What is Gnosticism?

Beliefs of Early Christian Movement Focused on Knowledge Acquisition

Jul 29, 2009
Subha Ekambaram

Codex IV of Nag Hammadi Texts - Mladifilozof

Gnostic beliefs find a place in several religious schools of thought all over the world. Followers of Gnosticism believed in the redeeming power of divine wisdom.

Gnosticism is used to refer to a movement during the years of early Christianity, where the followers believed that matter is evil and that salvation is possible by spiritual knowledge.

Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word, "gnosis," which means knowledge. The Gnostic philosophy pre-dates the birth of Jesus. Gnostic influences and sources date as far back as first and second centuries BCE.

Basic Beliefs of Early Gnosticism

The beliefs of the Gnostics bear some similarities to Greek, Egyptian, pagan, astrological, Jewish, Buddhist and other Christian views.

Gnostics believed that spiritual knowledge is the key to attain salvation;
Gnostic leader Carpocrates believed that the soul needed to experience many lifetimes before attaining salvation, thus suggesting a belief in reincarnation;
Both male and female images for the supreme God was common;
Women, like Mary Magdalene, played an important part in writing the Gnostic texts;
Duality in the concept of God - Gnostics believed that there is a true God who is the essence of every living and non-living creation and a false God or creator God, who created the flawed world, and;
According to the Gnostics, humans mirrored the duality found in the world - they are in part flawed from the creation of the false creator and yet also contain the light of the true God.

Renewed Interest in Gnosticism after the Nag Hammadi Discovery

In 1945, near the Egyptian desert of Nag Hammadi, several Gnostic gospels that had been hidden for centuries, were discovered by two local farmers.

The Nag Hammadi discovery resulted in a renewed interest in Gnosticism. The scrolls showed that Gnostics viewed Jesus as a teacher who helped his followers attain spiritual knowledge and return to God when they died.

Gnosticism developed alongside orthodoxy Christianity and Jewish Christianity, thousands of years ago. While Christianity emphasizes faith, Gnosticism focuses on attaining a state of divine consciousness and spiritual knowledge so that godliness can be be realized.

Though classical Christian Gnosticism was lost to the western world during the fourth and fifth centuries, the Gnostic influence in its view of the world, knowledge of human and divine consciousness, continues to be a part of the several religious and occult sects.