Spirituality & Religious StudiesCainites
The Cainites/Cainians were a heresy allegedly venerating Cain & celebrating him for his sins, as described by Irenaeus.
Irenaeus declares in Against Heresies that the Cainites are enemies of the God of Israel & venerate everyone who opposed him, including Cain.
They would claim fellowship with Esau, Korah, & the men of Sodom. Liberation would be achieved by committing sins against the Creator. He (Irenaeus) further asserts that their holy scripture is the Gospel of Judas, which he believed to teach immorality.
In none of the known Gnostic sources has Cain ever been portrayed in a positive light. In the Secret Book of John, Cain is identified with Yahweh (Yes, you read that correctly!) & the evil brother of Abel (identified with Elohim).
The Apocalypse of Adam (found in the Nag Hammadi library), also depicts Cain as a son of Yaldabaoth, entirely negatively.
The Valentinian Gospel of Phillip (Check out our post on this.) describes murder as the result of adultery & blames Cain for introducing murder into the world, following in the footsteps of his demonic father. The Cainite didn’t exist outside the mind of heresiologists & was merely a designation for whatever belief system they accused of heresy.
The Cainites are also mentioned by his contemporary Tertullian. He describes a Cainite woman using the Acta Pauli (a text allegedly written by Paul).
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