Gnosticism It’s Early Beginnings and It’s Assault on today’s Christianity

GNOSTICISM is a mixed and diverse group of thinkers, ideas, and treatises that became a force in the second century CE and continued to exert an important influence on ancient religion into the fourth century. While the most recent scholarship has tended to emphasize pagan and Jewish, as well as Christian, forms of Gnosticism (beginning in the first century), the major gnostic impact was made on the doctrine and structures of the Christian church in the second and early third centuries. Its critics, both Christian and Pagan, seem to have regarded it primarily as a Christian heresy.

In addition to numerous scattered groups, two main schools of systematic gnostic thought seem to have existed in the second century the Basilideans and the Valentinians, the latter divided into Eastern and Western branches. In addition, Marcion, a radical exegete of Paul tinged with gnost

Among gnosticism's more celebrated adherents are novelist Lawrence Durrell and psychologist Carl Jung, whose loopy gnostic outlook has, inspired many a spiritual/psychological best-selling authors, from James Hillman to Elaine Pagels to Thomas Moore to Bill Moyers. Even Stephen King's current hit horror novels, "Desperation and The Regulators", are steeped in gnostic themes and terminology. What has made gnosticism spring up in both Stephen King novels and Rancho Santa Fe? Harold Bloom argues that gnosticism is the "American religion." He suggests that gnosticism's studied, measured, retreat from worldly matters and its adoration of the individual soul can be seen in the works of such ur-American titans of the spirit as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Mormon founder Joseph Smith.

As noted in the definition, this is where the complexity of influence began and continues to exist today. In my understanding of the gnosis and how it differed from the Orthodox teachings of Christianity deals with the resurrection of Christ. What was written about his resurrection opened the door to varied interpretation of what the disciples saw and felt. In the story of Mary’s encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. Mary saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" Mary said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. After saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rab-bo'ni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Mag'dalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

At the heart of the gnostic concern was the revelation of the hidden Gnosis (Greek meaning "knowledge"), the possession of which would free one from the fragmentary and illusory (or evil) material world (bodily existence) and teach one about the origins of the spiritual world to which the gnostic belonged by nature. Radical discontinuity between appearance and reality; between bodily, literal perception (both experiential and exegetical) and spiritual insight

Some topics in this essay:
Heaven's Gate, God Testament, Florens Tertullianus, Gnosis Greek, Mary Mag'dalene, Joseph Campbell, American Religion, Marshall Apple-white's, Harold Bloom, Luke Jesus, heaven's gate, star wars, appearance reality, and/or god testament, star trek, harold bloom, orthodox church, god testament, and/or god, woman weeping, american religion,