Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Apocryphal Gnostic Christian text / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth is a Gnostic text.[1] It is the second tractate in Codex VII of the Nag Hammadi library.[1] The Coptic papyrus, widely thought and said to have been translated from a Greek original, is entirely preserved and written clearly.[2] The text likely was written near Alexandria c. 200 AD.[3] Seth is not mentioned in the text;[4] instead the title "may be understood to be the second speech or message delivered by Jesus, the manifestation of heavenly Seth," based on Sethian beliefs.[3] Like the Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter,[1] the text takes a docetic view of the crucifixion of Jesus[1][2][4] with the statement that Jesus "did not die in reality but in appearance."[5] Although the heresiologist Irenaeus criticized the supposed Gnostic belief that Simon of Cyrene was a substitute who was crucified instead of Jesus,[4][6] the text of Second Treatise of the Great Seth, in context, says, "It was another, their father, who drank the gall and the vinegar; it was not I. They struck me with the reed; it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon whom they placed the crown of thorns."[5] The text also encourages unity among Gnostics, assuring them that Jesus will help them overcome the false rulers and their followers.[2]