cain is identified with Yahweh and the evil brother of Abel (identified with Elohim).<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 99-100</ref> The Apocalypse of Adam, found in the Nag Hammadi library, also portrays Cain, as a son of Yaldabaoth, entirely negatively.<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 102</ref> The Valentinian Gospel of Phillip describes murder as the result of adultery, and blames Cain for introducing murder into the world, following into the footsteps of his demonic father.<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 102</ref> The Cainites did not exist outside the mind of heresiologists and was merely a designation for whatever belief-system they accused of heresy.<ref>Pearson, Birger A. Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity. Fortress Press, 1990. p. 106-107</ref>
The Cainites are also mentioned by his contemporary Tertullian.<ref>Grypeou, Emmanouela, and Helen Spurling, eds. The exegetical encounter between Jews and Christians in late antiquity. Vol. 18. Brill, 2009. p. 119</ref> He describes a Cainite woman using the Acta Pauli as authority for her teachings.<ref>Dabiri, G., & Ruani, F. (Eds.). (2022). Thecla and medieval sainthood: the Acts of Paul and Thecla in Eastern and Western hagiography. Cambridge University Press. p. 43</ref>
In popular cultureEdit
- The book Demian, by Hermann Hesse, extensively draws upon the beliefs of the Cainite sect. The eponymous character Max Demian even convinces the protagonist Emil Sinclair that Christianity had misunderstood Cain's virtue over Abel's.
- The sect is mentioned by Lucifer in The Sandman #22 when talking to Cain in Hell, noting "no greater percentage of them turned up here than of any other religion".
- The sect is included as a dualist heresy in the computer game Crusader Kings 3.
- The Cainites are featured as antagonists in the Spanish HBO series 30 Coins.
- In Vampire: the Masquerade, the Cainites are re-imagined as a heretical vampire sect that persisted secretly into the Middle Ages.
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