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[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Art I. New Testament 1. Sources John the Baptist is the Jewish preacher and prophet who baptized Jesus. Flavius Josephus ( Ant. XVIII5:2 [116–119]), the four gospels, and the Book of Acts are the only six texts we can use for the reconstruction of his historical figure. In Luke's account John was born of a priestly family during the reign of Herod the Great (46–4 bce). Mark, Matthew, and Josephus report that he was executed by Herod Antipas (4 bce–39 ce). Josephus places John's execution prior to the victory of Aretas, king of Nabataeans, …

How one evaluates the impact that Mandaeism had on the origins and early history of Christianity will depend on one’s opinion regarding the origins and early history of Mandaeism itself. In the first half of the 20th century, particularly between the two World Wars, the so-called Mandaic fever affected New Testament scholarship; many believed that Mandaeism was a pre-Christian, baptistic gnostic movement that influenced some formative stage of Christianity, particularly the Johannine com…

an ethnic group (also called Nasoreans or Ar. Ṣābeʾin) belonging to one of the less represented religions of the Near East.MANDAEANS i. HISTORY MANDAEANS, an ethnic group (also called Nasoreans or Ar. Ṣābeʾin) belonging to one of the less represented religions of the Near East. The term “Mandaeans” ( mandāyi) is not an original self-designation (see ii). From pre-Islamic times to the present, they have lived in southern Iraq and southwestern Iran (Khuzestan), but since the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) and later upheavals in the region, they are als…