Most modern Christian groups practice baptism. The ritual itself differs widely– some baptize by fully immersing an individual in water (even babies!), while others practice baptism by sprinkling water on the head (a practice called affusion). The faithful have also differed in terms of who should be baptized. Should only professing individuals be baptized? Children? And what does baptism actually signify? 
Partisan thinkers will argue that their belief system, whatever that happens to be, goes back to the dawn of Christendom. However, even in its origins, Christianity was very diverse. For example: different Christian sects such as the Valentinians and the Sethians had diverse opinions on the matter (and often diverse opinions amongst themselves).
In this post, we’re going to explore baptism liturgy in the Sethian tradition as it’s described in the treatise, The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit. As usual, it’s pulling from Meyer’s excellent translation; if you don’t have a copy, I encourage you to pick up your own. As we look at it, we’ll find a fascinating take on baptism that differs from almost all widely practiced modern perspectives!
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Table of Contents
Who Were The Sethians?
The question of who the Sethians were is complicated and doesn’t allow for easy answers– certainly not short ones! We’ll summarize here, but other blog posts will go into greater question on this topic and why it’s not simple to answer.
For our purposes, let’s say that the Sethians were early Christians (often called “Gnostic” for various reasons, some more fair than others) who spoke very highly of a figure named Seth, understood in the work we’re reading from (The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit) to be the incorruptible of the incorruptible Adamas.
Adamas was the first human being, who radiated or emanated as light from the Mother, a living power named Mirothea. Adamas requested that a child emanate from himself (not through intercourse with a partner), and the generations which followed from Seth– called the seed of Seth, the seed of the Father, or the seed of great Seth– are the “incorruptible spiritual assembly” (the “ekklesia”, or church).
It is Seth who will come to institute baptism for Christians, for his offspring.
Why Did Seth Institute Baptism?
In The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit, Seth is understood to have “been clothed” in “the living Jesus”. The Word, the living Jesus, was the vessel through which Seth “instituted the holy baptism that surpasses heaven”. Why would Seth do this?
One section notes that, in establishing baptism, Seth “established those who are brought in and go out”, and in order to equip them with “armor of the knowledge of truth, with incorruptible, invincible power”.
Another passage describes this more elegantly:
He did this to save the generation that went astray,
by means of the destruction of the world,
and baptism through a body begotten by the word,
which great Seth prepared for himself,
mystically, through the virgin,
that the holy people may be conceived by the holy Spirit,
through invisible secret symbols,
through the destruction of world against world
through the destruction of the world
and the god of the thirteen realms,
and the appeals of the holy ineffable incorruptible ones,
in the heart and great light of the Father,
which preexists in his forethought.
It’s pretty clear that Sethian perspectives on who Jesus was differed wildly from most modern understandings!
What Was the Hymn of Baptism for Sethian Christians?
Out of respect for the late Dr. Meyer’s hard work and the copyright of his translation, I’m not going to fully write the text of the hymns and liturgy here. Please refer to your own copy, if you have one, for the complete text. However, the majority of it is included, below. I indicated where sections began and ended with three periods, or ellipses, “…”.
The hymn has two sections, each chanted by a different speaker. The first chanter opens with references to certain mythological underpinnings, then continues:
…
living water
child of the child
glorious name
in truth truly
eternal being
…
in the heart
being who exists
child
forever and ever
you are what you are
you are who you are.
This great name of yours is upon me,
you who lack nothing,
you Self-Generated One,
who are close to me.
I see you,
you who are invisible to all.
Who can comprehend you?
A second speaker then chants a section which includes the following:
Having known you,
I have now mingled with your constancy.
I have armed myself with the armor of light.
I have become bright.
The Mother was there for the lovely beauty of grace.
So I have stretched out my two hands.
I have been formed in the circle of the riches of light
in my breast,
giving form to the many beings
produced in light beyond reproach.
In truth I shall declare your glory,
I have comprehended you:
yours, Jesus;
look,
forever
forever…
O Jesus
O aeon, aeon,
God of silence,
I honor you completely.
You are my place of rest
…
formless one existing among formless ones,
raising the person by whom you will purify me into
our life,
according to your imperishable name.
So the sweet smell of life is within me.
I have mixed it with water as a model for all the rulers,
that I may live with you in the peace of the saints,
you who exist forever,
in truth truly.
Upon completion of the baptism, Meyer notes in the introduction to the text, the baptized person has become light and acknowledges that the divine Self-Generated is upon him.
Concluding Thoughts
The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit really focuses on the topic of baptism as it relates to Seth and to Sethian Christians. In this post, we haven’t even tried unpacking the weighty mythological material which precedes and sets the foundation for the hymn of baptism. The treatise is quite dense, and there is quite a bit further one can go in it!
The hymn of Baptism is really quite fascinating, and I find much of it to be beautiful. The site has talked about baptism before in posts like God Is a Dyer, but this is one of the first time we’ve touched on Sethian ideas. Indeed, the baptism actually takes place in part of a broader ritualistic context called the Five Seals, but that’s a whole other conversation that we won’t get into today.
It’s also difficult to discuss Sethian texts without discussing them in the wider context. While I might argue that many Valentinian texts should stand on their own, much of the content in Sethian works tends to build quite explicitly on previous writings. Works such as Three Forms of First Thought and The Revelation of Adam shed significant light upon what happens in texts like this. However, we have to start somewhere!
Interesting in learning more? Have specific questions, or looking for follow-up posts on related topics? Feel free to leave your feedback, below!
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