Gnosticism

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Gnosticism is an Abrahamic religion rooted in the idea of secret knowledge about god and the spirit. Roughly, Gnosticism refers to many different churches, groups or sects in the ancient near-east at or around the 1-3rd Century CE.

[edit] Theology & metaphysics

In general, Gnostics are said to believe that the body is a mere vessel for the soul, which is the true form^[1] of the person. For most, it is released only upon death, but for some (Jesus, as an example) the body can be shed at will. The True God is Pure Good, however, the Creator of the Earth (demiurgos) is not the True God, and material evil infiltrates all things. Disease, old age, and the act of rotting of the flesh after death are examples of the evil that exist in the earthly plains. The earth is a sculpture or model of Truth.

In order to escape the pull of the flesh, it is necessary to understand the correct sequence of phrases and rituals to perform for each level of angel. As Gnosticism was, at its core, an esoteric religion, a teacher would impart this information to an initiate slowly over time, until they were ready to pursue further knowledge on their own.

Gnosticism teaches that any person can have direct knowledge of God and does not require priest, church, ritual, or scripture to obtain this relationship.^[2] This direct connection, however, is distinctly different from the modern pagan idea of "unverifiable personal gnosis".

[edit] Christianity & Gnosticism

Only a fraction of the near-east Gnosticism in the 1-3rd century were Christians. Traditionally, scholars knew only of the Christian Gnostics from texts written by those who saw Gnosticism as heresy. All of the scholarship done on Christian Gnosticism carried the idea that it was a rare sect who chose gnosticism, and that Gnostics at large tended to be fringe believers. However, since the discover of the Nag Hammadi texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and other works like the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Mary it becomes clear that there were serious fights over which school had the true version of Jesus' teachings. Gnostic churches were far more common and more powerful and more organized than was ever presented by the eventual dominant church, the Catholic church. Works such as the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Judas show authorship in direct conflict with what was to become "the Church," and the characters who are "praised" in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul are demonized in Mary and Judas.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ The language and ideas of the Gnostics demonstrate strong Platonic influence
2. ↑ Needless to say, this didn't sit well with priests, churches, ritualists, and those writing the "canonized" scriptures. This was one of the single contributing factors to the "war of the churches" (author's term) that ran pel-mel for 200 years.