Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a religious movement which started in pre-Christian times. The term is derived from the Greek word "gnosis" which means knowledge. Gnostics cliamed to have secret knowledge about God, humanity and the rest of the universe of which the general population was unaware. It became one of the three main belief systems within first century Christianity and was noted for its novel belief about God, humanity and the rest of the universe, it tolerance of other religious beliefs, and its lack of discrimination against women. Gnosticism consisted of many syncretistic belief systems which combined elements from Eastern pagan and Western sacred religions. Elements of astrology were melded into Gnosticism in some forms. They comprised a breakoff cult of a sect that was led by Jesus' disciples. By the second century CE, many Christian-Gnostic sects had formed within the Roman Empire at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. Some Gnostics worked within Jewish Christian and mainline Christian groups, and greatly influenced beliefs from within. Others formed seperate communities, while others were solitary practitioners. Many new emerging religions in the West particularly of the New Age Movement have adopted elements of Gnosticism. Until recently, only a few pieces of Gnostic literature were known. These include the Shepherd of Man, Asclepius, Codex Askewianus, Codex Brucianus, Gospel of Mary, Secret Gospel of John, Odes of Solomon, and Hymn of the Pearl. Knowledge about this movement had been inferred from extensive attacks made by Christian heresiiologists of the second and early third century. In 1945, an unknown collection of ancient Gnostic documents were found by a camel driver in Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These documents were found in a jar. The documents are now known as the naghammadi library. 13 volumes of this now survive with 51 different works on 1153 pages. 6 were copies of works that were already known. 6 others were duplicated withinn the library. , and 41 were new completely unknown works. These included the Gospel of Thimas, the Gospel of Truth, Treatise on the Resurrection, the Gospel of Philip, Wisdom of Jesus Christ, Revelation of James, Letter of Peter to Philip, on the Origiin of the World and other writings. The Gospel of Thomas which claims to be a collection of the sayings of Jesus at the Last Supper is the most important of these. The works were written in the second and third centuries and translated into Coptic during the 4th century CE. The Gnostics believed that they alone truly understood Christ's message, and that other streams of thought within Christianity had misinterpreted Jesus. Knowledge to them was a redeeming and liberal function that helped the individual break free of bondage to the world. They believed that the Supreme God is remote from human affairs and is unknowable and undetectable by human senses. they believe he created a series of supernatural beings called Aeons. One of these was Sophia, a virgin, who in turn gave birth to a defective inferior Creator. This lower God created the life and its forms. This is the God of the Hebrew Scriptures, a deity who was viewed as fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion and prone to genocide. They believed that the spirit is the divine origin and good; the body is inherently earthly and evil. Gnostics were hostile to the physical world, to matter and the human body. But they believed that trapped with in some humans were the sparks of divinity that were supplied to humanity by Sophia. They believe that a person acieved salvation by learning secret knowledge of their spiritual essence. Gnostics divided humanity into three groups. These are: The Spiritual who would be saved irrespective of their behavior while on earth, the soulish who would be saved if they followed the Gnostic path, and the carnal who are hopelessly lost. They did not accept the Judeo-Christian concept of the Creation and Fall of humanity. Some Gnostics revered the snake. They viewed the snake as a liberator who brought knowledge to Adam and Eve by convincing them to eat of the tree and thus to become fully human. Gnostics look on Christ as a revelaor or liberator. They believe his purpose was to spread knowledge which would free individuals from control of the evil Go and would allow them to return home with the Supreme God at death. Some Gnostic groups promoted Docetism, the belief that Christ was pure spirit and only had a phantom body. They did not believe it possible that a true emissary from God could have ben overcome by the evil of the world and suffered on the cross. Some Gnostics believed that Christ's resurrection occurred when his spirit was liberated from his body right before his detah on the corss. Gnostics divided the universe into three kingdoms. These included:
1) The earthly cosmos- the earth is the center of the universe and is composed of the world that we know and an underworld. It is surrounded by air and by seven concentric heavenly spheres: one ofor each of the Moon, Venus, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Beyond Saturn resided Leiviathin, a snake coiled in a single circle. Within these spheres existed live demonic tyrannical entities called Archons. Beyond them lies Paradie which contains the "Tree of Life" and the "Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," and the flaming turning sword of Genesis 3:24. Beyond Paradise was the sphere of the fixed stars, divided into the twevle signs of the zodiac.
2)The "Intermediate Kingdom" is composed of an inner blue circle of darkness and an outer yellow ring of light. Within these rings is a sphere which is the realm of Sophia.
3) The "Kingdom of God" consists of two spheres: an outer one of the unknowable supreme God, and inner ring of the Son.
There was no canon of Gnostic scripture. many Gnostic texts were attributed to women. Mary Magdalene is attributed with many Gnostic writings. Gnostics used both male and female images for the Supreme God. Some groups poured a substance over the head of the member when they were dying, and recited ritual phrases. This was intended to help the individual's soul ascend through the dangerous heavens of the Archons towards the Supreme God. Some Gnostic groups had a ritual in which new members were baptized saying: "In the name of the Father unknown to all, in the Truth, Mother of All, in the One who came down upon Jesus, in the union, redemption, and communion of powers. Sexual expression seems to have been suppressed in some Gnostic groups. members were expected to remain celibate. Ritual sex magic was practiced in some. Famous ancient Gnostics include Simon Magus who was skilled in the arts and interpreted many works of the Bible to fit Gnostic theology. Simon Magus is mentioned in the Bible in Acts 8:9-24. Another one was Marcion who was the founder of Docetism. Docetics were apparently John's target when he wrote I John 4:1-6. Another was an Egyptian named Valentinius and another was Carpocrates who taught reincarnation. Gnostics infiltrated many Christian groups in the first century in an attempt to spread the doctrine. They are the target of biblical passages, such as Galatians 1:6-9, Jude 4-19, II Peter 2, and various other references of Paul.
An Exploration into the Spirit, Creator, and the Natue of the universe from a gnostic perspective
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