From the Encyclopedia Britannica (2008)


CAINITES: members of a Gnostic sect mentioned by Irenaeus and other early Christian writers as flourishing in the 2nd century ad, probably in the eastern area of the Roman Empire. The Christian theologian Origen declared that the Cainites had “entirely abandoned Jesus.” Their reinterpretation of Old Testament texts reflected the view that Yahweh (the God of the Jews) was not merely an inferior demiurge, as many Gnostics believed, but that he was positively evil because his creation of the world was perversely designed to prevent the reunion of the divine element in man with the unknown perfect God. The Cainites also reversed biblical values by revering such rejected figures as Cain (whence their name), Esau, and the Sodomites, all of whom were considered to be bearers of an esoteric, saving knowledge (gnosis). These biblical persons were said to have been punished by a jealous, irrational creator called Hystera (Womb). The Cainites also honoured Eve and Judas Iscariot and had gospels bearing their names.