Has anyone researched Gnosticism or the Gnostics?

Question

I am researching it and wondered if anyone has, as they may have some great links or some interesting input ?

It is a very interesting part of history, and a very painful thing for Catholics after killing 200,000 people yes women and children as well because of their beliefs

And that the Gnosticism Spiritual beliefs may have made more sense even more then what the Catholic Church had to offer in the Bible

Love & Blessings
Milly

Answer 1

Gnosticism (from Greek gnosis, knowledge) is a term created by modern scholars to describe a diverse, syncretistic religious movement, especially in the first centuries of the common era. Gnostics believed in gnosis, the knowledge of God enabled by secret teachings. Some Gnostics considered themselves Christian, identifying Jesus as the divine spirit incarnated to bring gnosis to humanity. However, Gnostic non-dualism placed it in stark contrast to Jewish and Christian dualistic teaching, and Gnostics were labelled heretics. Other Gnostics were not even nominally Christian, and several Gnostic texts appear to have no Christian element at all. Still others were certainly devout mystic ascetics who worshipped Jesus and lived in their own unique ways according to His teachings.

Gnostics taught that humans were divine souls trapped in a material world created by an evil spirit, the demiurge. In order to free oneself from the evil, material world, one needed gnosis, or spiritual knowledge. Initiates were instructed in secret teachings to help them achieve gnosis. God was depicted as a pleroma composed of multiple manifestations.

Because the textual evidence comes from the first few centuries AD, many scholars have assumed that Gnosticism did not predate this period, but earlier historians of religion saw it as an outgrowth of ancient mystical traditions in Asia, especially Iran.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism
http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/gnosticism.html
http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic.htm
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/index.htm#gnostic

Answer 2

I am not so sure Catholics killed 200,000 people.
Gnostic believe there is a God of good that created the spiritual world and a God of Evil that created the material world, including the flesh and the procreative act. It is a strange dichotomy that Dan Brown found his "implications" that Jesus married Mary Magdalene from the Gnostic gospels since Gnostics gospels accepted Jesus Christ and they felt the procreative act was evil.
Dan Brown's book was a novel. It wasn't a historical book or a historical novel. He took a lot from Holy Blood Holy Grail which used the same "implications."
Josh Bernstein of the History Channel obtained bone of a "supposed direct descendant" of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. It contained no Middle Eastern DNA. It was only European DNA.
Also the Dead Sea Scrolls do not mention Jesus, Mary Magdalene or Christianity.
Now Jesus could have some descendants if Mary had cousins that had children. If you check a Webster's dictionary or ask a professional genealogist you will find that you are a descendant of all your family in the generations that have gone before you. Those are called linear descendants. But you are a direct descendant only of your grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents. Someone disputed with me on that because they looked at Dictionary.Com which has an incomplete definition. When I say professional genealogist, I don't mean your Aunt Matilda who has been researching your family for the past 20 years.

Answer 3

Hi Milly: think we must all remember the Roman Catholic Church was founded by the Roman Government. It's purpose in doing this was to save the government and control the people within the empire. Much of what was established was
manupiliated to serve as control through imposing Fear in the
common man. All religions of the christian faith thereafter were seperations from the Roman Catholic because they had
some misgiving or disagreed with the entirety of that doctrine.
(what people dont seem to recognize is the first followers of Jesus had been pagan and never formed an organized religion)
Perhaps you would enjoy reading Spirits perception today
on belief systems. www.geocities.com/ the_higher_octave ..
click into the H O W section for channelings...also I'd like to invite you to join my 360 group of open minded friends who
accept all beliefs based in Love with a purpose of seeking
enlightenment. Just click the + add to connect.
http://360.yahoo.com/akuna_kumara
Thank you for all your wonderful loving work .......

Answer 4

i'm no longer able to accept as true with the poster above that that's a shame it did no longer strengthen into dominant in Christianity. on an identical time as Gnosticism had some beautiful helpful components - mysticism and asceticism between them - maximum of those have been included into orthodox Christianity by skill of the early Church fathers. Gnosticism had various particularly nastier helpful components besides: a repugnance of the international and of the physique, an outright rejection of intercourse and actual excitement, too lots emphasis on devil and evil interior the international, a secretive and obscurantist shape. The "wisdom" it prized replaced into no longer clinical or philosophical in nature, yet particularly cryptic and quasi-mystical. Its purpose replaced into to no longer show, yet to exclude. Gnostics believed that salvation got here with the aid of get admission to to this privileged and secret wisdom, particularly than with the aid of ethical relationships with others or with God. in fact, lots of those are issues which the Church is accused of at present, yet in fact they provide the impact of being to me to be no longer extremely Christian, yet particularly relics of Gnostic heresy, which perspectives God's solid creation with hatred and mistrust, and believes salvation belongs in ordinary terms to the % few. (I ought to upload that those criticisms persist with to historical Gnosticism, which the Church declared a heresy - I haven't any concept what neo-Gnostics declare to have confidence.)

Answer 5

The bible as it stands was elected by the nicean council with certain chapters left out as they were unclear or completely in disagreement with what the catholic church wanted to have portrayed. The early church was a misogynistic body which wanted to have women left in the place that they felt comfortable having them and showing them as second class citizens to men. The bible should be looked upon as a historic document from the stance of the old testament and a way to live among each other with grace and humility in the new testament. Whether Jesus ever married or had children changes his message not one whit. It matters not if Mary was his favorite or paul was. It never said there should be a pope who dispenses all religious legalities as such . In fact it says call no man father but God himself. One must read what one can and discern for himself what message is being sent and understand that the message of Jesus himself is the important factor, not the squabbles between Mary and the other apostles or whether or not she was actually writing her own gospel from the standpoint of a man in order to appeal to the Catholics. Jesus is the same today as he was Yesterday and will remain so tomorrow, regardless of marital status or fatherhood. His message is still pure and simple to follow.

Answer 6

Yes, very good stuff. Go to Gnostic Society on the web.

Answer 7

PBS did show an educational program on the history of early Christianity or its beginnings. You may want to visit www.pbs.org to find out when it may air it again. I do not pretend to be an expert on religion, but those who only believe in the Biblical gospels or the Canon claim it otherwise. So, whom should we believe?

Answer 8

Hi Milly :-) I don't know that much except that it's part of the wider Pagan family of beliefs. Blessed Be.

Answer 9

Yes I’m one of those heretics. They hijacked the teachings of our master and his wife and turned it into Roman Mythos. The ignorant literalists burned my brothers & sisters alive and destroyed their spiritual books. So it’s very fortunate that some writings were buried for safe keeping.

Answer 10

i read some stuff on them. they do make a lot of sense but some stuff i don't understand completely