What we know about Gnosticism is gained from the writings of Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Origen, and some later manuscripts discovered in the eighteenth century such as the "Codex Askew, Codex Bruce, the Berlin Gnostic Codes and, most recently, the Nag Hammadi collection."1 Nag Hammadi is a town in Upper Egypt near ancient Chenoboskion and 13 codices discovered were discovered about 1945.
The danger of gnosticism is easily apparent. It denies the incarnation of God as the Son. In so doing, it denies the true efficacy of the atonement since, if Jesus is not God, He could not atone for all of mankind and we would still be lost in our sins.
There is debate whether or not this is a Christian heresy or simply an independent development. The evidence seems to point to the later. Nevertheless, the Gnostics laid claim to Jesus as a great teacher of theirs and as such requires some attention. It is possible that 1 John was written against some of the errors that Gnosticism promoted.
I love "The Secret Teachings of All Ages" by Manly P. Hall but its definitely a not the easiest book to read, being written by a 33rd level Freemason in the 1920's. The information is absolutely fabulous, and the illustrations are superb.
The apostle John dealt extensively with Gnosticism later in his lifetime. Therefore 1st, 2ND, and 3rd John are all good books that deal with and combat Gnosticism.
Many religions are gnostic today: Mormons, Free Masons, Muslims, Catholics etc. Any religion that teaches that there is some secret knowledge that saves or that you need to be a part of their body of belief to be saved is elitist ans gnostic. The truth is that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world and that is free knowledge, available for all to believe.
THE PERFECT MATRIMONIUM
From El Maestro Samael Awn Weor
the Man on charge to open the secret teachings that was close for millenniums. this book will gibe you the insight to comprehend this knowledge
i don't know of the existence of an "easy book for beginners" on Gnosticism.
i would recommend "The Gnostic Religion" by Hans Jonas, to purchase.
My favorite book on Gnosticism is "Fragments Of A Forgotten Faith" by G. R. S. Mead -- and you can read that one, in its entirety, on-line! I've provided the link in the "What's your source?" box -- along with the link to "The Nag Hammadi Library" on-line, which allows you to read the writings of the Gnostics, themselves.
In "The Nag Hammadi Library" i would especially commend to Antone's attention my own favorites -- "The Gospel According To Thomas," "The Thunder, Perfect Mind," "Trimorphic Protennoia," and "The Gospel of Philip."
"The Thunder, Perfect Mind" & "Trimorphic Protennoia" (i discount the later rewriting-additions to the latter & go for the original layer that got added-to; the translator's preface in the 3rd edition provides guidance as to which parts were later additions) are difficult to understand, for most (they took me about a dozen readings before i began to think i was understanding them, at least in part -- but i sensed they were well *worth* the effort).
Lots of Christians write very derogatory (& biased) things about the Gnostics. i suggest that the following presents them far more *fairly* and with a *balanced* judgment -- as does G. R. S. Mead's book.
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What i am quoting was written by Rev. F. Lamplugh in his introduction to his translation of THE GNOSIS OF THE LIGHT (A Translation of the Untitled Apocalypse Contained in the Codex Brucianus~1918~).
"Many a man, no doubt, who called himself a 'Gnostic' was but a sorry rogue; many another was but a student of the letter, not of the life; many another was but a spiritual swashbuckler, pompous in his demeanour and cryptic in his utterance; some, led by an abhorrent fantasy, may have wandered along the path that goes to the Venus-berg and have striven to lisp a formula that would transform the earth into Gehenna rather than into Heaven. But, beside this mass of imposture, of folly, of elegant idleness and of corruption, the _a rebours_ of a spiritual outpouring, there was a real mysticism that could present the Authentic Spectacle and could utter comfortable words in tongues not of this world utterly. There was a Gnosis that strove to give the Peace of God to those within and to those without, because in Peace all things were made, that yearned to bring forth children, quickened fiery souls, aeons, gods, in bodies of light for the love of God; that saw in all things Grace, the Sponsa Dei, the Mother most pure and immaculate. 'No creature was ever wronged of Thee,' no spark ever quenched, no hope defrauded and hurled eternally from the sky with shattered wings by Thee. Such is the fair Faith that chanted its prayer beneath a heaven set with such strange galaxies, and whispers to us now through the disremembered symbols of a forgotten book." (pp. 17-18)
"Gnosis was not a 'philosophy' in the generally accepted sense of the term, or even religio-philosophy. 'It was immediate knowledge of God's mysteries received from direct intercourse with the Deity--mysteries which must remain hidden from the natural man, a knowledge at the same time which exercises decided reaction on our relationship to God and also on our nature or disposition' (Reitzenstein). It was the power or gift of receiving and understanding revelation, which finally culminated in the direct unveiled vision of God and the transformation of the whole man into spiritual being by contact with Him. The ground of the idea of Gnosis does not seem to be very different from that of the later 'Mystical Theology,' 'which originally meant the direct, secret, and incommunicable knowledge of God received in contemplation' (Dom John Chapman). The revelation sought for was not so much a dogmatic revelation as a revelation of the processes of 'transmutation' of Rebirth, of Apotheosis or 'Deification.' Its aim was dynamic rather than static. But while the followers of the Gnosis, both Christian and Hellenistic, would have agreed that the direct knowledge of God is incommunicable to others, they undoubtedly seem to have held that there were what may be described as intermediate or preparatory processes or energizings which could be communicated..." (pp. 9, 10)
"The Gnostic movement began long before the Christian era (what its original historical impulse was we do not know), and only one aspect of it, and that from a strictly limited point of view, has been treated by ecclesiastical historians. Recent investigations have challenged the traditional outlook and the traditional conclusions and the traditional 'facts.' With some to-day, and with many more to-morrow, the burning question is, or will be--not how did a peculiarly silly and licentious heresy rise within the Church--but how did the Church rise out of the great Gnostic movement, and how did the dynamic ideas of the Gnosis become crystallised into Dogmas?" (pg. 10)
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The Greek Hermetic literature is also Gnostic, but not *Christian* Gnostic. "Thrice Greatest Hermes" by G. R. S. Mead presents this material in translation. Mead's introduction to that book is on-line, & i accessed a translation by someone else, of that corpus of literture, on-line some years ago -- but don't know whether that website is still up or not.
Many of the sources mentioned are OK. The ones by Samael Aun Weor, who is know as the father of modern gnosticism are the best choice but some of the books can be rather tough to get through without a decent background in the subject.
Probably one of the best books on the subject for the beginner is called "Revolutionary Psychology" by Samael Aun Weor. It is fairly short and the chapters are also short but the topics are explained really well.
In case you didn't know, you can download his books for free. There are many copies out there on the web but I have found that many of those copies contain mistakes as they were translated from Spanish to English. The best source for pure translations that I have found is at WNW.gnosticweb.com.
The book "Revolutionary Psychology" can be found here: http://www.gnosticweb.com/last-books-of-samael-aun-weor
The book is the 5Th one down from the section Books.
If you look around the site you will see that they even offer free on-line courses such as "Intro to Christian Gnosticism", "Self-Discovery, "Gnostic Wisdom" and others. All are really great.
Hope this helps you to wade through all the info that is out there.
If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.
What is a good book to buy on Gnosticism?
