Apr 132010
Can someone give me information about this group? They essentially believe that John the Baptist was the real Messiah, and something along the lines of the followers of Jesus stealing the show, and the Paul. I *think* these people are still around today, but not sure. What is their branch of Christianity called?
Thanks!
Obviously, by definition, they would not rightfully be called Christian.
I’ve never heard of this sect, whoever they are, but if they exist they are not Christian.
It’s not a branch of Christianity
Possibly some group of Gnostics believe the messiah was John the Baptist, but they cannot be considered “Christian”.
Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Mandaic: Mandaiuta, Arabic: مندائية Mandā’iyya, Persian: مندائیان) is a monotheistic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, Aram and especially John the Baptist.
Mandaeism has historically been practiced primarily around the lower Euphrates and Tigris and the rivers that surround the Shatt-al-Arab waterway, part of southern Iraq and Khuzestan Province in Iran. There are thought to be between 60,000 and 70,000 Mandaeans worldwide, and until the 2003 Iraq war, almost all of them lived in Iraq. Most Iraqi Mandaeans have since fled the country under the threat of violence by other Iraqis and the turmoil of the war. By 2007, the population of Iraqi Mandaeans had fallen to approximately 5,000. Most Iraqi Mandaeans now live in Syria and Jordan, with smaller populations in Sweden, Australia, the United States, and other Western countries.
The Mandaeans may well be the only sect from late Antiquity to identify themselves explicitly as Gnostics. Certainly, the Mandaean religion shares much with the ensemble of sects labelled as Gnostics, which date to the 1st century AD and the following centuries; however, there are crucial differences, particularly in the realm of the behavioral ethics of the laity.
Even John the Baptist said “there is another coming whose sandals I am not worthy to tie” (I paraphrase. I would love to see what they base this belief on.
Mandaean view
John the Baptist plays a large part in some Mandaean writings, especially those dating from the Islamic period.[59] Mandaeans highly revere him and may possibly have some remote connection with his original disciples.[3] They believe John the Baptist, called Yahya in the Sidra d-Yahia (”Book of John”), was the last and greatest of the prophets. While Mandaeans agree that he baptized Jesus (Issa), they reject the latter as either a saviour or prophet. They view John as the only true Messiah. According to the text of the Ginza Rba, John died at the hand of an angel. The angel appeared as a three-year-old child, coming to John for baptism. John knew the angel for what it was, and that once he touched its hand, he would die immediately. John performed the baptism anyway, and died in the process. Afterward, the angel covered John’s body with mud.
I think they were the Mandaeans. If they believed that JtB was the Messiah then they are not part of any branch of Christianity.
Not a christian group if they believe that.