Can someone explain the difference between Christianity and Gnosticism?

Answer 1

Gnosticism is a very broad term. Gnostics belief in "gnosis" which translates as "knowledge" but which, in the gnostic sense, means secret knowledge, revealed to the gnostic community but not to the broader group. Christianity is not the only religion to have gnostics but generally people think of gnosticism as meaning christian gnosticism.

As to what the secret knowledge is, that depends on the gnostic group. Many (if not most) of the early christian "heresies" had their roots in gnostic beliefs. These would include, to a greater or lesser extent, dualism (god = good, matter = bad and possibly created by Satan), Jesus heresies (all god, no man; all man, no god; man adopted by god), and the place of judaism (condemned by god for rejection of Jesus; required by god for christian converts). Dualism is probably the one most people associate with gnosticism.

Modern day gnosticism would include some of the grail legends (including the Da Vinci Code theory), various secret societies such as the freemasons, and a whole host of religious sects and splinter groups (most notably the scientolgists who have copyrighted their gnosis).

Answer 2

The big issue that made the Gnostics unwelcome in the Church is the fact that the Gnostics believe that a PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE of God is possible. i.e.; Knowledge as opposed to faith. (Once you KNOW, faith is no longer applicable because faith is "belief in the unknown.")

The word gnosis (and the English word "know") is from the Greek word for knowledge, γνώσις.

Many "orthodox Christians" who follow the mystic path or the "born again" path are, in fact, following the Gnostic path.
(Several recent popes have been mystics.)

The "Gnostic Scriptures" were accumulated because the Gnostics wanted to read every word ever written about Jesus. The Church excluded those texts that did not agree with church doctrine.

EDIT:
I would have to disagree with Contemplative Chanteuse...

The "transformation" that takes place when one steps from BELIEVING to KNOWING is such a BIG transformation that it is incomprehensible within the normal mindset of the church. (This observation is based on personal experience.)

RE: PASTOR ART...
Pastor Art is passing along third hand gross generalizations (along with some outright inaccuracies.) I am sure that he would have some well-founded objections to anybody who answered the question:
"WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?"

By starting their response with:
"THE ENCYCLOPEDIA SAYS..."
.

Answer 3

Christians are those who follow Jesus Christ. We've admitted we are sinners and have agreed with God that we have sinned. We believe that Jesus is God, who became flesh to die for our sins, and that by putting our faith and trust in what Jesus did for us on the cross our sins are forgiven and we shall inherit everlasting life.

The entire Christian message is explained in the 66 books of the Bible. There is no other authoritative book to help us understand the message of Jesus Christ. Books have been written to help us understand what's in the Bible, and of course sermons have been preached, again to help us understand the Bible.

Gnostics believe they possess secret knowledge that the rest of the world does not possess. They believe that god revealed some extra stuff to them which was not revealed to the masses.

An encyclopedia defines it this way:

Gnosticism, esoteric religious movement that flourished during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD and presented a major challenge to orthodox Christianity. Most Gnostic sects professed Christianity, but their beliefs sharply diverged from those of the majority of Christians in the early church (see Heresy). The term Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis ("revealed knowledge"). To its adherents, Gnosticism promised a secret knowledge of the divine realm. Sparks or seeds of the Divine Being fell from this transcendent realm into the material universe, which is wholly evil, and were imprisoned in human bodies. Reawakened by knowledge, the divine element in humanity can return to its proper home in the transcendent spiritual realm. (1)

Ron Brown's book, the DaVinci Code, is a book written for and about Gnostics.

The links below will explain how to become a Christian.

Pastor Art

Answer 4

In a nutshell, Gnosticism teaches the physical is evil and the spirit is good, Christianity teaches that both physical and spirit are corrupt outside the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Gnostic's teach that Christ did not come in a physical form, just spiritual, Christians teach He came both physically and spiritually. Gnostic's teach that there is continuing revelation and that salvation is based on "secret" knowledge that only a few obtain, Christianity teaches that the Bible is the final word and final authority, and that salvation is based on God's calling out His people and Christ's atoning work on the cross.

Answer 5

I agree with Brother Michael. What I would add is that Christianity is a discipline - it is knowledge meant to be lived, not simply theorized. What I understand of Gnosticism is that the Gnostics focus mostly on obtaining their secret knowledge, but not really on being transformed by it.

Answer 6

Very simplisticly put...Christianity involves subjection to the mind and will of God....Gnosticism involves subjection to the mind and will of man.

Answer 7

I know the main one is Jesus is divine and God's son.

Answer 8

they are spelled different for starters

Answer 9

No difference, they all want your money.

Answer 10

There are three categories here - Christianity, Gnosticism and Christian Gnosticism. In other words, not all Gnosticism is Christian. There is Jewish Gnosticism, for instance, Greek Gnosticism (the Hermetica & the Orphic Mysteries etc) and other forms all of which are not part of the Christian tradition but may have informed it and its Gnostic forms. What is complicated is that Christianity and Christian Gnosticism are subtly different but subtly interwoven. There are elements of both in both...

Here goes...

At the heart of Gnosticism is the idea of Gnosis, which is the Greek term for Knowledge. Gnosticism believes that there is a higher state of reality beyond the material of which we can have Gnosis or Knowledge. The Gnostic believes that we can have a direct connection or insight into this reality. For some Gnostics the material world is corrupt and evil (as mentioned by one of the posters above), for others it is just an illusion. For all Gnostics the true reality is beyond the material, whether one calls that reality God, the Nous (Eternal Mind), the Light Realm etc etc. This true reality can be accessed through one's heightened spiritual awareness. As one develops in the Spirit one becomes more aware of it until, perhaps, its presence infuses one's life. Ultimately the Gnostic seeks to be freed from the realm of Matter to be completely One with the true reality.

