Opus 2024-098: Gnosticism

I have a friend who is into calling anything he does not like in the spiritual realm “Gnosticism”.  I am not sure he knows what the word means.  Of course it could just be ignorance on my side.  When it come to something like Gnosticism I will plead guilty.  But it is not just my lack of information.  Getting a read on Gnosticism is like asking what the side effects of a new medication are.

There is no central, revealed, divine source of truth in Gnosticism.  The concepts are sometimes traced back to the philosophy of Plato but the term itself evidently started being used in the 19th century.  Because of that, each guru can create what he wants to make up, add what he wants to add, and pervert all that is left.  That may be fun for the guru but it makes it frustrating for the gurette.  Even I, who love to argue, get tired of trying to nail jello to the wall.

You cannot narrow it down to your preferred definition, and ignore everything else.  That often also involves changing your definition to fit your mood for the day.  What are the core tenants of Gnosticism?  There are a few foundational doctrines as far as I can tell.  One is the duality of nature which says that the physical world is evil and the spiritual world is good.  Another is the basis of the title because “gnosis” is the Greek word for knowledge.  Gnosticism is a mystery religion which believes that there is secret knowledge known only to the elite.  How they get that information is a bit vague but you can be assured that getting it passed on to you will be demanding.  There is also the idea of a divine spark in us that needs to be nursed to godhood.

As far as I can tell there are no gnostic beliefs that are compatible with Christianity.  I could be wrong but I could also be skinny and that ain’t gonna happen.

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