Articles

Gnosticism

What Is Gnosticism?

Gnosticism comes from the Greek word “gnosis” which means “knowledge.” The American Heritage Dictionary describes Gnosticism as, “gnostic of, relating to, or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge. 2. Of or relating to Gnosticism.” “Gnosticism ,The doctrines of certain pre-Christian pagan, Jewish, and early Christian sects that valued the revealed knowledge of God and of the origin and end of the human race as a means to attain redemption for the spiritual element in humans and that distinguished the Demiurge from the unknowable Divine Being.” Those with “special hidden knowledge”—the Gnostics—were at the top. Next were those whose rigid adherence to rituals and other religious duties made them “more spiritual” than the herd. Some of the Apostles or maybe even all of the Apostles encountered people that were Gnostic during their life time. Gnosticism has been around since before the birth of Christ.  It had a tremendous influence on the early church, the canonization of the New Testament, and continues today to influence the understanding of Christianity.

An Overview of Gnosticism

It is an assumption to believe that Simon Magus, an early Gnostic, may have been the Simon mentioned in Acts 8:9-24. The same Simon that believed in Jesus and was baptized with a group of other believers. But none had received the Holy Spirit until Peter and John placed their hands on them. According to the story in the Book of Acts Simon asked for the laying on of the apostles' hands and even offered them money. Peter rebuked Simon because his heart was not right with God. The Scriptures doesn’t say much after this about Simon but its an assumption to say that he may have went away somewhere and fell back into his old habits and obtained a following that later would be know has the Gnostics. (There’s no support for this but it’sjust an assumption). Gnosticism reached its peak about AD 150. “Gnostics believes knowledge is secret and only obtainable by a select few. Gnostics generally believe that what is spiritual is good and what is material is bad.” In reality, "Gnosticism," like "Protestantism," is a word that has lost most of its meaning. Just as we would need to know whether a "Protestant" writer is Calvinist, Lutheran, Anabaptist, or whatever in order to evaluate him properly, so too the "Gnostic" must be identified.” The following characteristics may be considered normative for all Gnostic teachers and groups in the era of classical Gnosticism; thus one who adheres to some or all of them today might properly be called a Gnostic: 

• The Gnostics posited an original spiritual unity that came to be split into a plurality. 

• As a result of the precosmic division the universe was created. This was done by a leader possessing inferior spiritual powers and who often resembled the Old Testament Jehovah. 

• A female emanation of God was involved in the cosmic creation (albeit in a much more positive role than the leader). 

• In the cosmos, space and time have a malevolent character and may be personified as demonic beings separating man from God. 

• For man, the universe is a vast prison. He is enslaved both by the physical laws of nature and by such moral laws as the Mosaic code. 

• Mankind may be personified as Adam, who lies in the deep sleep of ignorance, his powers of spiritual self-awareness stupefied by materiality. 

• Within each natural man is an "inner man," a fallen spark of the divine substance. Since this exists in each man, we have the possibility of awakening from our stupefaction. 

• What effects the awakening is not obedience, faith, or good works, but knowledge. 

• Before the awakening, men undergo troubled dreams. 

• Man does not attain the knowledge that awakens him from these dreams by cognition but through revelatory experience, and this knowledge is not information but a modification of the sensate being. 

• The awakening (i.e., the salvation) of any individual is a cosmic event. 

• Since the effort is to restore the wholeness and unity of the Godhead, active rebellion against the moral law of the Old Testament is enjoined upon every man

“Gnosticism in the early church was no harmless alternative to faith. It challenged the very core of living faith by attempting to set Jesus aside, and make Him something less than the center of our lives.”  

What Is The Belief of Gnosticism?

1) The Gnostics had a claim to a higher and special knowledge of truth, a tendency to regard knowledge as superior to faith, and an insight into new light which the ordinary believer did not posses. Knowledge to them was not an intellectual exercise; it was not a passive understanding of some aspect of spirituality. Rather, knowledge had a redeeming and liberating function that helped the individual break free of bondage to the world.They believed that they alone truly understood Christ's message, and that other streams of thought within Christianity had misinterpreted Jesus' mission and sayings. 

2) The separation of matter and spirit, the flesh being essentially sinful and the source of all evil. Matter is evil. 

3) The attempt in solving the problems of creation, and the origin of evil by a creator as being distinct from the Supreme God.

4) A denial of the true humanity of Jesus Christ, and especially His suffering on the cross as unreal.

5) A denial of the personality of the Supreme God. 

