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Gnosticism

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Categories: Religion | Gnosticism

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-==What is Gnosticism?==+{{religion}}
-Gnosticism has recently seen a resurgence of popularity due to revival in interest from popular books such as ''The Da Vinci Code'' and works by scholar Elaine Pagels such as ''The Gnostic Gospels''. The Gospel of Thomas is the most popular and most often discussed work from a collection of Gnostic codices found near Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945.+The word '''gnosticism''' comes from the Greek word for knowledge, ''[[gnosis]]'' (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special esoteric knowledge, a key to transcendent understanding, that only a few may possess. The [[occult]] nature of Gnostic teaching and the fact that much of the evidence for that teaching has traditionally come from attacks by orthodox [[Christianity|Christians]] made it difficult to be precise about early Christian Gnostic systems. [[Irenaeus]] (''Adversus Haereses'') in particular described several different schools of 2nd century gnosticism in disparaging and often sarcastic detail while contrasting them with Christianity, to their detriment. Then, a chance discovery of a cache of 4th-century Gnostic texts was made at [[Nag Hammadi]], Egypt, in 1945, and Gnosticism could be studied at first hand.
-But was Gnosticism a specific tradition? At least, in the same way that Hinduism, Judaism and Buddhism are traditions with particular mythologies, rites and credos? Because Gnostic groups were often discouraged by the more powerful religious orthodoxies, Gnosticism has traditionally been seen either as the insane ramblings of enemies of the true faith, and thus not worthy of scholarship, or as esoteric codes that were accessible only to an elitist group of initiates. Any mention of Christian Gnosticism, for example, was preserved from records of the persecutions of the Church and thus heavily simplified and biased. Until recently, these were the only forms of documentation available, and a study of Gnosticism before the 1900’s would be comparable to a far-future study of the gay pride movement using the ancient remnants of 700 Club newsletters as the only source.+The word "Gnosticism" is also applied to many modern sects where only initiates have access to [[arcana]]. However, there has always been a great deal of diversity within gnosticism and modern gnostic doctrines sometimes have little to do with ancient Gnosticism.
-In 1945 this all changed with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library. Apart from a few texts discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, Gnosticism has never been able to speak for itself until now. Since it does not have a long history of scholarship, much of this research is still ongoing, and indeed, Gnosticism can mean different things depending on how you define it.+Many elements of gnosticism are pre-Christian, and it is generally accepted that orthodox [[Christianity]] and its canonical texts do not predate the Gnostic movement, but grew up alongside it, out of some of the same sources. Many of today's scholars are convinced that the ''[[Gospel of Thomas]]'' was used by 1st Century gnostics as well as by writers in [[Authorship of the Johannine works|the Johannine tradition]] whose interpretation of the person and meaning of the Christ led to the developed doctrine of the 3rd and 4th-century Christian church. Other gnostic texts make no mention of [[Jesus Christ]] or other Christian figures.
-Some scholars take a view that Gnosticism is a meta-religion, in the sense that each of the world’s religions have a sect that is considered Gnostic. Thus one can have Christian Gnostics (of which there were many groups in the first three centuries CE), Jewish Gnostics (Kabbalists), Pagan Gnostics (mystery cult devotees, theurgists, Neoplatonists), Muslim Gnostics (Sufis, possibly Yezidis), etc. In this way Gnosticism is simply a kind of belief that takes the form of a more mystical, experience-based form of worship of one’s own particular religion. However, since this mindset rejects the power structure of a hierarchy of officials or priests, claiming only the personal experience of the divine as valid, it often exists alongside the more standard forms of religion as a heterodoxy – sometimes grudgingly tolerated, at others violently exterminated.+Many Gnostic sects were Christians who embraced mystical theories of the true nature of Jesus and/or the Christ which were out of step with the teachings of orthodox Christian faith. For example, Gnostics generally taught [[docetism]], the belief that Jesus did not have a physical body, but rather his apparent physical body was an illusion, and hence his crucifixion was not bodily.
-Other scholars attest that Gnosticism was a completely separate faith that stood on its own. Though it drew heavily from Pagan and Christian sources, the myth of the descent of Sophia, the Greek magical papyri, and inscribed gems with Gnostic deities pointed to the existence of an independent religion.+There is really no universal symbol for the variant Gnostic movements, whether ancient or modern.
-Yet other scholars insist that Gnosticism <i>per se</i> is a product of early Christian heresiology compounded by 19th century secular scholarship. It is worth noting that "orthodox" Christian scriptures refer to <i>gnosis</i> (e.g. Colossians 2, 2 Peter 1), and that no evidence exists that the antique sects called "Gnostic" by modern readers (or "so-called Gnostic" by antique heresiologists) identified with the term any more strongly than their "orthodox" rivals. The various "Gnostic" groups of late antiquity often had less in common with each other than they did with the emerging orthodoxy. Understood in this sense, the term "Gnosticism" is a source of more confusion than clarity when addressing religion in antiquity, although it certainly applies to the Gnostic (or "neo-Gnostic") groups beginning in modernity, who look to extra-canonical and recovered Christian texts, Hermeticism and Catharism as sources of sacred wisdom.+==Matter== 
