Mandaeans: Mysteries and Misunderstandings

The Mandaeans and related topics have gotten mentions in the blogosphere and elsewhere online recently, and so I thought I would round up some of those instances:

Brian LePort has been teaching about John the Baptist, and in the process, has been diving into the Mandaean sources.

Tony Burke noted, as did I, the Mandaeans as a significant omission in Nicola Denzey Lewis’ recent book, Introduction to “Gnosticism”: Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds.

Glenn Snyder noted the problematic treatment of the Mandaeans (and much else) in Robert Price’s recent book, The Amazing Colossal Apostle: The Search for the Historical Paul.

See too Peter Kirby’s treatment of the arguments for and against the authenticity of the passage about John the Baptist in Josephus’ Antiquities.