Gnosticism
Gnosticism proposes a search for the self, not in scriptural revelation or in reason, but within one’s own self via mystical trance. Gnosis in Greek means “knowledge,” but not just any kind of knowledge. It is the knowledge in the sense of “direct experience,” that is, experience of the self as “divine.” Gnosticism has deep connections with various aspects of mystical Judaism, Persian and Zoroastrian traditions, Greek Hellenistic traditions, and the Imperial mystery religions.
A perfect example comes from one of the forty-seven recently discovered (in 1945) ancient Gnostic texts in Egypt, namely, the Gospel of Thomas. Though some liberal scholars try to claim that Thomas is the first expression of the faith of Jesus and belongs in the Christian canon, as will see below, is becomes manifestly clear that Thomas is in direct opposition to the books of the New Testament canon.
In the Gospels of the New Testament, which were written by the earliest followers of Jesus in the middle or toward the later part of the first century A.D., Jesus asks his disciples to tell him what people say about him. The popular answers miss the mark, but the correct answer is given by Peter through divine revelation from the Father: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).
In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, probably put together toward the end of the second century or early in the third century A.D., as a “pious Christian fiction,” the very opposite is said. In a polemic against the early church, Peter is incorrectly made to say that Jesus is merely “a righteous angel.” Only Thomas understands who Jesus truly is, but in a strange and unexpected way. The Thomas of history says to Jesus in John’s Gospel, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). This false Gnostic Thomas says: “Master, I am incapable of saying what you are like.” The Jesus of John’s Gospel promises blessings to all who believe what Thomas has just confessed (John 20:29). The reply of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas is quite different. Jesus says (in Thomas): “I am not your master.” We are clearly dealing with two different contradictory descriptions of Jesus.
As an “objective historians,” Elaine Pagels, who blends Buddhism with her version of Gnostic Christianity, attempted to rehabilitate the Gnostic “Christians” by portraying then as forgotten heroes of an old class struggle between the politically motivated orthodox patriarchal bishops and their hapless spiritual victims. She presents Gnosticism as a “wider valid expression of Christianity,” and Gnostic gospels as complementary to the canonical ones. She is wrong, of course.
The Gospel of Thomas seemed to fit that agenda to a T. But the Jesus of Thomas, in addition to teaching the Gnostic Thomas that he (Thomas) is divine, takes a clearly pantheistic or polytheistic position by stating that he is in the earth, the trees, the stones, etc. Such a view of God is clearly pantheistic and Monist and is typical of the entire Gnostic system of belief. The most-respected experts on ancient Gnosticism do not see it as Christian at all, which it isn’t. One sees it as an ancient form of existentialism and the other sees it as a parasite that mimics the host religion while destroying it.
Before we go on:
- What quest lies at the heart of Gnosticism? How does this make it like postmodernism?
- What other philosophies and religions does Gnosticism resemble? What modern systems of thought mirror Gnosticism?