 +Some Gnostics, in common with such [[Neoplatonism|Neoplatonic]] philosophers as [[Plotinus]], held matter to be evil only as a method of depicting its extreme distance from the monadic source of the universe (which is, of course, supremely good). Thus matter is not evil in and of itself, but only in its distance from and its contrast to its monadic source (compare [[summum bonum]]).
-[[Image:gnosticgem1.jpg|Gnostic gem with Abraxas]] +It would be more accurate to characterise the Gnostic relationship with matter as one taut with ambivalence; their views are an attempt to explain and clarify the divine's relationship with the imperfect universe, and to create a contextual basis for the individual Gnostic's feeling of alienation within that universe.
-A Gnostic gem inscribed with the image of Abraxas, the Demiurge.+
-==Gnostic cosmology and the Sophia myth==+==Theology== 
 +Gnosticism generally taught that the Earth was ruled over by a lesser "god" called Yaldabaoth, also known as the [[Demiurge]], after [[Plato]] (Gr. demiurgos - 'one who shapes'). The Demiurge was the head of the [[Archon]]s, "petty rulers" and craftsmen of the physical world. But human bodies, although their matter is evil, contained within them a divine spark or ''[[pneuma]]'' that fell from the Source, or Nothingness from which all things came. Knowledge ([[gnosis]]) enables the divine spark to return to the Source whence it came.
-The myth of the descent of Sophia resonates with the influence of the Pagan mystery cults of the Roman empire. These cults, based around dying and resurrecting gods and goddesses, performed a progressive series of initiations in which the initiate took part in the passion play of their particular god. Alongside the dying and resurrecting myths of Osiris, Dionysus, Mithras, and Demeter stands the Gnostic myth of Sophia. These myths were not considered records of the ancient past nor were they simply fairytales for children, but were thought to contain and convey an allegorical truth that was a vital key to understanding the human condition and thus oneself.+Many Gnostics (especially the followers of [[Valentinius]]) taught that there was the One, the original, unknowable God (sometimes named ''[[Bythos]]'', the ''[[Monad]]'' as it is called by [[Monoimus]], or the first [[Aeon]]); and then from the One [[emanationism|emanated]] other Aeons, pairs of lesser beings in sequence. (Valentinius listed 30 such pairs.) The Aeons together made up the ''[[Pleroma]]'', or fullness, of God. The lowest of these pairs were [[Sophia]] ("Wisdom" in Greek) and [[Christ]].
-The myth of Sophia begins with the departure of this divine being (not exactly a goddess in the traditional sense, but one particular part of a divine unity) from the realms of fullness and perfection to wander the spheres of chaos and the created universe. Heavily influenced by the Neoplatonic philosophy taught in the academies of the Hellenistic world, the world was seen as a series of nested spheres that represented different levels of reality: the material world, the elements, the heavens, the angelic beings, and so on. This is mirrored in the view of the makeup of human beings: the body, the intellect, the spirit, or similar levels of differentiation. Thus in both humanity and the cosmos there exists a sort of spectrum of levels of reality from the gross to the fine, the physical to the spiritual. The lower levels are not evil per se, but simply farther away from the divine source and closer to the material realm. They are simply reflections or emanations from the highest, like the light from a candle seen through many panes of glass.+In the Valentinian Gnostic creation myth, Sophia sought the unknowable One. In one account, she saw a distant light which was in fact a mirror image, and thus drifted even farther away from the pleroma.
-Anyway, Sophia separates herself from the highest of spheres: creation, the godhead, divinity, perfection, and wanders farther and farther from this source until she finds herself in the lowest realms of creation: the world of manifestation, the end result of creation. However she realizes that she has lost her way and is unable to return to the realm of source, and is stuck in a world of matter and manifestation. In her grief she creates the elements of the world, along with a sort of mini-god to rule over her creation – the Demiurge. However she becomes trapped in the Demiurge's own design, who is unaware even of her existence and proclaims himself the self-created ruler of the world. The Demiurge is not particularly malicious by nature, but simply acts out of ignorance of anything beyond himself. He proclaims himself a god and claims that the world and everything in it is his creation. Sophia remains trapped in exile, and longs for a way to return to the godhead.+Sophia's fear and anguish of losing her life, just as she lost the light of the One, caused confusion and longing to return to it. Because of these longings the [[matter]] (Greek: ''hyle'', &#8021;&#955;&#951;) and the [[soul]] (Greek: ''psyche'', &#968;&#965;&#967;&#942;) accidentally came into existence through the four [[Elements|classical element]]s fire, water, earth, and air. The creation of the lion-faced Demiurge is also a mistake during this exile, according to some Gnostic sources, as a result of Sophia trying to emanate on her own, without her male counterpart. The Demiurge proceeds to create the physical world in which we live, ignorant of Sophia, who nevertheless manages to infuse some spiritual spark into the creation of the Demiurge. This spark is the ''pneuma''.
-Sensing its own loss, the Godhead sends another part of itself to bring back Sophia. This is the Christos, whose purpose is to redeem the world and liberate Sophia. When he finds Sophia, an interesting split occurs. Part of Sophia is united with her counterpart (or perhaps reunited, as they are both part of the godhead) and returns to the divine source, finally complete, and part of her remains with the world to remind it of its divine origin, seeking to illuminate it to the knowledge of its true nature.+After this the savior (Christos) returns and lets her see the light again, bringing her knowledge of the spirit (Greek: ''pneuma'', &#960;&#957;&#949;&#8166;&#956;&#945;). Christ was then sent to earth in the form of the man [[Jesus]] to give men the [[gnosis]] needed to rescue themselves from the physical world and return to spiritual world.
