What they say about Gnosticism
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What they say about Gnosticism [∞]
from: https://www.biblewise.com/bible_study/characters/first-century.php
Discussion
Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” · [1] |
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Like Christianity, Gnosticism evolved over time. [1] |
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There were many forms of Gnosticism throughout early Christianity. | |
Scholars have identified many strands prevalent in the first century that were synthesized within Gnosticism, including Egyptian religion, Judaism, Christianity, astrology, and Greek philosophy. | |
An initial wave of Gnosticism arose after the destruction of the temple in 70CE, but it wasn’t until the second century that it gained in prominence and achieved its classical form. | |
Early Gnosticism probably arose out of apocalyptic Judaism, and hostility towards the God of the Old Testament. [1] |
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It arose after people abandoned the idea that God would take action on their behalf. | |
Gnostics believed that matter was evil and spirit was good. | |
This world and this body are not the ultimate reality. | |
Matter was eternal and the world had been created out of this evil stuff. | |
In other words, Gnostics believed that creation came out of evil matter. | |
Since God was spirit and good, he could not have created matter. | |
God created “spiritual elements” that handled matter and created the world. | |
As these “spiritual elements” drifted farther and farther from God, they became more and more ignorant of Him and, in the end, hostile to him. | |
Nonetheless, these spiritual elements had to be pacified (worshiped) because ultimately they were in control of the world, including all the people in it. | |
It led to a false humility of not being worthy and hence, not being able to approach God. | |
Therefore, one needed to submit to the angels and “spiritual elements.” | |
In essence, then, the Gnostics believed that a spiritual God did not create the world. | |
In Gnostic thought, Jesus was one of those “spiritual elements” that God created, although he was certainly above all of them. | |
Since matter derived from evil, it stands to reason the body was also evil. | |
Jesus, then, who was derived from God was spiritual. | |
He was not a real man (it has been said by Gnostics that when Jesus walked, he left no footprints). | |
In Gnostic thought, a “redeemer” would descend from heaven, teach gnosis, and then return to heaven. | |
Even though Gnostic thought predated Christ, it was adapted to include him. | |
It led to the argument that only through gnosis could people understand and participate in the fulness of Christianity. | |
In order for people to be saved, they had to find their way back to God. | |
This “way” was barred by all those “spiritual elements.” | |
In order for the soul to get to God, it had to bypass these elements, one by one. | |
The only way to pass by them was to have secret passwords or special knowledge. | |
Gnosticism was able to provide this secret knowledge. | |
Such knowledge came through doctrinal instruction, ritual, prophecy, sacramental initiations, and self-discovery. | |
This knowledge could be taught but generally came as a “call.” | |
All this really meant was that salvation was based on knowledge. (There was nothing about forgiveness of sins, love for others, or the cross and resurrection in this theology.) | |
Nor was every person going to be able to achieve this level of knowledge. | |
Only those who were spiritually minded could be saved. | |
The ordinary person, the earthly person was simply out of luck. | |
Because Gnostics saw matter as evil, many of them were rigidly ascetic. | |
They tried to move away from matter and material things. | |
Bodily pleasures were to be avoided. | |
Others, however, moved in the opposite direction of libertinism. | |
The thought was that since the body was already evil, what did it matter what one did or how one lived? | |
Their motto was “anything goes.” | |
Either way, they renounced their bodies and were “reborn.” | |
Gnostics believed themselves to be part of a privileged few. | |
Christianity would wrestle with Gnosticism for centuries. |