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The Borborites, the Grossest and Worst Heretics Ever!
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfbird.substack.com
Worst Heretics Ever!
Okay, my friends, this post is not for the squeamish or easily grossed-out among you.
Let me tell you the sad and sordid tale of a heretical group called the Borborites.
A group of baby-eating Gnostics who also consumed a concoction of menstrual blood and semen in their sordid eucharistic celebration. So yes, this is going to be a weird and gross, so consider yourself warned. Read on at your own peril!
Their name, Borborite, comes from the Greek word βόρβορος, which means “dirt,” so it can be translated as "dirty ones.” They are mentioned by heresiologists of the fourth and fifth centuries who refer to this allegedly deviant group of Borborites, who existed in the east, in Armenia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and even made their way to Alexandria in Egypt.
Epiphanius on the Borborites
Our main source about the Borborites is Epiphanius of Salamis (fourth century) who is a mixed bag on ancient heresies. Sometimes he seems to write things well-known and verifiable, other times he appears to be repeating rumours and hearsay, other times he trades in common tropes of deviancy, and very often he is just making stuff up. I put him in the class of “read, but verify.”
Here is a summary of what Epiphanius says about the Borborites in book 26 of his Panarion.
* They go under different names: Borborites, Borborians, Stratiotics, Philbionites, Zacchaeans, and Barbelites.
* They sprang from the Nicolaitians mentioned in Revelation 2. In contrast, Theodoret of Mopseuestia sees them as a variant of Valentinian Gnosticism.
* Their sacred books included Gospel of Eve, Gospel of Philip, Noria, Apocalypse of Adam, the Birth of Mary, Questions of Mary.
* In the so-called “Greater Questions of Mary” they claim that Jesus revealed things to Mary Magdalene.
Jesus took Mary up to a mountain, then praying, Jesus produced a woman from his side, then began to have sex with this woman in front of Mary, and then consumed of his own emission. Jesus purportedly said “Thus we must do, that we may live.” And when Mary was alarmed and fell to the ground, he raised her up and said to her, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
Yes, that’s super-weird, sexual, and esoteric, but meant to be taken symbolically.
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By Michael F. BirdThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit michaelfbird.substack.com
Worst Heretics Ever!
Okay, my friends, this post is not for the squeamish or easily grossed-out among you.
Let me tell you the sad and sordid tale of a heretical group called the Borborites.
A group of baby-eating Gnostics who also consumed a concoction of menstrual blood and semen in their sordid eucharistic celebration. So yes, this is going to be a weird and gross, so consider yourself warned. Read on at your own peril!
Their name, Borborite, comes from the Greek word βόρβορος, which means “dirt,” so it can be translated as "dirty ones.” They are mentioned by heresiologists of the fourth and fifth centuries who refer to this allegedly deviant group of Borborites, who existed in the east, in Armenia, Syria, Mesopotamia, and even made their way to Alexandria in Egypt.
Epiphanius on the Borborites
Our main source about the Borborites is Epiphanius of Salamis (fourth century) who is a mixed bag on ancient heresies. Sometimes he seems to write things well-known and verifiable, other times he appears to be repeating rumours and hearsay, other times he trades in common tropes of deviancy, and very often he is just making stuff up. I put him in the class of “read, but verify.”
Here is a summary of what Epiphanius says about the Borborites in book 26 of his Panarion.
* They go under different names: Borborites, Borborians, Stratiotics, Philbionites, Zacchaeans, and Barbelites.
* They sprang from the Nicolaitians mentioned in Revelation 2. In contrast, Theodoret of Mopseuestia sees them as a variant of Valentinian Gnosticism.
* Their sacred books included Gospel of Eve, Gospel of Philip, Noria, Apocalypse of Adam, the Birth of Mary, Questions of Mary.
* In the so-called “Greater Questions of Mary” they claim that Jesus revealed things to Mary Magdalene.
Jesus took Mary up to a mountain, then praying, Jesus produced a woman from his side, then began to have sex with this woman in front of Mary, and then consumed of his own emission. Jesus purportedly said “Thus we must do, that we may live.” And when Mary was alarmed and fell to the ground, he raised her up and said to her, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
Yes, that’s super-weird, sexual, and esoteric, but meant to be taken symbolically.