Cainites

The Cainites or Cainians (, Kainoi, and , Kaianoi) were a heresy allegedly venerating Cain and celebrating him for his sins, described by Irenaeus.

Irenaeus asserts in his Against Heresies. i. 31 that the Cainites are enemies of the God of Israel and venerated everyone who opposed him, including Cain. They would claim fellowship with Esau, Korah, and the men of Sodom. Liberation would be achieved by committing sins against the Creator. He further asserts that their holy scripture is the Gospel of Judas, which he believed to teach immorality. However, since the discovery of primary sources in the Nag Hammadi library, the descriptions by Irenaeus do not match the actual sources, and there is no reference to Cain in the sole extant manuscript of the Gospel of Judas. Although some descriptions attributed to Cainites bear resemblances to certain Gnostic sects, no Gnostic sect held a positive depiction of Cain or encouraged sins.