|
Well, "gnosticism" is an extremely generic term. Historically, it's been applied to a wide variety of sects with a wide range of beliefs. People tend to think of the "Gnostic's" as an early "heretical" sect of Christianity, but gnosticism predates that religion and is not specific to it.
In the loosest sense, "nosies" is direct spiritual experience, as opposed to mere acceptance of dogma and theology. You could describe it as "mysticism." So the Sufis could be considered the Gnostic's of Islam, the Qabalists the Gnostic's of Judaism, etc etc.
The early Christian "gnostic" sects included such groups as the Valentinians, who followed the teacher Valentinius, supposedly the inheritor of Paul's secret teaching via his successor Thedas, and the Ophites, who considered the "God" of the Judeo-Christian tradition to be merely the Demiurge, creator of the physical universe but NOT the true God, whom they identified with the Serpent in Eden!
As diverse as their specific beliefs were, though, the common thread running through most of them is the insistence on each individual obtaining the "mystic experience," or "gnosis," for him or herself. There is a remarkable quote in one of the so-called "gnostic gospels": "It is not enough to be a Christian; one must become a Christ."
|
How many sects of Gnosticism is there?