6) A denial of the free will of man

7) A claim that spiritual communion with God is attained through asceticism or denial of pleasures and comforts of life; on the other hand, an indifference to sin leading to failure and licentiousness

8) A combination of certain Christian doctrines with various pagan philosophies to tone down the distinction between them. This appealed too many in the church who were dissatisfied with the simplicity of the gospel.

9) The Old Testament Scriptures were the product of the inferior creator of the world, who was the God of the Jews, but not the true and Supreme God.

It is regrettable that some parts of Gnosticism are fostered by certain elements of the church today. All these points are fallacies and must be rejected by Bible believers. 

Here are some writings by Gnostics of the second century, although some others dispute this classification for writings such as the Gospel of Thomas. 

Gnostic: The Gospel of Thomas, Gnostic: The Secret Book of James, Gnostic: Basilides

Gnostic: Naassene Fragment, Gnostic: Gospel of Mary, Gnostic: Dialogue of the Savior

Gnostic: Gospel of the Savior, Gnostic: Marcion, Gnostic: Epiphanes Gnostic: Ophite Diagrams, Gnostic: Ptolemy, Gnostic: Gospel of Truth, Gnostic: Excerpts of Theodotus

Gnostic: Heracleon, Gnostic: Acts of Peter, Gnostic: Acts of Thomas. 

It’s not easy to define Gnosticism. Gnosticism was the false reaching against whose influence John wrote. Gnosticism was a mixture of Oriental mysticism, Greek 

Philosophy and Christian thought. The practical effect of the Gnostic philosophy was to separate all spirit from all matter. The effect of Gnosticism on the Christian faith was two-fold. It denied the incarnation. The word which was spirit, and therefore good, could not become flesh which was matter, and therefore evil. It denied any personal guilt of sin on the part of the individual. After all, if the spirit of man is distinct from

his body, then his spirit can scarcely be held accountable for what his body does.

The gnostic claimed a special knowledge of truth. The word “gnostic” means “one who knows.” John used the word know in a way designed to prove that true

knowledge comes from persona! experience with Christ.The Greek aletbia translated “truth” means “reality.” The gnostic thought he had exclusive rights to reality. John uses this word which means reality to describe the truth revealed in Christ. The word is presented as the ultimate source of all reality

Gnosis refers to a knowledge that is essential to free oneself from the evil material world and bodily existence (Crim: 277). Gnostics believe humans err because they are ignorant, unlike the Christian belief that man is sinful by nature. Gnostics will receive salvation when they gain knowledge, gnosis. The knowledge must be of their inner self or soul. It is similar to the Hindu definition of meditation (Borce).

Sacred or Revered Texts: The Nag Hammadi codices were discovered around 1945 in Egypt, along with other manuscripts found in Medinet Madi in 1930 and in Turkistan between 1902-1914. The Nag Hammadi texts contain 52 sacred texts, which are the "Gnostic Gospels." It had been speculated that they were buried in a jar around 390 AD by monks from St. Pachomius (Nag Hammadi). Little was known about Gnosticism until the documents were found. Previously, the only evidence about Gnostics was from their critics, who regarded them as Christian Heresy, such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Epiphanius (Gnosticism). An important aspect of the Nag Hammadi documents is their ability to tie Gnosticism to its roots. Many of the books are not actually Gnostic. The Gospel of Thomas is encratitic, Thunder, Whole Mind is Jewish, Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles is Jewish-Christian, Prayer of Thanksgiving is Hermetic, and Authoritative Teaching is early Catholic (Eliade: 567).

Bibliography

1. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. 
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. 
Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company.

2. Ryrie Study Bible Expanded Edition (NAS), Chicago: Moody Press, 1995

3. Jones, Timothy Paul. Christian History Made Easy, CA: Rose Publishing, 1999

4. Cairns, Earle E. Christianity Through The Centuries, (Third Edition), Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Hose, 1996

5. McDowell, Josh & Stewart, Don. Handbook of Today’s Religions, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1983

6. King, Karen L. What Is Gnosticism?, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 2003

7. Bloom, Harold, The American Religion. New Yor. Simon & Schuster. 1992

8. Cairns, Alan. Dictionary of Theological Terms. Ireland, Ambassador-Emerald International, 1998

9. Charles A. Coulombe, "Solovyev: Gnostic or Orthodox?", New Oxford Review, November 1991, pp. 28-29. 

10. Clark Emery, William Blake: The Book of Urizen(Coral Gables, Fla.: University of Miami Press, 1966), pp. 13-14. 

11. Dake, Finis J. Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Ga. Dake Bible sales, Inc. 1997