Five Things You Should Know About Gnosticism
1.
The Origin of the Name: Gnosis
The name Gnosticism originates from the Greek word “gnosis”
meaning knowledge gained by experience. It not only
carries the idea of mental assent to something (Ex.“I know
that Germany exists because I have seen it on a map.”) but
specifically experiential knowing something (“I know
Germany exists because I have been there.”). While those who
believed they had special knowledge were not originally
called Gnostics, the term has become the accepted name of
all those that share those same beliefs.
2.
The Origin of Gnosticism
The exact origins of Gnosticism are not known due to little
documentation on it. It has roots in many ancient “mystery”
religions, specifically those from Iran, along with the
philosophical beliefs of Greece. Today it is most often
associated with Christianity because of its commonality in
early Christian literature where it fell under the
condemnation of many church fathers. And secondly
because of its infiltration into Christianity in the first
few centuries after Christ. What is known about the origin
of Gnosticism today comes mostly from the writings of church
fathers (the only other major source being the Nag Hammadi
Library) such as Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Tertullian and a
few others. These men wrote in response to many Gnostic
teachings. Another problem is that there are so many sects
or “schools” that we today would consider to be of Gnostic
origin including the Manicheans (followers of Mani), the
Valentinians (followers of Valentinus) and many others. Each
have their own history and often similar origin but all have
very similar beliefs. Ultimately the origin of Gnosticism is
not known because of its lack of unity and the few
historical documents available. Gnostics do share a common
sense of spiritual elitism, based on their self-perceived
advanced level of knowledge. Bible expositors often
suggest that Paul's admonition: "O Timothy, keep that
which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane
and vain babblings, and
oppositions of science (gnosis) falsely so called:" (1
Timothy 6:20) was a direct warning about the infiltration of
these who would later be called Gnostics.
3.
Source of Truth: Experience
The name Gnosticism, being derived from the Greek word for
knowledge gained by experience, is a reflection of their
view of epistemology (source of knowledge). They see truth
as coming from mystical experiences which allow the person
to climb a spiritual ladder towards God. Truth is therefore
subjective to each person and his or her own experience.
The Bible, on the other hand, argues that God is truth and
the disseminator all truth. This truth is revealed in
the Bible, in general, and in the Person of Jesus Christ who
said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man
cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6.
Access to God is not by means of scaling a latter of
spirituality, but by coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
4.
Theology of Gnosticism: Dualism
Gnosticism is essentially dualistic. That is that Gnostics
see two fundamental entities in the world, matter and
spirit. Matter is seen as being evil and spirit as good. The
earth and all on it are a mixture of these two entities. In
this state it is the object of all men to attempt to free
themselves from matter and scale the ladder of spirituality
to God through “gnosis”. There is a great variety of views
on how these two relate to each other but it can generally
be stated that they see the spiritual world as good and the
material world as evil. There are greater and lesser degrees
of this seen in the different schools within Gnosticism. The
Manicheans were some of the most radical and the
Valintinians were very mild in their dualism. But all saw
spirit as superior to matter because God is spirit. And
then, between the spirit world and the material world there
are progressively lower spiritual beings, or emanations of
God. As a result of this dualistic view, some Gnostics
sought to gain spirituality through asceticism. Others
argued that because the body is made of flesh and is evil
anyway, the flesh could be abused in any way desired.
The latter is called the Antinomian view of Gnosticism.
5.
The Christ of Gnosticism
Because of their theological dualism Gnostic's cannot see
Christ as both God and man. For God being good can have no
relation to matter whatsoever. Thus the Christian doctrine
known as the hypostatic union (Christ is completely God and
completely man) must be rejected. With this being the case,
the nature of salvation and the very root of Christianity is
destroyed. They claim Christ is one of many “Aeons” (along
with Sophia). An Aeon is simply a higher emanation of God on
the ladder between the two worlds of spirit and matter.
Equally
important, Gnostics would adamantly deny the physical
resurrection of Christ as being an impossibility because
matter is evil. This denial that Christ rose from the
dead physically and is now in a glorified body is carried
into many modern false religious systems. The apostle
John noted, "And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and
this is that spirit of
antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and
even now already is it in the world."
1 John 4:3.
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2 Tim 4:2
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
KJV
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