Gnosticism

For this topic, please read the excellent article here, summarized below.

1. Sample of Claims (2nd to 4th century AD)
   • That Jesus had a twin and was married to Mary Magalene
   • That Gospels originally in the Bible were destroyed
   • That the cross spoke and walked out of the tomb later
   • That Judas was a hero who secretly carried out Jesus’ instructions
2. Teachings
   • The material world is bad and under the control of evil, ignorance, or nothingness, but the spirit world is good.
   • A divine spark is somehow trapped in some humans and it alone is capable of redemption.
   • Salvation is through secret knowledge by which individuals come to know themselves, their origin, and their destiny.
   • Since a good God could not have created an evil world, it must have been created by an inferior, ignorant, or evil god. The true, good God created Archons who produced other Archons until a mistake by Sophia (Wisdom) led to the creation of the evil Archon who created our world and pretends to be God. Sparks of Sophia in some humans fill them with an urge to return to the Pleroma (divine realm) where they belong.
3. Implications
   • Mortal flesh is corrupt, so it must be either subdued or indulged, but either way, Jesus could not have become mortal or he would have been sinful.
   • This belief led to Docetism, meaning that Jesus only appeared to be physical.
   • An alternative to Docetism was that a Christ spirit entered Jesus’ mortal body until just before he was crucified, or that someone else died in his place. The resurrection was a myth or spiritual only.
4. When Did Gnosticism Arise?
   • Earliest date unknown, but androgyny was a pervasive theme since Plato. Some see a connection to Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, or Judaism, and there was much hatred of the God of the Old Testament.
   • The New Testament’s statements about the importance of Jesus coming in the flesh were likely rebuttals to early Gnostic claims.
   • Later Gnostic writings from the Nag Hammadi collection are clear reactions to already-existing Christian apostolic writings.
5. Valentinus Invented Christian Gnosticism
   • This 2nd century pope claimed to have received teachings from a follower of Paul named Theodas or Theudas.
   • His teachings were esoteric (hidden) claims of instruction from Jesus, which enabled only the adept or enlightened to understand the scriptures.
   • The Godhead manifests itself through a process of self-unfolding in the subsequent multiplicity of being while maintaining its unity.
   • God is androgynous (the Baphomet, a known Satanic dyad, meaning both male and female).
   • Everything in the physical realm is the result of God thinking about it. (This is essentially the conclusion of theoretical physics via the Delayed-Choice Quantum Eraser experiment, which holds that nothing exists unless some conscious being knows it.)
   • The Son was also brought into being in this way, and was androgynous like the Father. He manifests as 26 different entities or Aeons in male-female pairs.
   • The Fall into sin is a convoluted story of division and illusion.
   • Salvation is by achieving Gnosis, which joins a person with an angel.
6. Early church leader opposition to Gnosticism
   • Clashed with scripture
   • Recognized as the same lie Satan had told to Eve
   • Apostolic succession, hierarchy and offices, and official canon were largely reactions in an attempt to prevent heresy.
7. Was it wrong to reject Gnosticism?
   • Not when compared to the teachings of the apostles.
   • Burden of proof is on newer teachings.
8. How do we know about Gnosticism?
   • Much of Gnosticism was only known in the early centuries AD in critiques of it.
   • Discoveries since the 18th century proved that the critics were actually less harsh than they could have been.
   • The Nag Hammadi Library is the biggest collection of Gnostic writings, including the forged Gospel of Judas, who it paints as a hero for helping liberate Jesus from his body.
9. How Christianity related to Gnosticism
   • Christians considered it rank heresy and an attack on the true faith.
   • All Gnosticism’s gospels were clearly forged.
   • Gnostics considered themselves above Christians in enlightenment.
   • Gnosticism essentially turns every Christian teaching upside down and blasphemes Jesus.