Modern Gnosticism (Jesus, ritual, Earth, gospel, Buddhism)

[lunamoth]

Hello friends,

I've read the short overview here and I've followed a couple of the threads in this section, and I've read quite a few posts now by people claiming Gnosticism as their religion. Just recently I read a post by Halcyon I think that suggests that Gnosticism is growing again (perhaps because of the recent Gnostic Gospel discoveries??). However, I still have a hard time understanding exactly what mondern Gnosticism is, what it's beliefs are, what it's practices are, what in short defines it as a religion. I'm not arguing that it is not--just trying to get a handle on how you view your religion, what if anything unifies you, and what summarizes your worldview.

No offense or debate intended.

peace,
lunamoth

[Buttons*]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Hello friends,

I've read the short overview here and I've followed a couple of the threads in this section, and I've read quite a few posts now by people claiming Gnosticism as their religion. Just recently I read a post by Halcyon I think that suggests that Gnosticism is growing again (perhaps because of the recent Gnostic Gospel discoveries??). However, I still have a hard time understanding exactly what mondern Gnosticism is, what it's beliefs are, what it's practices are, what in short defines it as a religion. I'm not arguing that it is not--just trying to get a handle on how you view your religion, what if anything unifies you, and what summarizes your worldview.

No offense or debate intended.

peace,
lunamoth

Yeah, mostly it's just me and Halcyon on this one. I'll let him answer first. (cause it's more text-book ) and I'll answer next

[gnostic]

I have not actually met any gnostic person, other than on-line, such as this forum, or others like it. That's not surprising, considering Gnosticism is very new in Australia. The number of gnostics are most likely larger in the US and perhaps in UK than in Down Under. Gnostics are most likely scattered in all part of Australia that they don't (or can't) meet.

[Halcyon]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Hello friends,

I've read the short overview here and I've followed a couple of the threads in this section, and I've read quite a few posts now by people claiming Gnosticism as their religion. Just recently I read a post by Halcyon I think that suggests that Gnosticism is growing again (perhaps because of the recent Gnostic Gospel discoveries??). However, I still have a hard time understanding exactly what mondern Gnosticism is, what it's beliefs are, what it's practices are, what in short defines it as a religion. I'm not arguing that it is not--just trying to get a handle on how you view your religion, what if anything unifies you, and what summarizes your worldview.

No offense or debate intended.

peace,
lunamoth

Good questions lunamoth.

Gnosticism is growing, yes. And yes it is because of the nag hammadi discovery and others like the recent Judas translation.

You could call Gnosticism a reconstructionalist religion, like the Kemetics and certain other pagan paths.
The Church did a good job of wiping the ancient practices from history, so we really have very little idea of what they did practice. Eucharist is a certainty. Another ritual called the 'Bridal Chamber' is speculated and probably involved a symbolic union of opposing parts of the mind, material and spiritual. Today, we must decide ourselves what is necessary.

It is a goal orientated religion, akin to Buddhism, rather than a faith orientated religion like the orthodox Christianities.
We believe man can acheive a re-union with God while on Earth, essentially becoming less of an individual and more fully a part of God. We believe that we are ignorant of the truth if what God is and that Gnosis (enlightenment) is pretty much the only way to gain this truth. We believe we alone (people in general, not just Gnostics) are responsible for achieving Gnosis, we can't rely on another.
They're the basics.

Otherwise Gnosticism is a very individual and personal path - you do what you need to do to gain Gnosis. Learning, meditating, contemplating.
There are churches in existance, mostly in America. They base themselves on the orthodox church in structure, but teach Gnosticism instead of orthodoxy.

But, Gnosticism is very diverse, and we believe thats how it is supposed to be. We walk the less well trodden path, through the narrow gate. We believe blind conformaty leads people through the wide gate to destruction (destruction being a state of complete ignorance).

Hope that helps a bit.

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Good questions lunamoth.

Thank you for taking time to reply.

Gnosticism is growing, yes. And yes it is because of the nag hammadi discovery and others like the recent Judas translation.

You could call Gnosticism a reconstructionalist religion, like the Kemetics and certain other pagan paths.
The Church did a good job of wiping the ancient practices from history, so we really have very little idea of what they did practice. Eucharist is a certainty. Another ritual called the 'Bridal Chamber' is speculated and probably involved a symbolic union of opposing parts of the mind, material and spiritual. Today, we must decide ourselves what is necessary.

I take it that you are a theist, and also that you belive that Christ was...Something. What does the Eucharist mean to you? I'd also ask more about the Bridal Chamber, but if it involves sexual acts I'd prefer you don't go into any details. I apologize if the answers to my questions are buried in other threads here, I have not read them all.

Do you believe in the soul? That the body is evil? In the resurrection of the body?

Is God to you One, Multiple, Pantheistic, Panentheistic?

What role does the Holy Spirit play, if any? (Not trying to say you believe in the Trinity, but since I do I am interested in how you view these things--please don't bash the Trinity when you answer, I accept that you believe differently).