-This is where the Gnostic steps in. Sophia is seen as the innate divinity of each person, buried beneath a physical body, societal rules, parental upbringing, and religious/political customs. By recovering one’s own divinity by means of introspection, theurgy, philosophy, initiation, etc. one returns to the source from whence one came. Christian Gnostics saw Christ as a savior from the true godhead, sent to deliver us from the Old Testament god – the Demiurge – and his arbitrary regulations and judgments. Pagan Gnostics – especially Neoplatonists – saw a necessary progression from human to divine as the purpose of one’s life and the fullfillment of happiness. Mystery schools framed this ascent in terms of Greek or Egyptian mythologies, and Jewish Gnostics used Kabbalah as a road map to lead one back to the innocent state of Genesis before the fall. The details, meaning and importance of the myth may have varied among different Gnostic groups, but this allegory of the fall and reclamation of Sophia (literally, “wisdom”) was usually present in some regard.+The three sensations experienced by Sophia creates three types of humans:
-==The influence of Gnosticism==+*''hylics'' (bond to the matter, the principle of evil) 
 +*''psychics'' (bond to the soul and partly saved from evil) 
 +*''pneumatics'', who can return to the [[pleroma]] if they achieve [[gnosis]] and can behold the world of light. The gnostics regarded themselves as members of this group.
-Philosophies that were contemporary with Gnosticism and influenced each other:+Gnostics identified the Demiurge with the [[God]] of the Old Testament, thus they rejected the Old Testament and [[Judaism]] and often celebrated those who were rejected by the Old Testament God. Some Gnostics were believed to identify the Demiurge with [[Satan]], a belief which contributed to the suspicion with which many Christians regarded them.
-[[Neoplatonism]] – A later interpretation of the writings of Plato, this philosophy described a highly ordered universe and placed high importance on learning and introspection. Many schools were established throughout the Roman empire and the Platonic Academy taught until it was forcefully closed by Christian emperors in the sixth century. Neoplatonism is often seen as the philosophical expression of the message of the Gnostic religion.+Other Gnostics regarded the serpent in the [[Garden of Eden]] as a heroic figure because it wanted to help humanity free itself of the chains of Yaldabaoth: After the Demiurge comes to rule over the physical world, Sophia sends a message by way of the [[Serpent]]. She gives [[gnosis]] to the humans this way, which causes the wrath of the Demiurge, who believes himself to be the sole creator of the universe and the exclusive ruler of this world. The "original sin" thus is in a gnostic context the "original enlightenment", and not an act of sin at all. Humans also learn that [[Seth]], the third son of Adam, was introduced to the gnostic teachings by both his father and his mother, and that this knowledge has been preserved throughout creation.
-[[Neo-Pythagoreanism]] – This interpretation of the teachings of Pythagoras and Plato unified Pythagoras’ number-theory with Plato’s later metaphysical teachings. They held a strict dualism between the soul and the body, and like the earlier Pythagoreans they adopted a code of vegetarianism and asceticism. In many ways Neo-Pythagoreanism is nearly identical with Neoplatonism.+It should be noted that the Gnostics perceived the Old Testament as myth, and thus subject to interpretation.
-[[Mithraism]] and [[Christianity]] – these two extremely popular Roman religions had groups of adherents that interpreted the mythologies of Christ and Mithras as saviors of Sophia, and many people found that variants of Christianity and Mithraism worked seamlessly with a Gnostic worldview. All Mithraism and Christian Gnostics were persecuted into extinction by the sixth century, but remnants of temples to Mithras have been found as far away as London.+== Lifestyle ==
-==Influences of Gnosticism on later schools of thought==+Most Gnostics practiced celibacy and [[asceticism]], on the grounds that the pleasures of the flesh were evil; a few however practiced libertinism, arguing that since the body was evil they should defile it, or that since the body was evil it did not matter what was done with it. This led to further distrust, and was an accusation leveled against other groups who did not follow this practice.
-[[Hermeticism]] – Largely evident in late medieval and Renaissance records of allegorical [[alchemy]] and theurgy, the highly structured universe and the path from human to divine is reminiscent of early Christian Gnostic papyri as well as the teachings of Plato. A mythical figure, [[Hermes Trismegistus]], evolved in this period as the original Hermetic sage whose writings held the ancient hidden knowledge of the Greeks and Egyptians.+== Gnostic sects ==
-[[Sufism]], Mandaeanism, and the [[Cathars]] – In medieval times Arabic scholars had access to the writings of the Greek philosophers and some argue that Islamic mysticism had a particularly Gnostic or Platonic flavor. The Cathars were a sect in southern France in the 12th century whose Gnostic-tinted beliefs brought upon themselves the beginning of Inquisition. The Mandaeans most likely originated as a Semitic sect, and revere John the Baptist as the true prophet. They are the only remaining Gnostic sect founded in antiquity which still survives to this day.+(Note: It is a matter of controversy if these sects had a real succession of ideas or communion with each other, or if they more or less coincidentally had the same basic doctrine.)
-Manichaenism – A form of Zoroastrian Gnosticism that was based on the life and teachings of a Persian sage named Mani. It flourished for over a thousand years and its adherents included nobility and rulers of Persia, Turkoman, Mongolia, and China. It was a worldwide religion that included a full structure of priests, scripture and ritual. St. Augustine and St. Ambrose were adherents of this religion before converting to Christianity. Its doctrines featured a struggle between forces of light and darkness, with humanity in the middle.+First, the gnostic sects are often divided into an eastern, or Persian school, and a Syrian-Egyptic school. The Persian school has a more definitive division between light and darkness, whereas the Syrian-Egyptic school is more [[platonism|platonist]] in character. The latter is the one usually associated with Gnosticism, and the one known to include several [[Christianity|Christian]] elements. A group referred to as the [[Ophites]] fall in between both of these strains.
