Fellow Gnostics (Jesus, Creator, gospel, Eden, contradiction)

[Buttons*]

I'm looking for anyone out there do discuss Gnosticism as a whole... Everyone I know has no idea what im talking about when i even mention the word gnosis. *sigh* Anyone interested in talking with me about it?

[Terrywoodenpic]

A Gnostic Bishop put up a paper a while ago on this site.
It was both strange and interesting.
Unfortunately there is very little Gnostic writings remaing, from the days of the early church.

Try two searches in the menu above.
The Gnostic world view
Gnosis

You will then find most of the recent threads on the subject, which will give you a kickin off point. the threads are still live so you can comment and bump them up .

Terry_________________________
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.

[Halcyon]

Welcome Gnosis_777

I am a gnostic, but not a full christian Gnostic (although i do love Valentinian literature ), i lean more towards the Sethian, kinda eclectic though.

I'd love to discuss whatever you would like to

[michel]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Welcome Gnosis_777

I am a gnostic, but not a full christian Gnostic (although i do love Valentinian literature ), i lean more towards the Sethian, kinda eclectic though.

I'd love to discuss whatever you would like to

I am interested in learning about Gnosticism.

I notice though that Gnosticism appears to be defined as different 'faiths' depending on the site one look it up; some have Christianity links, some have Judaism links (ie Kabbalah), whilst some are as described in the above overview.

Now you, Halcyon, have confused me by saying you are not a "full Christian Gnostic"; just how many 'varieties' are there?

What is the comunality of all the varieties?

[ChrisP]

Haro yuo...

I am also gnostic, but only the sense of working towards gnosis. Christianity has little to do with it for me, or though I am fairly well read with the standard bible, my gospel of thomas an mary are still works in progress.

Hi Michel,

The word Gnostic stems from gnosis which is innate understanding of the way of things, similar to the principle of wu wei in daoism if you've read anything there. Basically it's working for enlightenment, when applied to anything, even mowing the lawn

[Aqualung]

Originally Posted by gnosis_777

I'm looking for anyone out there do discuss Gnosticism as a whole... Everyone I know has no idea what im talking about when i even mention the word gnosis. *sigh* Anyone interested in talking with me about it?

I definitely don't know what you're talking about when you mention gnosis. I'd love to discuss it with you and increase my knowledge of gnosticism.

[spacemonkey]

Gnosticism ties togeather all of the loose ends the seprate religons leave. It is the fundimental belief that the creator and the True God are not the same entity, but that the creator (Demiurge) is actually a lesser, incomplete entiy. One without the "divine spark" of the True God. Gnosticism ties togeather polytheism (in form of the True God's emmations) with monotheism (the Demiurge) with more philosophical beliefs like Buddahism (Gnosis is Greek for "knowledge" though scholars say "enlightenment" would be a more fitting translation). Gnostics believe some prophets come from the Demiurge while others are sent by the True God. Jesus is considered by many gnostics to be the Logos of the True God, not that of the Demiurge. They attribute that belief to the differance of the messages of the two Testaments. The OT has stories of fear, death, destruction, and a vengefull God, the NT told of a peacefull, loving, tollerant, and forgiving God, somewhat of a contradiction. Other OT figures that are villified by most Judaic religons are held in high esteem by gnostics as well, such as the serpent from Eden and Cain, as they resisited the Demiurge.

[spacemonkey]

I forgot to link these...
http://www.gnosis.org/gnintro.htm
http://www.gnosis.org/whatisgnostic.htm
http://www.gnosis.org/951220.htm
http://www.gnosis.org/971219.ram

[Halcyon]

Originally Posted by michel

I am interested in learning about Gnosticism.

I notice though that Gnosticism appears to be defined as different 'faiths' depending on the site one look it up; some have Christianity links, some have Judaism links (ie Kabbalah), whilst some are as described in the above overview.

Now you, Halcyon, have confused me by saying you are not a "full Christian Gnostic"; just how many 'varieties' are there?

What is the comunality of all the varieties?

Well, i can only give my own personal perspective. So, people will probably disagree with me.

How many varieties of Gnosticism are there?

Well, we don't know because most Gnostic sects were destroyed centuries ago, often we only have the records of their persecuters as evidence of the Gnostic's existance, which are not the most reliable of sources.
If i had to hazard a guess, i'd suggest that there are/were six broad types of Gnostic - those being Mandean, Manichaen, Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Pagan (specifically Hermetic). There were most probably others, but we have surviving texts from these types. Within these categories there were, much like modern day, many 'denominations' - especially within the Christian movement.
From a personal perspective, i'd suggest that there are as many varieties of Gnosticism as there are Gnostic practitioners. Why? Because Gnosticism places emphasis on personal revelation and personal experience of the divine. Dogma and mythology come second to one's personal experience, this being one of the major reasons for the persecution of the Gnostics by the ancient church who had/have almost the exact opposite viewpoint.

Why am i not a 'full Christian Gnostic'?

Well, it again boils down to personal belief. While i do believe in the man Jesus, i am unconvinced of his alleged divine origin. I believe he was a man who had attained Gnosis, and may have had the logos of God visited upon him, or may not have. To me it is irrelevant, for me he is still the Gnostic rolemodel.

What do all Gnostic sects have in common?

Spacemonkey has given lots of good information. But, if i may, i'd like to distil it down to two basic points;
1. God is not who you think He is. The God of the OT, and as such the God of all Jews, Christians and Muslims alive today is not God. He is a being created to emmulate God, unfortunately no being can emmulate God - thus he is flawed. We call him Yaldaboath, Samael, Sakla - or the descriptive term Demiurge.

2. The true God can be found through Gnosis. Gnosis being knowledge of the divine. Through Gnosis the illusion of this world is stripped from our eyes and we behold the true God, but only a glimpse. For the human mind cannot understand the nature of the true God. He is incomprehensible. (I say He, but in Gnostic mythology God is beyond sex)

These two points are common to all Gnostic sects, differences then arise from cultural assimilations of mythology.

This is all my own humble opinion, but i hope i have helped