what is this all about Gnosticism? I never heard of it?

what is this all about Gnosticism? I never heard of it?

knowing, not just believing...

The doctrines of certain Prue-Christian pagan, Jewish, and early Christian sects that valued the revealed knowledge of God and of the origin and end of the human race as a means to attain redemption for the spiritual element in humans and that distinguished the Demiurge from the unknowable Divine Being.


http://www.spiritpathways.com/gnosis.html

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism
I am agnostic which means I neither believe nor disbelieve the existence of a divine spirit, creator, or God. Who am I to say I know?

i agree with the second answerer and I'll tell you not to confuse *gnosticism* with *agnosticism*. there's a world of difference between the two.

the ''christian'' Gnostic's are the ones who wrote the gnostic gospels (gospel of Thomas, gospel of Judas, gospel of Mary, etc.), around 390 ad, in the Coptic language. these are the books the that the message in the movie ''the DA Vince code'' is based on. these guys believed that Jesus came to earth merely in spirit form, and only ''appeared'' to be human. they considered the material world to be evil and salvation to come through a kind of spiritual knowledge (nosies) gained through a specific set of rituals. for the most part, they used their worldview as an excuse to live immoral lives. most likely, the books of Jude, and possibly 2ND peter, were written as a warning to the early church to beware gnostic teachings.

Gnosticism is an ancient heresy, based on supposed "secret knowledge" that pops up again from time to time.

Dan Brown and his "DaVinci Code" recently revived it.

It was nonsense in ancient times, and it's still nonsense.

Don't waste your time with it.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/thomas.html