Dosithius Schism

Dositheus was a Samaritan Heresiarch who broke from the legitimate Nazorean Stream headed by Yeshu after the death of John. The Clementine literature speaks of this Dosithius being the teacher of Simon Magus. In the Recognitions of Clement we read:

"For after that John the Baptist was killed, as you yourself also know, when Dositheus had broached his heresy, with thirty other chief disciples, and one woman, who was called Luna--whence also these thirty appear to have been appointed with reference to the number of the days, according to the course of the moon--this Simon ambitious of evil glory, as we have said, goes to Dositheus, and pretending friendship, entreats him, that if any one of those thirty should die, he should straightway substitute him in room of the dead: for it was contrary to their rule either to exceed the fixed number, or to admit any one who was unknown, or not yet proved; whence also the rest, desiring to become worthy of the place and number, are eager in every way to please, according to the institutions of their sect each one of those who aspire after admittance into the number, hoping that he may be deemed worthy to be put into the place of the deceased, when, as we have said, any one dies. Therefore Dositheus, being greatly urged by this man, introduced Simon when a vacancy occurred among the number. Meantime, at the outset, as soon as he was reckoned among the thirty disciples of Dositheus, he began to depreciate Dositheus himself, saying that he did not teach purely or perfectly, and that this was the result not of ill intention, but of ignorance. But Dositheus, when he perceived that Simon was depreciating him, fearing lest his reputation among men might be obscured (for he himself was supposed to be the Standing One), moved with rage, when they met as usual at the school, seized a rod, and began to beat Simon; hut suddenly the rod seemed to pass through his body, as if it had been smoke. On which Dositheus, being astonished, says to him, 'Tell me if thou art the Standing One, that I may adore thee.' And when Simon answered that he was, then Dositheus, perceiving that he himself was not the Standing One, fell down and worshipped him, and gave up his own place as chief to Simon, ordering all the rank of thirty men to obey him; himself taking the inferior place which Simon formerly occupied. Not long after this he died.[1]

Origen states that "Dositheus the Samaritan, after the time of Jesus, wished to persuade the Samaritans that he himself was the Messias prophesied by Moses"[2]

In a desire to be the leader of his own sect, Dositheos rejected Yeshu after Yuhana's death and set up his own school from whence came Simon Magus and the later Mandaeans who were known as Dositheans by certain Arab historians several centuries later. This explains why the Mandaeans of Mohammed's time redacted the older Nazorean texts and interpolated into them certain criticisms of Yeshu and Mohammed like their founder Dositheos had done.

Epiphanius tells us that the Dositheans were a sect which began in the time of the Maccabees and called God only Elohim not Yehovah or Lord. They rejected the normal dates of festivals, insisted that every month had thirty days and that members should bathe every day. Epiphanius wrote that Dositheus finally retired to a cave and there practiced such severe asceticism as to bring his life to a voluntary end. There was indeed a Dosithius at the time of the Maccabees, but this was a different one from the disciple of Yuhana. A fourteenth century Arab source confirms Epiphanius, but adds that this sect lived near Jerusalem and was prosecuted by the High Priest.

Simon-Helen Echo

Yeshu and Miryai ascended to leadership over the legitimate branch of the Nazoreans, and their example inspired other duplicate Orders to emulate them. Simon is often credited with being the first of the heretics, but this is not accurate. Simon was the successor to Dosithius however. Justin tells us that this Simon traveled together with a woman named Helena, whom he declared to be the "First Intelligence," he himself claiming to be the first manifestation of the hidden power of God.[3] He calls himself the manifested power of the great hidden Deity ("Hel Kisai", or "Elkesai"[4]) and "the one who will abide forever"[5] His spouse Helena (Selene, "the Moon") is the mother Wisdom, one with the highest Deity, who came down to earth under that name.[6] These of course are Nazorean ideas fulfilled in Yeshu, Miriam and Miryai.

It is said that Helen had originally been a prostitute, which adds to the similarities between her and Mary of Bethany:

“While teaching in the Phoenician city of Tyre, the divine Simon beheld a courtesan on the roof of a brothel. Her name was Helena, and he recognized her immediately as the current incarnation of Ennoia, His First Thought, the Holy Spirit, the Mother of All. She was the Lost Sheep, forced by her progeny the angels to wander through the centuries from vessel to vessel (including that of Helen of Troy), until she ended up at the brothel in Tyre. He purchased her from her master and she became his constant companion during his travels and teachings. Their reunion represented the beginning of the redemption of the world, and was the model for the process of salvation to Simon's followers.”