-Charismatic movements such as Quakers and Pentecostals – They may be Christian but they place an unorthodox amount of importance on personal experiences of the Holy Spirit.+*'''Persian Gnostics''' 
 +**[[Mandaeanism]] which still exists today, but is non-Christian in character. 
 +**[[Manichaeism]] which was an entire religion on its own, but is now extinct. 
 +*'''Syrian-Egyptic Gnostics''' 
 +**[[Sethian (gnostic)|Sethian]]s, who produced many texts. 
 +**[[Cerinthus]] 
 +**[[Simon Magus]] and [[Marcion of Sinope]] both had Gnostic tendencies, but they were not completely Gnostics. They both developed a big apprenticeship. Simon Magus pupil Menander could also be included. 
 +**The [[Valentinians]] under [[Valentinius]], better known as Valentinus (c. 100 - c. 153), developed most of the complex cosmology of Gnosticism. Valentinus was, for a time, the most successful Christian-Gnostic thinker. Through him, Gnosticism came nearest to being incorporated into the mainstream tradition of Pauline Christianity. 
 +**The [[Basilides|Basilidians]] 
 +**The [[Ophites]] (so-named because they worshipped the serpent of [[Genesis]] as the bestower of knowledge). 
 +**The [[Cainites]] (who worshipped [[Cain]], as well as [[Esau]], [[Korah]], and the [[Sodom|Sodomites]], and believed that indulgence in sin was the key to salvation because since the body is evil, one must defile it.) 
 +**The [[Carpocrates|Carpocratians]] 
 +**The [[Borborites]] 
 +**The [[Bogomils]] 
 +**The [[Cathar]]s (Cathari, Albigenses or Albigensians). 
 + 
 +== Sources == 
 + 
 +We have two main historical sources for information on Gnosticism: attacks on Gnosticism by orthodox Christians (i.e. Heresiologies such as those written by Tertullian, [[Hippolytus]], [[Irenaeus]] and Epiphanius of Salamis), and the original Gnostic works. 
 + 
 +Neither of these two sources are entirely satisfactory. Attacks on Gnosticism by orthodox Christians, hostile as they are, most likely suffer from some degree of bias; and orthodox Christians had a tendency to conflate the many differing groups opposing them. There were considerably more Gnostic scriptures written than orthodox Christian ones, which are hinted at throughout the orthodox scriptures.  
 + 
 +Many Gnostic scriptures and other works were written, but until the late 19th and the 20th centuries, none of them were available, except in isolated quotations in the writings of their opponents. Many 19th century scholars devoted considerable effort to collecting the scattered references in the works of opponents and reassembling the Gnostic materials. 
 + 
 +Several finds of manuscripts have been made since, most importantly the [[Nag Hammadi]] codices. But though we now possess a reasonable collection of Gnostic texts, they are still often difficult to interpret, due to the esoteric nature of Gnostic teaching. We are also faced with difficulties in identifying which teachers or sects authored which texts. The Nag Hammadi Library is available in an English translation and is without doubt the most important collection of source texts for research in Gnosticism. With some basic knowledge of Gnostic concepts, it is not too complicated a read. 
 + 
 +== Origins of Gnosticism == 
 + 
 +The origins of Gnosticism are a subject of dispute amongst scholars: some think Gnosticism is fundamentally [[paganism|pagan]] in origin, but has adopted a Christian veneer; others trace its origin to [[Judaism]]; yet others think it derives from Jesus, and is a development of his teaching that is arguably as valid as the orthodox one.  
 + 
 +It seems clear that Gnosticism, at least in some of its theologically more developed formulations, was heavily influenced by [[Platonism]], [[Neo-Platonism]], [[Stoicism]], old Semitic religions, [[Christianity]] (and/or influenced the development of more [[orthodox]] Christianity) and (at least in the case of Monoimus) [[Pythagoras|Pythagoreanism]]. 
 + 
 +== Gnostic texts == 
 + 
 +Note that like everything else about Gnosticism, the identification of a text as Gnostic or not may be controversial, however most Nag Hammadi codices may be assumed to be Gnostic in essence, except for the copy of [[Plato]] and the "sayings" ''[[Gospel of Thomas]]''. 
 + 
 +*Gnostic Works recovered before 1945: 
 +**Works preserved by the Church: 
 +*** ''[[Acts of Thomas]]'' (Especially ''[[The Hymn of the Pearl]]'' and ''[[The Hymn of the Robe of Glory]]'') 
 +*** ''The [[Acts of John]]'' (Especially ''[[The Hymn of Jesus]]'') 
 +**The [[Askew Codex]] (British Museum, bought in 1784): 
 +*** ''[[Pistis Sophia]]: Books of the Savior'' 
 +**The [[Bruce Codex]] (discovered by James Bruce): 
 +***''[[Books of Jeu|The Gnosis of the Invisible God]]'' or ''The [[Books of Jeu]]'' 
 +***''[[The Untitled Apocalypse]]'' or ''[[The Gnosis of the Light]]'' 
 +**The [[Berlin Codex]] or The Akhmim Codex (found in Akhmim, Egypt): 
 +*** ''[[The Gospel of Mary]]'' 
 +*** ''The [[Acts of Peter]]'' 
 +*** ''[[The Sophia of Jesus Christ|The Wisdom of Jesus Christ]]'' 
 +**Unknown origin: 
 +*** ''[[Secret Gospel of Mark|The Secret Gospel of Mark]]'' 
 +*** ''The [[Hermetica]]'' 
 + 
 +*The [[Nag Hammadi]] Library found in December 1945.  
 + 
 +== Notable Gnostics == 
 + 
 +Roughly in chronological order: 
 +* [[Simon Magus]], had Gnostic leanings, could be called proto-Gnostic 
 +* "[[Leucius Charinus]]" the legendary author of a cycle of late "Acts" of Apostles. 
 +* [[Menander (gnostic)|Menander]] 
 +* [[Saturninus]] 
 +* [[Monoimus]] 
 +* [[Carpocrates]], his wife Alexandra and his son [[Epiphanes (gnostic)|Epiphanes]] 
 +* [[Bardaisan]] of [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]] 
 +* [[Ptolemy (gnostic)|Ptolemy]] and [[Colorbasus]] 
 +* [[Valentinius]] 
 +* [[Basilides]] of [[Alexandria]] 
 +* [[Marcion of Sinope]], had gnostic tendencies