It is a goal orientated religion, akin to Buddhism, rather than a faith orientated religion like the orthodox Christianities.
We believe man can acheive a re-union with God while on Earth, essentially becoming less of an individual and more fully a part of God. We believe that we are ignorant of the truth if what God is and that Gnosis (enlightenment) is pretty much the only way to gain this truth. We believe we alone (people in general, not just Gnostics) are responsible for achieving Gnosis, we can't rely on another.

What happens when you achieve re-union with God while on earch (how does this manifest in your life?). Do you believe in an afterlife?

In achieving gnosis what is the role of God and what is your role? I take it from other comments I've heard that when you achieve it you just know, but is this a transient experience or are you permanently changed by it?

Do you worship God, and if so how?

Otherwise Gnosticism is a very individual and personal path - you do what you need to do to gain Gnosis. Learning, meditating, contemplating.
There are churches in existance, mostly in America. They base themselves on the orthodox church in structure, but teach Gnosticism instead of orthodoxy.

OK, I view orthodox Christianity is basically summed up by Christ being the light and the truth and the way, and Christ is God Who is Love. Is this different for Gnostics?

But, Gnosticism is very diverse, and we believe thats how it is supposed to be. We walk the less well trodden path, through the narrow gate. We believe blind conformaty leads people through the wide gate to destruction (destruction being a state of complete ignorance).

Hope that helps a bit.

Oh well, I don't know about the rest of us being on the path to destruction. I see God as a God of Love and when we love we participate in Him. Thank you again for the information.

lunamoth

[finalfrogo]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Good questions lunamoth.

Gnosticism is growing, yes. And yes it is because of the nag hammadi discovery and others like the recent Judas translation.

You could call Gnosticism a reconstructionalist religion, like the Kemetics and certain other pagan paths.
The Church did a good job of wiping the ancient practices from history, so we really have very little idea of what they did practice. Eucharist is a certainty. Another ritual called the 'Bridal Chamber' is speculated and probably involved a symbolic union of opposing parts of the mind, material and spiritual. Today, we must decide ourselves what is necessary.

It is a goal orientated religion, akin to Buddhism, rather than a faith orientated religion like the orthodox Christianities.
We believe man can acheive a re-union with God while on Earth, essentially becoming less of an individual and more fully a part of God. We believe that we are ignorant of the truth if what God is and that Gnosis (enlightenment) is pretty much the only way to gain this truth. We believe we alone (people in general, not just Gnostics) are responsible for achieving Gnosis, we can't rely on another.
They're the basics.

Otherwise Gnosticism is a very individual and personal path - you do what you need to do to gain Gnosis. Learning, meditating, contemplating.
There are churches in existance, mostly in America. They base themselves on the orthodox church in structure, but teach Gnosticism instead of orthodoxy.

But, Gnosticism is very diverse, and we believe thats how it is supposed to be. We walk the less well trodden path, through the narrow gate. We believe blind conformaty leads people through the wide gate to destruction (destruction being a state of complete ignorance).

Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks for all that, it really cleared things up for me. Generally, gnostic beliefs seem generally similar to my own. I still have a few questions:

1. Have you ever heard of the book A Course in Miracles? Does it have anything to do with gnosticism?
2. Halcyon, why do you identify yourself as "Gnostic Christian," instead of just "Gnostic"?
3. There seem to be many ideas from the Da Vinci Code associated with Gnosticism--the marriage of Christ, the bloodline of Christ, etc. I'm relatively sure that such an association (with Gnosticism) is false. Am I right?
4. Is Gnosticism generally considered an inclusive, exclusive, or pluralistic religion?

[gnostic]

Dan Brown was more selective in his theme. He had wanted to pick Christ and Mary Magdalene to suit his work. He does go on a fair bit the goddess religion, but he concentrated less on Sophia (Wisdom) - the major feminine principle in Gnosticism (not Sophie, the character in Dan's book). There are other feminine principles other than Sophia that played a role in Gnosticism, such as Barbelo, Zoe, Eve, but Dan had ignore them entirely.

Understanding the role Sophia played seemed very important for understanding Gnosticism.

Yes, there are references to Mary Magdalene to Gnostic texts and that she played an important part in among the Gnostic Christians, but what is this role, still remain a mystery, but Dan's assertion of marriage to Jesus cannot be substantiated from the actual texts found.

[Ramacharaka]

I think the definition of modern gnosticism is Anacletus I the third pope who was related to Moses and who was crucified by his own choosing in the vatican courtyard in like 80 ad.
that is the answer to the crap posted about "john" and his secret book in the other topic
I think we were just waiting for synthetic heroin to be invented

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by Ramacharaka

I think the definition of modern gnosticism is Anacletus I the third pope who was related to Moses and who was crucified by his own choosing in the vatican courtyard in like 80 ad.
that is the answer to the crap posted about "john" and his secret book in the other topic
I think we were just waiting for synthetic heroin to be invented

What?

[Buttons*]

Originally Posted by Ramacharaka

I think the definition of modern gnosticism is Anacletus I the third pope who was related to Moses and who was crucified by his own choosing in the vatican courtyard in like 80 ad.
that is the answer to the crap posted about "john" and his secret book in the other topic
I think we were just waiting for synthetic heroin to be invented

thanks for your opinion