Based on my not-so-deep reading about Gnosticism to date, I was wondering what Gnostics have to say about nature. The orthodox Christian charge against Gnosticism I have seen over and over again is that it is so pessimistic about the material world, which I assume includes humanity's natural environment. The story of the Demiurge could imply also a potentially negative attitude towards nature. (I guess that depends on whether you see the Demiurge as wicked or just a blunderer. The only way I can make sense of him is as a symbol of the inherent rebelliousness or entropy of matter.) On the other hand it seems to me that you could see all life and that which supports it as manifestations of divine light in an otherwise hostile universe. Without this manifestation, the divine spark that animates every human being could not take hold or flourish. That would make nature very precious indeed. Any thoughts?
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Gnosticism and nature
- Thread starter Zophius
- Start date
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
The Demiurge is the jealous God of orthodoxy who requires obedience and subservience to priests and bishops, themselves 'waterless canals'. God is the Ground of our being, superior to this jealous mean spirited one who would damn those who don't acknowledge his or his servants authority.
I love nature, nature is Theophany. Orthodoxy would draw a veil over it and have us regard newborns as being born inheritors of sin. They would trap God in books and buildings. That is the Demiurge.
The source of our being, God, manifests in nature, as you say,it holds the divine spark, and is very precious indeed.
Halcyon
Lord of the Badgers
The way I used to think of the Demiurge was not as evil, but as flawed. If you think on the Gnostic creation mythology Yaldaboath was created by his mother Sophia in the likeness of the Father, but since she did it alone without her syzygy her offspring was born deformed.
She further compounded the retched creature's problems by sealing him away in a dimension of his own, so that he was mostly unaware of his origin - this caused him to think himself almighty and generated his supreme ego.
His flaw was passed on to his creation i.e. this universe, thus nature isn't evil, just flawed. It's not the Demiurge's fault he is flawed, and it certainly isn't the natural world's fault - so instead of rejecting the world and thinking of it as vile and repulsive, I chose instead to think of it as a hindrance to spiritual goals (because of those inherent flaws) but otherwise a beautiful aspect of the Pleroma in its own right - as indeed is the Demiurge.
Just my two cents.
She further compounded the retched creature's problems by sealing him away in a dimension of his own, so that he was mostly unaware of his origin - this caused him to think himself almighty and generated his supreme ego.
His flaw was passed on to his creation i.e. this universe, thus nature isn't evil, just flawed. It's not the Demiurge's fault he is flawed, and it certainly isn't the natural world's fault - so instead of rejecting the world and thinking of it as vile and repulsive, I chose instead to think of it as a hindrance to spiritual goals (because of those inherent flaws) but otherwise a beautiful aspect of the Pleroma in its own right - as indeed is the Demiurge.
Just my two cents.
You are both interpreting the Demiurge in different ways, but I can see the overlap. Nature is flawed and beatiful at the same time, just as human nature is flawed and beautiful at the same time. Christian orthodoxy errs in confusing the flaws with the beauty and even subordinating the latter to the former, not least by insisting on religion as a tool of the existing social order - which, of course, is seen as "natural" in just about every society. Of course there are liberal churches that try to break out of this pattern, but I still think they suffer from its intellectual and spiritual legacy.
Anyway, I like the balanced view of natural existence that you are implying. I feel it matches my own spiritual inclinations. It just seems so much more sane than the orthodox Christian position that everything in Creation is automatically good and all the suffering we experience is the fault of humanity's own willfulness and rebellion - or even more bizarre, the willfulness and rebellion of some "fallen angel."
Anyway, I like the balanced view of natural existence that you are implying. I feel it matches my own spiritual inclinations. It just seems so much more sane than the orthodox Christian position that everything in Creation is automatically good and all the suffering we experience is the fault of humanity's own willfulness and rebellion - or even more bizarre, the willfulness and rebellion of some "fallen angel."
Last edited:
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
It's a really interesting subject. I am only setting out on this path, I am in the early stages of my journey. My knowledge is very limited.I have found everything that Halcyon has to say on the subject very instructive.
Halcyon
Lord of the Badgers
Doesn't seem that limited to me stephen
Mr Cheese
Well-Known Member
86
The son of man has nowhere to lay his head
JESUS said, "[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests. But
the
son of man has nowhere to lay his head and gain repose."
Mt 8:20
Lk 9:58
the Layton translation
be in the world, but not of the world.
This is not our home.
Yet it is all too easy to fall into the trap and assume that Christ is advocating denial...
deny the body, deny form, deny the earth....
Many would agree with this, but this is literalism. Christ is saying deny illusion, the illusion of what is...
The son of man has nowhere to lay his head
JESUS said, "[Foxes have] their dens and birds have their nests. But
the
son of man has nowhere to lay his head and gain repose."
Mt 8:20
Lk 9:58
the Layton translation
be in the world, but not of the world.
This is not our home.
Yet it is all too easy to fall into the trap and assume that Christ is advocating denial...
deny the body, deny form, deny the earth....
Many would agree with this, but this is literalism. Christ is saying deny illusion, the illusion of what is...