Posted by Jim (206.79.177.145) on February 13, 2002 at 15:12:30:
Okay, over the last couple of years, I've become increasingly fascinated by Gnosticism, mainly because it's the only religion that incorporates the idea of something having gone terribly wrong after creation, and because it's a big influence on Philip K. Dick's work, which is freaking genius.
It's also interessting because, although these people were supposedly the direct disciples of Christ, the Christians destroyed nearly all records of their existance when they became the dominant sect (the Christians did that?! No....)
Anyway, about 50 years ago, we found a bunch of Gnostic scrolls in a jar. This shed light on a few of their rumored beliefs. Here's a reasonable succinct essay on the subject:
http://occultism.hypermart.net/History/Gnosticism/gnosticism.pdf
A couple of points:
-Not every authority agrees that the Demiurge was Sophia's fault, in fact, many regard it as the natural outcome of an imperfect union between God's two halves, or a spontaneous schism within God, if you will.
-Interesting that salvation can be achieved through knowledge alone... none of this "oh please forgive me" bullshit.
-The Gnostics apparently did most of the original Roman conversions... makes sense, with their willingness to integrate new belief rather than subjugate it.
-This isn't made super clear, but our "God," the jealous God that we talk to, the one that rains down fire and destroys cities, is actually the Demiurge-- the "ape of God." He mostly believes that he's God.
-Crazy how this entire religious sect seems to focus on the ills of the world being part of God's "bad trip," if you'll excuse me, or a lack of understanding on some celestial level. Some kind of ineffable dischord.
-The path to salvation lies in knowledge; personal improvement and understanding. Like we've gotten lost in the universe's department store when nobody was paying attention, and we need to figure out how to find Mom and Dad before the child molester kidnaps us.