Gnosticism is a philosophical and religious
movement which started in pre-Christian times. The term is derived from the
Greek word gnosis which means "knowledge". Gnostics claimed 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
1st century Christianity, and was noted for its:
novel beliefs about Gods, the Bible and the world
which differed from those of other Christian groups
tolerance of different religious beliefs within and
outside of Gnosticism
lack of discrimination against women
Gnosticism consisted of many syncretistic belief systems
which combined elements taken from Asian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Syrian
pagan religions, from astrology, and from Judaism and Christianity.
Little is known about the rituals,
organizational structure and practices of the ancient Gnostics. Almost all
Gnostic texts were destroyed during various campaigns to suppress the movement.
Although some of their religious writings survive, there is little information
about how the groups actually functioned. Historians believe that:
Many Gnostics were probably solitary
practitioners. Others were members of mainline Christian congregations,
probably forming a clique within each church.
There was no consensus on a
"canon of Gnostic scripture." Many books were circulated in
different versions; various schools within the movement had their own
Many Gnostic texts were written by
(or attributed to) women. Mary Magdalene played an important role in many
Gnostic writings, often being second only to Jesus in status. They used both
female and male images for the Supreme God.
Some groups poured a substance over
the head of a member when they were dead or dying, and recited certain
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.
In others, ritual sex magic appears to have been practiced.
Ancient Gnostic Leaders
Simon Magus: He was one of the
earliest Gnostics He was skilled in the arts of magic. He interpreted the
Garden of Eden, exodus from Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea as
Marcion: (85-160 A.D.) He organized
a series of Gnostic congregations in the eastern Mediterranean which
survived into the 3rd century A.D.. He wrote a book called Antitheses
which earned him excommunication by the Christian leaders of Rome. He
rejected the institution of marriage. He believed that the Demiurge arranged
Jesus' persecution and crucifixion. But the death of Christ on the cross was
only a hallucination, since Jesus did not have a physical body.
Valentinus: He was born in Egypt,
traveled to Rome about 140 A.D. and then moved to Cyprus. He was the founder
of perhaps the largest and most influential school of Gnosticism which
lasted until it was suppressed in the 4th century A.D.. He taught that
groups of Aeons made up the "pleroma" (fullness) of the high god. One
group, the Ogoad are called: Depth, Silence, Mind, Truth, Word, Life,
Man and Church. Another group was the Decad (10) and Dodecad (12). The last
of the Docecad was Wisdom, also called Sophia.
Carpocrates: (circa 140 A.D.); He
taught reincarnation. An individual had to live many lives and adsorb a full
range of experiences before being able to return to God. They practiced free
sexuality. They believed that Jesus was the son of Joseph.
They believed that they alone truly
understood Christ's message, and that other streams of thought within
Christianity had misinterpreted Jesus' mission and sayings.
They believe that knowledge has a
redeeming and liberating function that helps the individual break free of
bondage to the world.
They believe the Supreme Father god or Supreme
god of Truth is remote from human affairs; he is unknowable and
undetectable by human senses. She/he created a series of supernatural but
finite beings called Aeons. One of these was Sophia, a virgin, who in
turn gave birth to an defective, inferior creator-god, also known as the
Demiurge (public craftsman). This
lower god created the earth and its life forms. This is the God of the
Old Testament, a deity who was viewed as fundamentally
evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion and prone to genocide. The
Demiurge "thinks that he is supreme. His pride and incompetence have
resulted in the sorry state of the world as we know it, and in the blind and
ignorant condition of most of mankind."
They believe in the duality of spirit and body: Spirit
is of 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 within some people's bodies were the sparks
of divinity or seeds of light that were supplied to humanity by Sophia.
The believe a person attains salvation by
learning secret knowledge of their spiritual essence: a divine spark of
light or spirit. They then have the opportunity to escape from the prison of
their bodies at death. Their soul can ascend to be reunited with the Supreme
God at the time of their death. Gnostics divided humanity into three groups:
the spiritual, who would be
saved irrespective of their behavior while on earth
the soulish, who could be saved
if they followed the Gnostic path
the carnal who are hopelessly
They did not look upon the world as
having been created perfectly and then having degenerated as a result of the
sin of Adam and Eve. Rather the world was seen as being evil at the time of
its origin, having been created by an inferior God.
Some Gnostic sects
honored the snake. They did not view the snake as a seducer who led the
Adam and Eve into sinful behavior. Rather, they saw the snake as a liberator who
brought knowledge to Adam and Eve by convincing them to eat of the Tree
of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and thus to become fully human.
The role of the redeemer in Gnostic
belief is heavily debated at this time. Gnostics seem to have looked upon
Christ as a revealer or liberator, rather than a savior or judge. His
purpose was to spread knowledge which would free individuals from the
Demiurge's control and allow them to return to their spiritual 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; Jesus just appeared to
be human to his followers. They reasoned that a true emissary from the
Supreme God could not have been overcome by the evil of the world, and to
have suffered and died. Some Gnostics believed that Christ's resurrection
occurred at or before Jesus' death on the cross. They defined his resurrection
as occurring when his spirit was liberated from his body.
The Universe: This is divided into
Cosmos": The earth is the center of the universe, and is
composed of the world that we know of and an underworld. It is
surrounded by air and by 7 concentric heavenly spheres: one for each of
the Moon, Venus, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. (Although the
planet Uranus is visible to the naked eye, it was not recognized as a
planet in ancient times.) Beyond Saturn resides Leviathan, a snake
coiled in a single circle, devouring its own tail. Within these spheres
live demonic, tyrannical entities called Archons. Beyond them
lies Paradise which contains the "Tree of Life",
the "Tree of 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 12 signs of the zodiac.
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
The "Kingdom of
God" consists of two spheres: an outer one of the unknowable
Supreme God, and inner ring of the Son.