Gnosticism: what is this religious doctrine and what ideas does it hold?

Gnosticism is a phenomenon that is related to the Judeo-Christian tradition.. This phenomenon brings together different religious systems that were considered heretics during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. No However, they proposed different ways of understanding the nature of the human being that continue to be discussed to this day. days.

Next we will review the definitions of Gnosticism, its characteristics and the practices that are most representative of this philosophical and religious doctrine.

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What is Gnosticism?

Gnosticism is a term used to refer to a group of religious ideas and systems that existed between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Broadly speaking, the systems that are grouped within Gnosticism propose that everything that exists in the material world it is created by a God who fixes a divine spark within the body of the being human.

This spark is trapped within said body, but can be released. To free it, it is possible to turn to a group of wise men who are the holders of "gnosis" (the special knowledge of the divine). Through this liberation, it would be possible to free the true essence of the human being and identify it with God. Likewise, the problem par excellence of religious thought would be resolved: where does evil come from?

This doctrine was considered heretical by Christians. of the time for being considered an esoteric practice and far from the values ​​of Christianity. Not only that, but it is related to Hellenic culture and Eastern religions, and thus, with the very emergence of Christianity. For this reason, Gnosticism is part of the doctrines that constituted the foundations of the Western worldview.

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Gnosis and knowledge of the divine

In some contexts the words "gnosis" and "gnosticism" are used as if they were synonymous. In others, the word "gnosis" refers to "authentic Christianity" Likewise, the word "gnosis" is used to refer to members of religious sects.

Gnosticism It is a concept created in modernity, which takes up the term "gnostikoi" whose were the compilers of the catalogs of heresies. Through this concept they wanted to designate the multiplicity of movements, sects or schools and their common features.

For its part, “gnosis” comes from a Greek word that means “knowledge”, and in the context of religions it refers to saving knowledge, which is acquired through revelation.

According to Culdaut (1996), the historian F.C Baur (1792-1860) is the founder of research on gnosis. This author speaks of Gnosticism, not as a heresy but as a new religion that synthesizes pagan religious forces from before Christianity.

Main characteristics of Gnosticism

According to Culdaut (1996), the movements and doctrines of Gnosticism share three characteristic features: gnosis is acquired through a revelation; the knowledge base is dualist; and there are mythological constructions and stories.

1. faith versus knowledge

The knowledge of gnosis is not simply a belief. Therefore, it goes beyond the attitude we call "faith." The latter is considered inferior to the ability to know, with which, gnosis is about knowledge that is acquired through revelation, and getting it means redemption itself.

The maximum knowledge that can be acquired is the knowledge about oneself, of the true being; for Gnosticism, this is what would make human beings closer to God.

2. The fundamental dualism

At the base of the systems and doctrines of Gnosticism is a dualistic interpretation of the cosmos. In this interpretation, God and the world are two opposite entities. God is separate from the material, he is transcendent. The material is then, anti-God.

From there it is understood that everything that is composed of matter is bad, with which the main task of Gnostic practices is freeing the “true self” from its anti-divine (material) components.

And it is so because Gnosticism opposes the figure of the Demiurge (who is the god who creates the material world), to the of the "true God" (who is the savior god), with which it is understood that the earthly world is the least important. What is truly important is the divine ascent of souls.

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3. mythological stories

To explain and transmit the previous points, Gnosticism resorts to mythological stories. These stories are the way to understand what the "I" iswhere it comes from and where it goes. Above all, understand how the soul can return to the spiritual world and free itself from the evil of the material.

In these stories, the central theme is how to direct the destiny of the soul that has fallen on earth. In the history of Western civilization, these accounts can be traced back to before the first and second centuries, in the Greek myths of Homer.

Despite having been hidden and repressed, the Gnostic movement represented an important way of exerting pressure in Christianity, which ultimately influenced the shaping of Christian thought and thought western.

Bibliographic references:

• Coulaut, F. (1996). The birth of Christianity and Gnosticism. Akal: Madrid.
• sun, e. (2016). Gnosticism and its rituals. A general introduction. Anthesteria, 5: 225-240. https://www.ucm.es/data/cont/docs/106-2016-05-03-15.%20Elena%20SOL%20JIMÉNEZ.pdf.