Gnosticism: What Is This Religious Doctrine And What Ideas Does It Support
Gnosticism is a phenomenon that is related to the Judeo-Christian tradition This phenomenon brings together different religious systems that were considered heretical during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. However, they proposed different ways of understanding the nature of the human being that continue to be discussed to this day.
Below we will review the definitions of Gnosticism, its characteristics and the practices that are most representative of this philosophical and religious doctrine.
Gnosticism is a term used to refer to a group of ideas and religious systems that existed between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD Broadly speaking, the systems that are grouped within Gnosticism propose that everything that exists in the material world is created by a God who fixes a divine spark within the body of the human being.
This spark is trapped inside said body, but can be released. To free it, it is possible to turn to a group of wise men who are the possessors of “gnosis” (the special knowledge of the divine). Through this liberation, the true essence of the human being would be freed and identified with God. Likewise, the quintessential problem of religious thought would be solved: where does evil come from?
This doctrine was considered heretical by Christians of the time because it was considered an esoteric practice and far from the values of Christianity. Not only that, but it is related to Hellenic culture and Eastern religions, and thus, to the emergence of Christianity itself. For this reason, Gnosticism is part of the doctrines that constituted the bases of the Western worldview.
In some contexts the words “gnosis” and “gnosticism” are used as if they were synonyms. In others, the word “gnosis” refers to “authentic Christianity.” Likewise, the word “gnostic” serves to refer to members of religious sects.
Gnosticism It is a concept created in modernity, which takes up the term “gnostikoi” of those who were the compilers of the catalogs of heresies. Through this concept they wanted to designate the multiplicity of movements, sects or schools and their common features.
For its part, “gnosis” comes from a Greek word that means “knowledge,” and in the context of religions it refers to saving knowledge, which is acquired through a revelation.
According to Culdaut (1996), the historian FC Baur (1792-1860) is the founder of research on gnosis. This author speaks of Gnosticism, not as a heresy but as a new religion that synthesizes the pagan religious forces of before Christianity
Main characteristics of Gnosticism
According to Culdaut (1996), the movements and doctrines of Gnosticism share three characteristic features: gnosis is acquired through a revelation ; the knowledge base is dualistic; and there are constructions and mythological stories.
1. Faith versus knowledge
The knowledge of gnosis is not simply a belief. Therefore, it goes beyond the attitude we call “faith.” The latter is considered inferior to the ability to know, therefore, gnosis is knowledge that is acquired through a revelation, and getting it means redemption itself
The maximum knowledge that can be acquired is knowledge about oneself, about one’s true self; For Gnosticism, this is what would make human beings closer to God.
At the base of the systems and doctrines of Gnosticism is a dualistic interpretation of the cosmos In this interpretation, God and the world are two opposite entities. God is separated from the material, he is transcendent. The material is then anti-God.
From there it is understood that everything that is composed of matter is evil, therefore, the main task of Gnostic practices is liberate the “true self” from its anti-divine (material) components
And this is because Gnosticism opposes the figure of the Demiurge (who is the god who creates the material world) to that of the “true God” (who is the savior god), with which it is understood that the earthly world is least important. What is truly important is the divine ascent of souls.
3. Mythological stories
To explain and convey the previous points, Gnosticism turns to mythological stories. These stories are the way to understand what the “I” is, where it comes from and where it is going. Above all, understand how the soul can return to the spiritual world and free itself from the evil of the material.
In these stories, the central theme is how to direct the destiny of the soul that has fallen to earth. In the history of Western civilization, These stories can be traced back to before the 1st and 2nd centuries, in the Greek myths of Homer
Despite having been hidden and repressed, the Gnostic movement represented an important way of putting pressure on Christianity, which ultimately influenced the shaping of Christian thought and Western thought.
