Question about Gnostics and Gnosticism?

how many different forms of gnosticism are there? what are the beliefs of them? what are the differences if any at all? what are the similarities if any at all? what scriptures do they recite if any at all? now before anybody tells me what agnosticism is bear in mind that i am agnostic and i know what agnosticism is. i want to know about gnosticism.
Abby c- if everybody just went to religious tolerance.org or any other site all of the time then there would not be that many questions to ask on this site

Go to WNW.religioustolerance.org.
You'll find any religion or "non-religion" there.

The gnostic bible was written by Mary Magdalena and doubting Thomas as well as others who walked and talked with Jesus. The christian bible was written 30-120 years after Jesus died by people who had no idea what he was or what he said. The problem is that if you follow the gnostic bible you cannot control people and scare money out of them. That is the difference.

The original version of Gnosticism died out long ago. There have been several efforts to revive it throughout history, such as the Bogomils, the Cathars and the writings of William Blake. The Gnostic sects of today are reconstructions.

The core belief is that Jesus did not (could not) die on the cross because he was purely divine. His "resurrection" and "ascension" were actually a single event, an apotheosis indicating his return to a purely divine state. "Salvation" is not about an exculpatory "sacrifice" but a transcendence of the impurity of fleshly life through meditation on "secret knowledge" about the nature of Christ. We do not "follow" Christ but realize the "Christ" inside us.

There's a strong dualistic, anti-world streak in Gnosticism. They believe the "God" of the Jewish scripture was an inferior demo-god who lost his way and created the corruptible universe of matter. The "true" God had other pure descendants, most notably Sophia (often associated with Wisdom or the Holy Spirit), whose "Son", the Christ, manifested in the appearance of a human to show us the way to enlightenment. Some flavors of Gnosticism have Christ taking over the body of a human Jesus at his baptism and abandoning him at the cross to preserve the sense of complete separation between the pure divine and the degraded human aspects.

The Gnostics had mystical rituals to mark levels of spiritual progress. The baptism of water marked initiation into the general church, but there were baptisms of "air", "fire" (symbolic) and "spirit" as well. Historians point out the similarities of Gnostic practices to other "Mystery" cults, such as that of Dionysius, Osiris or Tammuz.

Again, the goal was enlightenment, transcendence, purification and separation from the corruption of material life. Gnostics tended to avoid sex and indulging in coarse, sensual foods. Some (notably the Cathars/Abigensians) believed in reincarnation and gave special honor and deference to those they felt were nearly done transcending. But the paths were individual, solitary. Students did not study and ascend as a group. Enlightenment wasn't something that could be "taught" in a classroom. This left them at a distinct disadvantage before the more organized orthodox church who took the scriptures at face value.

Gnostic scriptures tend to be more obscure, more obviously allegorical than the Christian canon. Jesus and the people he met are all more than merely historical characters. In the gospel of Mary Magdalen, Mary represents the believer who understands, rather than the literal-minded Peter. In the gospel of Judas, Judas represents the believer who understands the underlying meaning of his acts, not the superficial appearances. The Gospel of Thomas emphasizes the nascent divinity in every rock, tree and human, held back only by its inferior, material condition. (Some scholars point to John's portrayal of "Thomas" as an incredulous fool as evidence that there was a bitter rivalry between these branches of "Christianity".) Gnostic Christ laughs at the figure on the cross because people misunderstand, it is in the nature of matter to die, but spirit lives forever.

Gnosticism is a fascinating study, but it does not lend itself to community relationships, and its more esoteric theological doctrines can be just as obscure and complex as those of conventional Christianity.

Gnosticism is a word derived from the Greek word nosies, meaning knowledge. It is a term created by modern scholars to describe a diverse religious movement often associated with Christianity, although textual evidence for the movement contains distinctly non- and anti-Christian elements, as well as anti-Judaic elements. These beliefs had largely synergistic origins in that they were often based on various influences from such idea-systems

The core text of Gnosticism is the Pistas Sophia, you can find it at WNW.sacred-texts.com . It's very hard to explain Gnosticism clearly, but I think you'll like it. Skepsis' answer is good.