A fragment of Simon’s "The Great Announcement” has been preserved wherein he speaks of he “Standing One” who he claimed to be: "This is He who has stood, standeth, and shall stand, a male-female power, after the likeness of the pre-existing Boundless Power, which has neither beginning nor end, but exists in oneness. It was from this Boundless Power that Thought, which had previously been hidden in oneness…"[7]

Peter, in the Clementine teachings condemns these teachings of Simon and flatly states that Simon is not the ”Standing One”:

"For if it belongs to the Son, who arranged heaven and earth, to reveal His unrevealed Father to whomsoever He wishes, you are, as I said, acting most impiously in revealing Him to those to whom He has not revealed Him."

“And Simon said: "But he himself wishes me to reveal him." And Peter said: "You do not understand what I mean, Simon. But listen and understand. When it is said that the Son will reveal Him to whom He wishes, it is meant that such an one is to learn of Him not by instruction, but by revelation only. For it is revelation when that which lies secretly veiled in all the hearts of men is revealed unveiled by His God's own will without any utterance. And thus knowledge comes to one, not because he has been instructed, but because he has understood. And yet the person who understands it cannot demonstrate it to another, since he did not himself receive it by instruction; nor can he reveal it, since he is not himself the Son, unless he maintains that he is himself the Son. But you are not the standing Son. For if you were the Son, assuredly you would know those who are worthy of such a revelation. But you do not know them. For if you knew them, you would do as they do who know[8]

The standing one, or column, is an ancient concept of Nazirutha that implies a perfect being that draws souls upward to heaven. The concept is spoken of even by Ephrem the Syrian:

“Baptism without understanding--is a treasure full yet empty;--since he that receives it is poor in it,--for he understands not--how great are its riches into which he enters and dwells.--For great is the gift within it,--though the mean man perceives not--that he is exalted even as it. Open wide your minds and see, my brethren,--the secret column in the air, whose base is fixed from the midst of the water--unto the door of the Highest Place, like the ladder that Jacob saw.--Lo! by it came down the light unto Baptism,--and by it the soul goes up to Heaven,--that in one love we may be mingled.“ [9]

Dosithius to Zazai

Zazai d-Gawazta, son of Hawa, flourished in 272 AD: This is the date associated with the most famous of the earliest Mandaean copyists, although a woman named Lama daughter of Qidra is the earliest-named copyist in Mandaeism. She lived earlier than Zazai of Gawazta. These ancient scribes are the true founders of modern Mandaeanism, being the main link between them and earlier Dositheans that resulted from a break off branch of Nazoreanism during the first century A.D. These Dosithean are mentioned in several Bahai writings under the name of Sabians (baptizers):

“...when after the martyrdom of the son of Zachariah some of his followers did not turn to the Manifestation of the All-Merciful, that is Jesus and strayed from the way of the Unity of God. They still dwell on earth and are known by some as the Sabeans.” [10]

Lama daughter of Qidra is the earliest-named copyist of the Left Ginza. Zazai is the earliest copyist of the: The Thousand and Twelve Questions, Alma Risaia Zuta, Diwan Masbuta d-Hibil Ziwa, Qolasta, and he is mentioned in the Abahatan Qadmaiia. The language of these works represents a fully developed Babylonian-Aramaic idiom and a poetic skill that has never been matched or surpassed in any later Mandaean literature. The classical period ends with the redaction of the Ginza in the first Muslim century.

After Zazai came the copyist Ramuai son of Qaimat from Tib who seems to have redacted many earlier writings and possibly interpolated the negative remarks therein concerning Christ. This period is known as the Post Classical Mandaic. There is evidence that there is still the classical Mandaic being spoken but already the written literature show the introduction of Arab words and Islamic influences after 639 AD. The Ginza was once again redacted during this time. Mahammed ben Is'haq en-Nedim, in his "Fihrist", written in 987-988 A.D., tells us that the Mogtasilah, or Baptists, were then very numerous in the marsh districts between the Arabian Desert and the Tigris and Euphrates. Their head, he says, was called el'Hasai'h (Elchasai), and he was the original founder of their confession. This el'Hasai'h had a disciple called Schimun. The Mandaeans must therefore be, if the Islamic historians are correct, a blend of the Dositheans and the Elchasaites. This accounts for their numerous scrolls containing anonymously rendered teachings of Yeshu which would have come down to them from the Elchasaite side of their lineage.