For the past few years I have been reading “The Gnostic Bible”. It has taken me nearly three years to finish reading this dictionary-sized book because the information in the Gnostic Bible is loaded with such esoteric writings. Gnosticism is more of a philosophy than a religion.
The word “Gnostic” comes from the word “knowledge”. Biblical Scholars do not clearly define what a Gnostic is because opinions vary. The Greek word “gnosis” was widely used in the Mediterranean during the time of Christ. The Pharisees did not want people to believe that they could have a direct relationship with God, so they deemed them to be heretics and persecuted them. In fact, Christianity was an illegal religion all the way up until the 4th century when the Roman emperor, Constantine, converted to the religion. The first thing he did after his conversion was send troops out to Greece to kill the last remaining Christian Gnostics. They were not such bad people though. It was common for Gnostics to practice ascetic life styles. They did not wage wars, but rather they were meek and humble people.
The word “Gnostic” comes from the word “knowledge”. Biblical Scholars do not clearly define what a Gnostic is because opinions vary. The Greek word “gnosis” was widely used in the Mediterranean during the time of Christ. The Pharisees did not want people to believe that they could have a direct relationship with God, so they deemed them to be heretics and persecuted them. In fact, Christianity was an illegal religion all the way up until the 4th century when the Roman emperor, Constantine, converted to the religion. The first thing he did after his conversion was send troops out to Greece to kill the last remaining Christian Gnostics. They were not such bad people though. It was common for Gnostics to practice ascetic life styles. They did not wage wars, but rather they were meek and humble people.
The Gnostic creed was, “Know Thyself”. Plato, Socrates, and Pythagoras were considered to be Gnostics and their teachings are discussed throughout many of the texts. Some of the texts were retrieved from the Dead Sea Scrolls which were discovered in caves along the Dead Sea. A Gnostic sect called the Essenes wrote these scrolls. Many scholars believe that Jesus was an Essene because his cousin, John the Baptist was from this sect.
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After John the Baptist was beheaded and Jesus was crucified, the Essenes decided that it would be a good idea to hide their sacred teachings before they too were destroyed. They placed their sacred texts in airtight containers over 1900 years ago and hid them in the Qumran caves near the Dead Sea. The scrolls were not to be found until the 1940’s when a little boy stumbled upon them while playing in the cave. Interestingly, this boy claimed to have had a vision that an angel told him that he would find treasures in this cave. The boy searched for what he thought would be gold or jewels, but instead he found these buried texts. What is written in these texts totally contradicts what is taught by the Roman Catholic Church. |
The Gnostics believed that material things (matter) are believed to come from “evil forces” while “good forces” come from an energetic realm of light. Gnostic creation myths tell a story of a fallen angel who sent his demons (demiurge) out into the world in order to manifest into matter, not a benevolent God who created the world. The Gnostic creation stories say that the world was created by a demonic realm of spirits. They also believe that the spirit of God resides within every living thing and that the demiurge tries to eradicate this spirit so that they can have full control. “If your leaders tell you, ‘Look the kingdom is in heaven,’ then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It’s in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known…The Kingdom of Heaven is Within” (Meyer, 2003, p. 45). This contrasts with the Catholic teachings which state that a person needs to confess to a priest because they are unable to have direct contact with God. Traditional Christian religions teach that heaven is in the sky and you will go there only when you die.
In the “Gospel of Thomas” Jesus says, “Shame on the Pharisees. They are like a dog sleeping in the cattle manger. It does not eat or let the cattle eat.” (Meyer & Barnstone, 2006, p. 67) Jesus was referring to an Aesop fable about a dog in the manger. Aesop wrote allegories with animals in it to conceal the political messages within his stories. In this fable the moral of the story is that we should not deprive others of blessings just because we are unable to enjoy them ourselves. Gnostics were highly educated people so they were probably familiar with this popular tale. This is just one example of how Gnostic literature may be difficult to read at times. Unless one is familiar with such allegories, Jesus’ statement about the dog in the manger may seem obtuse. Aesop was also sentenced to death for being a political rebel. He was born in Greece around 620 BCE. Some of his fables were borrowed from ancient Buddhist fables from India.
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