Cainites - Definition and Overview

The Cainites were a Gnostic and Antinomian sect who were known to worship Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge, i.e. the Old Testament God, identified by the gnostics as evil. The sect was never very large. They were mentioned by Tertullian and Irenaeus as existing in the eastern Roman Empire during the 2nd century.

Source texts on the Cainites

• Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.31.1-2
• Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 38
• Hippolytus, Against Hereies 8
• Pseudo-Tertullian, Against All Heresies 7
• Tertullian, On Baptism 1.