Wouldn't a Gnostic be the most intelligent of the the beliefs?

Question

Intelligence plays a big part in the religion, it's like their first commandment. Thou shall not be dumb.

For the new ones here Gnostics and Agnostics are two different religions, both interesting.

Answer 1

The word "gnosticism" comes from the Greek word "gnosis" which means "knowledge." There were many groups that were Gnostic and it isn't possible to easily describe the nuances of each variant of Gnostic doctrines. However, generally speaking, Gnosticism taught that salvation is achieved through special knowledge (gnosis). This knowledge usually dealt with the individual's relationship to the transcendent Being.
A more detailed Gnostic theology is as follows. The unknowable God was far too pure and perfect to have anything to do with the material universe which was considered evil. Therefore, God generated lesser divinities, or emenations. One of these emanations, Wisdom desired to know the unknowable God. Out of this erring desire the demiurge an evil god was formed and it was this evil god that created the universe. He along with archons kept the mortals in bondage in material matter and tried to prevent the pure spirit souls from ascending back to god after the death of the physical bodies. Since, according to the Gnostics, matter is evil, deliverance from material form was attainable only through special knowledge revealed by special Gnostic teachers. Christ was the divine redeemer who descended from the spiritual realm to reveal the knowledge necessary for this redemption. In conclusion, Gnosticism is dualistic. That is, it teaches there is a good and evil, spirit and matter, light and dark, etc. dualism in the universe.

Answer 2

To me, gnosis is a philosophy, not a religion. I'm a Mormon, and I would consider myself gnostic, because I believe that everyone can receive direct knowledge of God. This is actually a tennet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... and something we are always encouraged to do.

I don't know everything, so I can't say whether a gnostic belief is the most intelligent or not, but to me gnosis is the most satisfying religious philosophy.

P.S. LDS/Mormons are encouraged from youth to get a good education, regardless of whether we become stay at home mums, like me, or whatever. All education is good and can be used to help ourselves and other people. Also...

Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19
18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

Answer 3

No, an Agnostic would be the most "intelligent" of beliefs because an Agnostic has the sense to admit that on their own they really cannot know if God exists or not. Gnostics on the other hand get sucked into cults where claims of 'secret knowledge' revealed to only a privileged few are the way to truly know about God and salvation.

Answer 4

"Thou shalt not be dumb" ..... I love that ! :-)))

In fact "Thou shalt be dumb as Pigsh*t" is more like it. The Roman church has done more to sponsor ignorance than any other major organisation in the last 2,000 years. The Bible, for example, was never meant to be read from by the followers of 'Christianity', it was meant to be read to them by carefully trained acolytes who would only select the passage to conform to the 'thought of the day', usually attuned to some relevant recent events.

For this reason, the coming of Gutenburg, and his printing process is the first sound of the death knell for 'Christianity', it is when one reads the entire disgusting tome as a book, that one realises just how vile it really is, particularly the 'Old Testament'.

To move on to 'Gnosis' it depends how one treats the knowledge one is seeking, many self-professed 'Gnostics' that I have encountered have claimed to have the 'inside edge' on the knowledge, the nitty-gritty, so to speak, but this automatically disqualifies them from real understanding, as with 'religious' science-mongers.

The truth is that all 'knowledge' is transitory, all data gets replaced, the Vedics ewven had two kinds of truth, Vidya, and Arvidya, the Vidya being eternal Cosmic Truth, immutable in any realm of manifestation, then Arvidya being 'relative' truth, data that may appear to be 'true' today, but open to being changed at a moments notice by 'new input'.

Thus, for me the only true Gnosticism is that which recognises that within this realm of the physical, all data is provisional, and anyone who claims to 'know' is deluding themselves.

The best we can hope for is to keep asking the questions, and keep an open mind for what may arise ..... and to deny no-one their own truth, pretty much the opposite of what most religions represent.

Answer 5

Gnostic Christian Universalist here. Yes I've always been the scientific kind, and since leaving Roman Catholicism after my Bridal Chamber experience where I united with God, I've been the happiest in my life ever. I was an agnostic in my teenage years, never an athiest, now a Gnostic Christian, although I don't subscribe to the historical Gnostic creation myth, I go by the Bible, and the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh, is my Father. There is no demiurge, and to call God a demiurge is insulting Him.

Gnostic Christians search the deepest mysteries of God, and He answers us, when we stand at the door of the Bridal Chamber with our lamps lit. We search and find, knock and He answers. He's simply amazing!!

Answer 6

Of course an agnostic who learns Latin turns into an ignoramus.

Gnosis depends in many cases on "secret" knowledge passed down to a select few.
While it is wonderfully affirming to be admitted to any "select " group, there's definite problems with quality control on the nature of the secret message.
If it's not in the open for comparison and discussion, how can you know (Gnosticate?) whether what you're being passed is the good stuff? There's something there about the necessity of trusting your teacher which will appeal to some and repel others.

Answer 7

Kip only touched the tip of the proverbial ice berg in his reasoning of Gnosticism. A true gnostic only sees the lower worlds (dimensions) as being dualistic. These realms would be the physical/rational, astral/emotional and causal/abstract....Human and spiritual concepts of heaven and hell come from knowledge of the upper and lower levels of these three dimensions.......Beyond these dimensions are the dimension of transcendental being (etheric/soul dimensions) where redemption has already occurred thus they are non-dual....All is one.

Answer 8

Intelligence is over-rated. It's why all my contacts are females.