-Modern Gnosticism – With the occult revival in 19th century France, several Gnostic churches were founded. The more recent discovery of the Nag Hammadi texts combined with the popularity of Neo-Paganism and the reconstruction of ancient religions, as well as the lack of vigorous persecution from the Church, is encouraging towards a revival of Gnostic religions.  
-  
==Gnosticism & Thelema== ==Gnosticism & Thelema==
{{thelema}} {{thelema}}
[[Thelema]] is generally considered to be a modern gnostic religion, in that adherants work to come to their own direct knowledge of the divine (referred to as the Great Work). There are several Thelemic Gnostic organizations, including [[Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica]] as an ecclesiastical body and [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] as an initiatory body. [[Thelema]] is generally considered to be a modern gnostic religion, in that adherants work to come to their own direct knowledge of the divine (referred to as the Great Work). There are several Thelemic Gnostic organizations, including [[Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica]] as an ecclesiastical body and [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] as an initiatory body.
-==References==+== Gnosticism in modern times ==
-* Hoeller, Stephan A. ''Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing.'' Quest Books, 2002. +Gnosticism has been treated at length by several modern authors, philosophers and psychologists:
-* Pagels, Elaine. ''The Gnostic Gospels.'' Vintage, reissue edition, 1989. (read an excerpt at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/pagels.html) +
-* --. ''Beyond Belief.'' Random House, 2003. +
-* Robinson, James (ed.). ''The Nag Hammadi Library in English: Revised Edition.'' Harper San Francisco, reprint edition, 1990. +
-* Rudolph, Kurt. ''Gnosis: the Nature and History of Gnosticism.'' Harper San Francisco, 1987.+
-==External Links==+*[[William Blake]], the nineteenth century [[Romantic]] poet and artist, as well as a [[Gnostic Saints|Gnostic Saint]], was according to some sources well-versed in the doctrines of the Gnostics, and his own personal mythology contains many points of cohesion with several Gnostic myths. However, efforts to dub Blake a 'Gnostic' have been complicated by the complex nature and extent of Blake's own mythology, and the variety of myths and mythemes that may be referred to as 'Gnostic'; thus, the exact relationship between Blake and the Gnostics remains a point of scholarly contention, though a comparison of the two often reveals intriguing points of cohesion. 
 +*After a series of visions and archival finds of [[Cathar|Cathar-related]] documents, [[Jules Doinel]] "re-established" the Gnostic Church in the modern era. Founded on extant Cathar documents with a heavy influence of Valentinian cosmology, the church, officially established in the autumn 1890 in Paris, France, consisted of modified Cathar rituals as sacraments, a clergy that was both male and female, and a close relationship with several esoteric initiatory orders (see link http://www.gnostique.net for more information). The church eventually split into two opposing groups that were later reconciled in the leadership of Joanny Bricaud. Another splinter church with more occult leanings was established by Robert Ambelain around 1957, from which several other schisms have produced a multitude of distantly-related occult-oriented marginal groups. 
 +*The traditionalist René Guénon founded in 1909 the Gnostic review ''La Gnose''. He believed in and throughout his works exposed the idea that ''modern thought'', by its preference to the quantity more than to the quality, is the root of all evil aspects of modernity. The whole scientific enterprise would just be the beheaded relic of a lost Sacred Science. Modern technology and its realizations, worshipped by his contemporaries, would have been just a latter epiphany of the [[Kali Yuga]] (''alias'' Dark Age), in a Cyclical Conception of Time. 
 +*[[Carl Jung]] and his associate [[G. R. S. Mead]] worked on trying to understand and explain the Gnostic faith from a psychological standpoint. Jung's 'analytical psychology' in many ways schematically mirrors ancient Gnostic mythology, particularly those of [[Valentinus]] and the 'classic' Gnostic doctrine described in most detail in the Apocryphon ('Secret Book') of John. Jung understands the emergance of the [[Demiurge]] out of the original, unified monadic source of the universal by gradual stages to be analogous to (and a symbolic depiction of) the emergence of the ego from the unconscious. However, it is uncertain as to whether the similarities between Jung's psychological teachings and those of the Gnostics are due to their sharing a 'perennial philosophy', or whether Jung was unwittingly influenced by the Gnostics in the formation of his theories; Jung's own 'Gnostic sermon', the Septem Sermones ad Mortuos, would tend to imply the latter. Uncertain too are Jung's claims that the Gnostics are aware of any psychological meaning behind their myths. On the other hand, what is known is that Jung and his ancient forebears disagreed on the ultimate goal of the individual: whereas the Gnostics clearly sought a return to a supreme, other-worldly Godhead, Jung would see this as analogous to a total identification with the unconscious, a dangerous psychological state. 
 +*[[Helena Petrovna Blavatsky]], founder of [[Theosophy]] enjoyed and wrote extensively on Gnostic ideas. 
 +*The philosopher [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] in his concept of the "eternal return". 
 +*The philosopher Hans Jonas wrote extensively on Gnosticism, interpreting it from an [[existentialism|existentialist]] viewpoint. 