Christian Gnosticism sees Christ as the guide for the liberation of the Soul. The earliest major Christian Gnostic movement, led by Bishop Valentinus, saw Christ as an emissary from the Divine (ie God the Father) who was able to enter into this world so as to lead humanity back to the Light. This was the Valentinian interpretation of Salvation/Redemption/Eternal Life. Through our connection with Christ - which the Valentinians believed could happen in this life, not the next - we were able to reconnect with the Light and so be redeemed from this world to our true selves. As the Valentinian Gospel of Truth says:

"The gospel of Truth is joy for those who have received from the Father of Truth the grace of knowing (ie Gnosis) him, through the power of the Word (ie Christ) that came forth from the pleroma (ie Totality of Creation), the one who is the thought and mind of the Father, that is, the one who is addressed as the Saviour."

What the Valentinian school offered as opposed to what was to become established Christianity was the belief that everyone could have this connection or Gnosis with the Divine, as opposed to only the priesthood. It also preached equality of the sexes (something which very much upset the Church as it allowed women to preach and be bishops). It argued that experiences such as the Resurrection were spiritual rather than of the body. Indeed, it exalted Spirit over Matter.

These early Christian Gnostics believed that theirs was the true interpretation of the Christian message and saw John's Gospel in particular as one of their own (they also regarded Paul as a Gnostic. Indeed Valentinus claimed to have been taught by Paul's chief disciple). If you look at John you will find that it is full of the Light/Dark and Spirit/Matter dichotomy which is so familiar to Gnosticism, which contrasts the Light of God and the Spirit with the Darkness of Matter.

So Gnosticism has a strong transcendent quality and a belief in human liberation regardless of gender...

A later Gnostic sect, the Cathars, who flourished in Western Europe in the Middle Ages took this Gnosticism further. They held that every human being was a Fallen Angel trapped in this world of Matter by Lucifer (cf references to "the Prince of this World" in John's Gospel) who was responsible for creating the world as we know it. God, they believed, existed in a world of pure Light and Spirit where we had originally dwelt in a state of bliss. Each of us, therefore, contained within us an element of this Divine Light but were confined within a tunic of Matter - the Body - and was thus subject to the depredations and sufferings of this world (hence their beleif that the world of Matter was essentially evil and the world of the Spirit good). Christ had been sent to release us, to help us achieve the purity and inner spirituality to enable us to return, after death, to God. The Cathars believed that the Holy Spirit could enter this world and dwell within us (rather as described in ACTS), thus making us able to operate in this world with Love and preparing us for a return to God after death. This condition in which the Holy Spirit could be within us required enormous spiritual training and discipline but, the Cathars believed, once this state was achieved, the individual (referred to as a Perfect or Parfait by the Catholics or as simply a "Good Christian" or "Good Man/Woman" by the Cathars) became semi-angelic, more Spirit than Matter (as described in the Gospel of Luke). Cathar Perfects travelled the land in twos, as admonished by Christ in the Bible, tending the sick and ministering to the Cathar Believers. Unfortunately for the Cathars, the purity and simplicity of their spirituality meant that they became very popular, even among ordinary Catholics who had no interest in joining them. This, as well as their belief that the Catholic Church had turned away from the true God, meant that they fell victim to a particularly brutal Crusade, the first launched against another Christian country. Indeed, so determined was the Church to annihilate the Cathar movement that the Inquisition itself was called into being.

So the big difference between Christianity and Gnostic Christianity lies in a fundamental interpretation of Christian Scripture. Although the Gnostics believed in the moral teachings of Christ they did not adhere to the more familiar Christian matrix of sin/guilt/salvation but instead saw the Christ message as one of spiritual liberation and connection with God. There is no concept of Original Sin or Utter Depravity in Gnostic Christianity, although there are ideas of Good and Evil. Gnostic Christianity does not rely on Faith but on Knowledge (Gnosis). Gnostic Christians believe it is possible to have direct experience of God's Light, they don't believe, as established Christianity does, that this is only possible after death. Gnostic Christianity is also Male/Female orientated. Established Christianity has tended to focus on the Male at the expense of the Female. Gnostic Christians, for instance, often talk of a figure known as the Sophia, which is the Female Aspect of Christ. For many Gnostic Christians the Sophia is the human soul, lost and encased in this world of Matter. Christ comes to redeem the Sophia, to bring her back to God etc. Another difference between the two lay in the close proximity to God of the Gnostics. Established Christianity has tended to open a gulf between Man and God. In this vision Man is hopelessly sinful and can achieve nothing, whereas God and Christ are omnipotent and we had better just hope to be looked kindly upon. The Gnostics believed the opposite, that everyone contained within them a spark of the Divine and that Christ was, potentially, right beside us at every step if we wanted him to be.

In the early days of Christianity Gnostics and non-Gnostics lived side by side. Indeed, Valentinus was for a long time highly revered in the opening centuries of Christianity's development. But discord set in and gradually mainstream Christianity branded the Gnostics as heretics. Ultimately, the Gnostics lost out, probably because, as anti-materialists, they could not compete with the increasing temporal power of what was to become mainstream Christianity. Having said that, the Gnostic belief that humanity could have an intense and direct experience of the Godhead in this life never quite died out. One could say that all the great Christian Mystics were essentially Gnostic in that they believed humanity could connect directly with God in this world and that this connection could liberate us.

I hope this explains things a bit. Feel free to ask more.