The Book of John is a Mandaean text compiled in the early Islamic period (Buckley, Great Stem of Souls, 227). However, it does not appear to have been written as a consistent narrative by a single author. Rather it is better characterized as a compilation of narratives, some earlier than others, arranged and recomposed to sustain and empower Mandaeans at a time when they were religiously vulnerable. There is evidence that the Book of John was written in order to secure Mandaeans’ status as a “People of the Book” when Islam was on the rise in their locale in the Seventh century. To this end, the book capitalizes on the prophethood of John, who is one of the twenty-five prophets mentioned in the Qur’ān. Such propaganda went a long way to provide legitimacy for Mandaeans, who lived in Muslim controlled territories and were known for their baptisms. That said, ultimately the Book of John was written for Mandaeans themselves. Someone from within their community wove into this book disparate narratives, dialogues and prayers in order to persuade them to maintain their unique gnostic identity within an environment of competing religious identities, especially Jewish, Christian, and Muslim.

The designation Mandaean derives from the Aramaic word mandʿā or knowledge. So Mandaeans are selfdesignated “Knowers” or “Gnostics.” The gnostic currents preserved in the Book of John are quite varied and may appear startling at first glance to those who might be more familiar with gnostic movements from the second and third centuries as evidenced in the heresiological literature and old Coptic codices like those from Nag Hammadi. The same can be said about fourth-century gnostic sources like the Books of Jeu and Pistis Sophia. Even Manichaean materials do not strike easy literary parallels, although Mandaeans appear to have known that Manichaeans existed nearby in the mountains.

There is dispute in the scholarship over the origins of the Mandaean movement and the identity of the Nazoreans. Some early scholars favored a pre-Christian, Palestinian origin (M. Lidzbarski, Ginzā, der Schatz oder das grosse Buch der Mandäer (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1925), vi-xvii; R. Bultmann, “Die Bedeutung der neuerschlossenen mandäischen und manichäischen Quellen für das Verständnis des Johannes evangelium,” Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 24 (1925): 100–146). The Danish scholar V. Schou Pedersen argued that there has to be a Christian stage within the early development of Mandaeism (V.S. Pedersen, Bidrag til an Analyse af de Mandaeiske Skrifter, med henblik paa bestimmelsen af Mandaernas forhold til Jödedom og Kristendom (Aarhus: Universitetsforlaget, 1940). After World War II, the view that Mandaeism has Jewish origins again gained momentum, with Edwin Yamauchi as the outlier (R. Macuch, “Alter und Heimat des Mandäismus nach neuerschlossenen Quellen,” Theologische Literaturzeitung 82 (1957): 401–408; R. Macuch, “Anfänge der Mandäer,” in Die Araber in der Alten Welt, Volume 2, ed. F. Altheim and R. Stiehl (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1965), 76–190; K. Rudolph, “Problems of a History of the Development of the Mandaean Religion,” History of Religions 9 (1969): 210–234, esp. 228; E. Yamauchi, Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A Survey of the Proposed Evidences (Grand Rapids, mi: Eerdmans, 1973), 140–142). He thinks that their origins are Babylonian and can be traced to a non-Jewish sect, similar to the Elchasaites, who took their form of gnosticism to Mesopotamia and blended with a Mesopotamian cult of magic at the end of the second century ce.

While Mandaeans take Nazorean as their self-designation, meaning ‘guardian’ or ‘possessor’ of knowledge, it is also the name that some of the first Christians used for themselves (J.E. Fossum and P. Munoa, Jesus and the Gospels: An Introduction to Gospel Literature and Jesus Studies (Belmont: Wadsworth, 2004), 156–157). This particular Nazorean group relocated to the Euphrates under the leadership of a woman seer and priest named Meryey, who was herself a disaffected Jew and convert to the Nazorean faith.

Adunay is also linked to the sun, which renders him an evil planet engineered to trap humans in an astrological nightmare of human existence and endless purgatories after death. Adunay is responsible for commissioning his demonic Spirit (Ruhā, related to the Hebrew word for spirit, rûaḥ) to write the T0rah, which is characterized as an evil and false book. The Book of John insists that the Torah did not come from the light and has no revelation in it. The false worship of Adunay among Jews is contrasted with the worship among Mandaeans of the true transcendent God, who is the Knowledge of Life. If J#ws knew the true God, the Mandaean text says, they would not attend synagogue and read the T0rah, which is all a lie anyway. J#ws are viewed as credulous slaves to a God who is really a demon. Christianity fares no better in the Book of John. Jesus is flipped. In a series of chapters highlighting the teaching of John, Jesus is made out to be the ultimate religious deceiver. He is remembered as a disciple of John who came to know about the truth through John’s gnostic teachings, only to hijack the truth for fraudulent purposes. John accuses Jesus of lying to Jews and deceiving the priests, abolishing procreation, and undoing the Sabbath. He is characterized as mute, deaf, blind, and downright rotten. His baptism by John only happens after J3sus relentlessly begs for it, and then, when the spirit finally descends upon him, it is the evil Spirit not the holy one from the Christian story. Spirit is said to be behind everything Christians consider precious, including the cross, their baptisms, the Eucharist, and the ordination of their priests.

Ur (possibly related to the Hebrew word for light, ʾôr), the King of Darkness is described as a dragon or monster. He builds up his kingdom by relying on these defections of the light beings. Spirit, in fact, appears to be a light being gone bad, who creates the planets and the Zodiac signs to imprison and influence humanity to do evil as she does.
As for their prophet, Mandaeans turned to John, recrafting his story into a religious book that carried his name. John in this Mandaean narrative has very little in common with John the Baptist in Christian stories. Like Jesus, he is flipped. He is presented in the Book of John as a man like no other person. He originates from the Kingdom of Light as a light being sent down from the upper heights. He enters Elizabeth’s womb when she is overshadowed by a star. John is presented as the great prophet in Jerusalem who takes to the Jordan and teaches Mandaeans the proper way to baptize. His teaching is said to challenge and make void the Torah. His voice and lessons shake the synagogues, quake the Temple, and agitate the Dome of the priests. This is in stark contrast to John’s portrayal in the Christian narrative where he is said to turn the hearts of Jews to the Lord their God and help them remember the holy covenant. The gnostic countercultural message of John is clear in this Mandaean book. Jews who observe the Torah are being deceived, John says. They have been corrupted and will not fare well on judgment day when they stand before the planetary powers as fattened cows ready for slaughter. His gnostic teachings mirror those presented by other light messengers in the Book of John. He calls to those who are caught in wickedness, vanities, and luxuries, ‘Come, buy a path before you!’ They must come to the Jordan for baptism and the sign, in order to rise up to the world of light. If the elect give rewards and love Sunday, they will be carried into the Place of Light.