 +*Eric Voegelin identified a number of similarities between ancient Gnosticism and those held by a number of modernist political theories, particularly Communism and Nazism. He identifies the root of the Gnostic impulse as alienation, that is, a sense of disconnectedness with society and a belief that this lack of concord with society is the result of the inherent disorderliness or even evil of the world. This alienation has two effects. The first is the belief that the disorder of the world can be transcended by extraordinary insight, learning, or knowledge, called a Gnostic Speculation by Voegelin. The second is the desire to implement a policy to actualize the speculation, or as Voegelin describes to "Immanentize the [[Eschatology|Eschaton]]", to create a sort of heaven on earth within history. The totalitarian impulse is derived from the alienation of the proponents of the policy from the rest of society. This leads to a desire to dominate (''libido dominandi'') which has its roots not just in the conviction of the imperative of the Gnostic's vision but also in his lack of concord with a large body of his society. As a result, there is very little regard for the welfare of those in society who are impacted by the resulting politics, which ranges from coercive to calamitous (cf. Stalin's nostrum: "You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet"). This totalitarian impulse in modernism has been noted by Catholic writers, particularly in Henri de Lubac's work "The Drama of Atheist Humanism", which explores the connection between the totalitarian impulses of political Communism, Fascism and Positivism with their philosophical progenitors [[Hegel]], Feuerbach, [[Karl Marx|Marx]], Comte and [[Nietzsche]]. Indeed, Voegelin acknowledges his debt to this book in creating his seminal essay "Science, Politics, and Gnosticism". The Catholic [[catechism]] makes an oblique reference to the desire to "Immanentize the Eschaton" in article 676: ''The Antichrist's deception already begins to take shape in the world every time the claim is made to realize within history that messianic hope which can only be realized beyond history through the eschatological judgment. The Church has rejected even modified forms of this falsification of the kingdom to come under the name of millenarianism, especially the "intrinsically perverse" political form of a secular messianism.'' Other Catholic scholars have extended it using vivid imagery created by Abbé Augustin Barruél. 
 +*Many New Age authors like Samael Aun Weor read and interpreted ancient Gnostic texts. The Gnostic Movement currently operates in many countries around the world. The synthesis of the Gnostic Doctrine is stated as "The Three Factors of the Revolution of Consciousness" 1)Elimination of the Ego, I, Self, Me, Myself 2)Birth - the wise conservation and transmutation of one's creating energies; 3) Sacrifice for Humanity - leading others to the path of truth. Weor however is not considered especially "gnostic" as far as traditional Western Gnosticism goes, but uses the term gnosis for his own breed of New-Age self discovery involving involving sexual and "magickal" practices. It is worthy of note that Weor claimed false succession to a Rosicrucian order and changed his teachings several times in his lifetime to adapt to his audience. It is also worthy of note that though claiming to be a traditional Gnostic, he chose "Samael" as his name, which means, "The Blind One."  
 +*In the United States there are several gnostic churches with diverse lineages, one of which is the [[Ecclesia Gnostica]], affiliated with an organization for studies of gnosticism named the [[Gnostic Society]], primarily in Los Angeles. The current leader of both organizations is Stephan A. Hoeller who has also written extensively on Gnosticism and the occult. 
 +*[[Aleister Crowley]]'s [[Thelema]] system is influenced by and bears major features in common with Gnosticism, especially in that adherants work to come to their own direct knowledge of the divine (referred to as the [[Great Work]]). There are several Thelemic Gnostic organizations, including [[Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica]] as an ecclesiastical body and [[Ordo Templi Orientis]] as an initiatory body. 
 +* +Mar Didymos of the so-called [[Thomasine Church]] has reinterpreted Gnosticism and the thomasine gospels from an [[Illuminist|Illuminist]] viewpoint. The method employed by clergy and initiates of the [[Thomasine Church]] supposedly involves the use of the scientific method and of critical thinking rather than dogmatism, although this method must be accepted on faith, and criticism of it is not permitted. +Mar Didymos stresses the use of scientific theory or the use of a synthesis of well developed and verified hypotheses derived from empirical observation and deductive/indicative reasoning about factual data and tested through experimentation and peer review. This is antithetical in principle and method as compared to all of the existing modern Gnostic churches and at odds with the most fundamental tenets of what is generally recognized as Gnosticism.
-http://altreligion.about.com/od/gnostic/+==External links==
-http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic.htm+===Ancient Gnosticism=== 
 +*[http://www.gnosis.org/ Gnostic Society] - multiple texts on Gnosticism and a [http://www.gnosis.org/readlist.htm bibliography] of secondary reading 
 +*[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gnostics.html Early Christian Writings] - primary texts 
 +*[http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gnosticism/intro.htm Introduction to Gnosticism] 
 +*[http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic.htm Religious Tolerance] - A survey of Gnosticism
-http://www.meta-religion.com/Esoterism/Gnosticism/gnosticism.htm+===Modern Gnosticism=== 
 +*[http://www.gnostique.net/ French Gnostic Tradition (i.e. Doinel, et al.)]  
 +*[http://www.nacgb.org The North American College of Gnostic Bishops]  
 +*[http://www.johannite.org The Apostolic Johannite Church]  
 +*[http://www.egch.org Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica Hermetica]  
 +*[http://www.apostolic-gnosis.org/ Eglise Gnostique Catholique Apostolique] - (in English, despite the French name) 
 +*[http://www.egliseduplerome.info Eglise du Plérôme - Cathar/Valentinian]  
 +*[http:///www.gnosticsanctuary.org Church of Gnosis (Ecclesia Gnostica Mysteriorum)]  
 +*[http://www.royalchrist.org/ The Gnostic Church of Christianity - The Bride]  
 +*[http://www.enemies.com/ The Gnostic Friends Network]
-http://www.academicinfo.net/gnostic.html +==References== 
- +*Adapted from: Wikipedia. (2005). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism Gnosticism]''. Retreived on June 11, 2005. 
-http://jdt.unl.edu/ritual.htm +[[Category:Religion]] [[Category:Gnosticism]]
- +
-[[Category:Religions]]+

