Editing Gnosticism (section)

===Persian origins or influences===
Early research into the origins of Gnosticism proposed Persian origins or influences, spreading to Europe and incorporating Jewish elements.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3531}} According to [[Wilhelm Bousset]] (1865–1920), Gnosticism was a form of Iranian and Mesopotamian [[syncretism]],{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3532}} and [[Richard August Reitzenstein]] (1861–1931) situated the origins of Gnosticism in Persia.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3532}}

Carsten Colpe (b. 1929) has analyzed and criticised the Iranian hypothesis of Reitzenstein, showing that many of his hypotheses are untenable.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|pp=3534–3535}} Nevertheless, [[Geo Widengren]] (1907–1996) argued for the origin of Mandaean Gnosticism in [[Mazdean]] (Zoroastrianism) [[Zurvanism]], in conjunction with ideas from the Aramaic Mesopotamian world.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3534}}

However, scholars specializing in Mandaeism such as [[Kurt Rudolph]], [[Mark Lidzbarski]], [[Rudolf Macúch]], [[E. S. Drower|Ethel S. Drower]], [[James F. McGrath]], [[Charles G. Häberl]], [[Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley]], and [[Şinasi Gündüz]] argue for a Judean–Israelite origin. The majority of these scholars believe that the Mandaeans likely have a historical connection with John the Baptist's inner circle of disciples.<ref name=Drower1960>{{Cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel Stephana|author-link=E. S. Drower|date=1960|title=The secret Adam, a study of Nasoraean gnosis|location=London UK|publisher=Clarendon Press|no-pp=true}}</ref>{{sfn|Rudolph|1987|p=4}}<ref name="Gunduz 1994">{{cite journal|title=The Knowledge of Life: The Origins and Early History of the Mandaeans and Their Relation to the Sabians of the Qur'ān and to the Harranians|first=Şinasi|last=Gündüz|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=1994|issn=0022-4480|isbn=0-19-922193-6|journal=Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement|volume=3}}</ref><ref name="Buckley 2002"/><ref>McGrath, James F.,{{cite web|url=https://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1194&context=facsch_papers|title=Reading the Story of Miriai on Two Levels: Evidence from Mandaean Anti-Jewish Polemic about the Origins and Setting of Early Mandaeism}}ARAM Periodical / (2010): 583–592.</ref><ref>Lidzbarski, Mark 1915 Das Johannesbuch der Mandäer. Giessen: Alfred Töpelmann.</ref><ref>Macuch, Rudolf A Mandaic Dictionary (with E. S. Drower). Oxford: Clarendon Press 1963.</ref><ref>R. Macuch, "Anfänge der Mandäer. Versuch eines geschichtliches Bildes bis zur früh-islamischen Zeit", chap. 6 of F. Altheim and R. Stiehl, Die Araber in der alten Welt II: Bis zur Reichstrennung, Berlin, 1965.</ref> Charles Häberl, who is also a linguist specializing in [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]], finds Palestinian and Samaritan Aramaic influence on Mandaic and accepts Mandaeans having a "shared Palestinian history with Jews".<ref>Charles Häberl, "Hebraisms in Mandaic" [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDSDXF5_K8Q, Mar 3, 2021]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Häberl|first1=Charles|year=2021|title=Mandaic and the Palestinian Question|url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:37489/|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=141|issue=1|pages=171–184|doi=10.7817/jameroriesoci.141.1.0171|issn=0003-0279|s2cid=234204741|doi-access=free}}Journal of the American Oriental Society 141.1 (2021) pp. 171–184.</ref>