Please can someone explain, in simple English, what this religion consists of? I was looking through various websites but none of them made much sense to me.
The gnostic religion believes in salvation by attaining secret knowledge. Jesus taught that we are saved through faith in Him by God's grace. Though some have called themselves "Gnostic Christians" their beliefs contradict Jesus' foundational doctrine, so they cannot really be disciples of Christ. The Gnostic "Christians" are mentioned in the New Testament where their beliefs are clearly identified as heresy. The Gnostics invented the Gospel of Thomas a few centuries after Jesus. The so-called Gospel of Thomas copies many of the sayings of Jesus in the synoptic Gospels, and adds new material of their own.
Dan Brown's book, "The Da Vinci Code" claims that the Gnostics believed Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen. This is impossible because the Gnostics taught that Jesus had no body. They thought he was only a spirit floating around. The Gnostics believed that the spirit of man is good, but the flesh is evil. Therefore they would be appalled by the notion of Jesus getting married and having children. Of course, Brown's book is marked as a "work of fiction" by apparently Americans today do not understand what "fiction" means.
1Ti 6:20 NLT
Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge.
21 Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. May God's grace be with you all.
2Jo 1:7 NLT
Many deceivers have gone out into the world. They do not believe that Jesus Christ came to earth in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an Antichrist.
Jud 1:4 I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you, saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago, for they have turned against our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
(The Gnostics falsely taught that the body was evil and people were saved by "secret knowledge." Therefore the Gnostic "Christians" thought that they could sin as much as they wanted and it didn't matter.)
Gnostic/agnostic pertain to the possession of know edge. To be agnostic is to be without full knowledge. Gnostic is the opposite. In that light, gnosticism is a rather arrogant and egotistical claim.
It's a man made addition to Christianity, in order to pander to the exclusivity of the intelligentsia.
"Look, we have the secret truths, that no one else has"
"Join us and you can work your way towards finding our secret path"
The Gnostics were one of the first cults of Christianity, elevating knowledge above God's Grace. Shades of gnosticism still pervade in humanism and universalism to this very day.
BEWARE anything that includes words like SECRET and CODE. It's Satan's pit.
It is secret knowledge about God and the universe. A typical belief is that there are two gods, one good, one evil. The God of the Christians is the evil god who controls the world and thus all the sickness and evil. The good god is fighting against him, with the help of the wise Gnostic's.
I know that sounds like nonsense, but I didn't make it up, the Gnostic's did.
Besides what the others said about secret knowledge, much of the religion has been lost to time. All I do know is that they believed in a dualistic form of theism in which the God of the Old Testament is actually the God of evil and of the material world(which is the false world of evil and illusion), and Jesus is supposed to be the God of Good and Light that helps us transcend this existence and attain heaven.
Gnosticism (Greek: SS'sis, knowledge) refers to diverse, synergistic religious movements in antiquity consisting of various belief systems generally united in the teaching that the cosmos was created by an imperfect god, the demureGEith some of the supreme God's pneuma; this being is frequently identified with the Abrahamic God, (as opposed to the Gospel according to the Hebrews) and is contrasted with a superior entity, referred to by several terms including Pleroma and Godhead.[1] Depictions of the demiurge?the term originates with Plato's Timaeus?vary from being as an embodiment of evil, to being merely imperfect and as benevolent as its inadequacy permits. Gnosticism was a dualistic religion, influenced by and influencing Hellenic philosophy, Judaism (see Notzrim), and Christianity; however, by contrast, later strands of the movement, such as the Valentinians, held a monistic world-view.[4] This, along with the varying treatments of the demiurge, may be seen as indicative of the variety of positions held within the category.
The gn?sis referred to in the term is a form of mystic, revealed, esoteric knowledge through which the spiritual elements of humanity are reminded of their true origins within the superior Godhead, being thus permitted to escape materiality Consequently, within the sects of gnosticism only the pneumatics or psychics obtain gn?sis; the hylic or Somatics, though human, being incapable of perceiving the higher reality, are unlikely to attain the gn?sis deemed by gnostic movements as necessary for salvationJesus of Nazareth is identified by some Gnostic sects as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gn?sis to the earth.[8] In others (e.g. the Notzrim and Mandaeans) he is considered a m?iha kdaba or "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John the Baptist.[9] Still other traditions identify Mani and Seth, third son of Adam and Eve, as salvific figures
The Gnostics were an assortment of heretical sects within early Christianity. They came and went, more or less, during the course of the second century. Their central idea was that salvation could be obtained through possession of a secret knowledge, available only to the initiated. They tended to have a very low opinion of the material world, which they regarded as the province of Satan.
The word 'Gnosis' originates from ancient Greek and means 'knowledge'. However, the knowledge it refers to is not that which comes from years of studying books, from degrees, from being an expert in a given field, or from reading widely ? but rather, from a direct experience of the truth. The Gnostics have always professed an ability to go to the very sources of wisdom through spiritual practice.
I am a gnostic and I have been so for years. Gnosticism is not a religion like Christianity, or Buddhism or Hinduism. Gnostics seek spiritual enlightenment through knowledge. Knowledge of ourselves and knowledge of the Divine. This knowledge is not acquired from books or from what someone tells us to think or believe but is derived through personal investigation and first had experience of the Divine.
Obviously there are teachings, spiritual practices and exercises we have to learn. The wisdom and teachings are ancient but very relevant. They provide the tools and "road map" necessary to walk the spiritual path to enlightenment.
Gnostics at one time were considered heretics and they were hunted down and killed for their beliefs by the Church along with many other sects and so for a long time went underground.
Today there are still a lot of misconceptions about the Gnostics. Many of the responses to your question confirms this. It isn't that people are trying to be misleading (most of the responses at least) and I'm sure they mean well, it is just that they don't have the correct information or just not enough of it to understand.
Here is a really great short documentary on Youtube that discuses Gnosticism and its relation to Christianity. I think you will enjoy it and it will answer your questions. Its called "The Path of the Christian Gnostics".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trOG1B5UV9c
It is part 1 of 3 but the first part will give you the background.
Here is a great website for more solid information http://www.gnosticawakenings.com/about-gnosis/christian-gnosticism I feel it is always best to go to the source for information.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
What does Gnosticism mean?