Revision as of 21:51, 11 Jun 2005

Part of the Thelema & Religion series

The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special esoteric knowledge, a key to transcendent understanding, that only a few may possess. The occult nature of Gnostic teaching and the fact that much of the evidence for that teaching has traditionally come from attacks by orthodox Christians made it difficult to be precise about early Christian Gnostic systems. Irenaeus (Adversus Haereses) in particular described several different schools of 2nd century gnosticism in disparaging and often sarcastic detail while contrasting them with Christianity, to their detriment. Then, a chance discovery of a cache of 4th-century Gnostic texts was made at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, and Gnosticism could be studied at first hand.

The word "Gnosticism" is also applied to many modern sects where only initiates have access to arcana. However, there has always been a great deal of diversity within gnosticism and modern gnostic doctrines sometimes have little to do with ancient Gnosticism.

Many elements of gnosticism are pre-Christian, and it is generally accepted that orthodox Christianity and its canonical texts do not predate the Gnostic movement, but grew up alongside it, out of some of the same sources. Many of today's scholars are convinced that the Gospel of Thomas was used by 1st Century gnostics as well as by writers in the Johannine tradition whose interpretation of the person and meaning of the Christ led to the developed doctrine of the 3rd and 4th-century Christian church. Other gnostic texts make no mention of Jesus Christ or other Christian figures.

Many Gnostic sects were Christians who embraced mystical theories of the true nature of Jesus and/or the Christ which were out of step with the teachings of orthodox Christian faith. For example, Gnostics generally taught docetism, the belief that Jesus did not have a physical body, but rather his apparent physical body was an illusion, and hence his crucifixion was not bodily.

There is really no universal symbol for the variant Gnostic movements, whether ancient or modern.

Table of contents
1 Matter
2 Theology
3 Lifestyle
4 Gnostic sects
5 Sources
6 Origins of Gnosticism
7 Gnostic texts
8 Notable Gnostics
9 Gnosticism & Thelema
10 Gnosticism in modern times
11 External links

11.1 Ancient Gnosticism
11.2 Modern Gnosticism

12 References

Matter

Some Gnostics, in common with such Neoplatonic philosophers as Plotinus, held matter to be evil only as a method of depicting its extreme distance from the monadic source of the universe (which is, of course, supremely good). Thus matter is not evil in and of itself, but only in its distance from and its contrast to its monadic source (compare summum bonum).

It would be more accurate to characterise the Gnostic relationship with matter as one taut with ambivalence; their views are an attempt to explain and clarify the divine's relationship with the imperfect universe, and to create a contextual basis for the individual Gnostic's feeling of alienation within that universe.

Theology

Gnosticism generally taught that the Earth was ruled over by a lesser "god" called Yaldabaoth, also known as the Demiurge, after Plato (Gr. demiurgos - 'one who shapes'). The Demiurge was the head of the Archons, "petty rulers" and craftsmen of the physical world. But human bodies, although their matter is evil, contained within them a divine spark or pneuma that fell from the Source, or Nothingness from which all things came. Knowledge (gnosis) enables the divine spark to return to the Source whence it came.

Many Gnostics (especially the followers of Valentinius) taught that there was the One, the original, unknowable God (sometimes named Bythos, the Monad as it is called by Monoimus, or the first Aeon); and then from the One emanated other Aeons, pairs of lesser beings in sequence. (Valentinius listed 30 such pairs.) The Aeons together made up the Pleroma, or fullness, of God. The lowest of these pairs were Sophia ("Wisdom" in Greek) and Christ.

In the Valentinian Gnostic creation myth, Sophia sought the unknowable One. In one account, she saw a distant light which was in fact a mirror image, and thus drifted even farther away from the pleroma.

Sophia's fear and anguish of losing her life, just as she lost the light of the One, caused confusion and longing to return to it. Because of these longings the matter (Greek: hyle, ὕλη) and the soul (Greek: psyche, ψυχή) accidentally came into existence through the four classical elements fire, water, earth, and air. The creation of the lion-faced Demiurge is also a mistake during this exile, according to some Gnostic sources, as a result of Sophia trying to emanate on her own, without her male counterpart. The Demiurge proceeds to create the physical world in which we live, ignorant of Sophia, who nevertheless manages to infuse some spiritual spark into the creation of the Demiurge. This spark is the pneuma.

After this the savior (Christos) returns and lets her see the light again, bringing her knowledge of the spirit (Greek: pneuma, πνεῦμα). Christ was then sent to earth in the form of the man Jesus to give men the gnosis needed to rescue themselves from the physical world and return to spiritual world.

The three sensations experienced by Sophia creates three types of humans:

Gnostics identified the Demiurge with the God of the Old Testament, thus they rejected the Old Testament and Judaism and often celebrated those who were rejected by the Old Testament God. Some Gnostics were believed to identify the Demiurge with Satan, a belief which contributed to the suspicion with which many Christians regarded them.

Other Gnostics regarded the serpent in the Garden of Eden as a heroic figure because it wanted to help humanity free itself of the chains of Yaldabaoth: After the Demiurge comes to rule over the physical world, Sophia sends a message by way of the Serpent. She gives gnosis to the humans this way, which causes the wrath of the Demiurge, who believes himself to be the sole creator of the universe and the exclusive ruler of this world. The "original sin" thus is in a gnostic context the "original enlightenment", and not an act of sin at all. Humans also learn that Seth, the third son of Adam, was introduced to the gnostic teachings by both his father and his mother, and that this knowledge has been preserved throughout creation.

It should be noted that the Gnostics perceived the Old Testament as myth, and thus subject to interpretation.

Lifestyle

Most Gnostics practiced celibacy and asceticism, on the grounds that the pleasures of the flesh were evil; a few however practiced libertinism, arguing that since the body was evil they should defile it, or that since the body was evil it did not matter what was done with it. This led to further distrust, and was an accusation leveled against other groups who did not follow this practice.

Gnostic sects

(Note: It is a matter of controversy if these sects had a real succession of ideas or communion with each other, or if they more or less coincidentally had the same basic doctrine.)

First, the gnostic sects are often divided into an eastern, or Persian school, and a Syrian-Egyptic school. The Persian school has a more definitive division between light and darkness, whereas the Syrian-Egyptic school is more platonist in character. The latter is the one usually associated with Gnosticism, and the one known to include several Christian elements. A group referred to as the Ophites fall in between both of these strains.

Sources

We have two main historical sources for information on Gnosticism: attacks on Gnosticism by orthodox Christians (i.e. Heresiologies such as those written by Tertullian, Hippolytus, Irenaeus and Epiphanius of Salamis), and the original Gnostic works.

Neither of these two sources are entirely satisfactory. Attacks on Gnosticism by orthodox Christians, hostile as they are, most likely suffer from some degree of bias; and orthodox Christians had a tendency to conflate the many differing groups opposing them. There were considerably more Gnostic scriptures written than orthodox Christian ones, which are hinted at throughout the orthodox scriptures.

Many Gnostic scriptures and other works were written, but until the late 19th and the 20th centuries, none of them were available, except in isolated quotations in the writings of their opponents. Many 19th century scholars devoted considerable effort to collecting the scattered references in the works of opponents and reassembling the Gnostic materials.

Several finds of manuscripts have been made since, most importantly the Nag Hammadi codices. But though we now possess a reasonable collection of Gnostic texts, they are still often difficult to interpret, due to the esoteric nature of Gnostic teaching. We are also faced with difficulties in identifying which teachers or sects authored which texts. The Nag Hammadi Library is available in an English translation and is without doubt the most important collection of source texts for research in Gnosticism. With some basic knowledge of Gnostic concepts, it is not too complicated a read.

Origins of Gnosticism

The origins of Gnosticism are a subject of dispute amongst scholars: some think Gnosticism is fundamentally pagan in origin, but has adopted a Christian veneer; others trace its origin to Judaism; yet others think it derives from Jesus, and is a development of his teaching that is arguably as valid as the orthodox one.

It seems clear that Gnosticism, at least in some of its theologically more developed formulations, was heavily influenced by Platonism, Neo-Platonism, Stoicism, old Semitic religions, Christianity (and/or influenced the development of more orthodox Christianity) and (at least in the case of Monoimus) Pythagoreanism.

Gnostic texts

Note that like everything else about Gnosticism, the identification of a text as Gnostic or not may be controversial, however most Nag Hammadi codices may be assumed to be Gnostic in essence, except for the copy of Plato and the "sayings" Gospel of Thomas.

Notable Gnostics

Roughly in chronological order:

Gnosticism & Thelema

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Thelema is generally considered to be a modern gnostic religion, in that adherants work to come to their own direct knowledge of the divine (referred to as the Great Work). There are several Thelemic Gnostic organizations, including Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica as an ecclesiastical body and Ordo Templi Orientis as an initiatory body.

Gnosticism in modern times

Gnosticism has been treated at length by several modern authors, philosophers and psychologists:

External links

Ancient Gnosticism

Modern Gnosticism

References

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