Theology – Gnosticism 2

Some readers have been asking me for a final installment to Gnosticism.  So after some research, here are some things I uncovered about this heresy.

• Firstly, they do not believe that God created this world. This is because there are evil and imperfections in this world. Therefore,  a perfect God could not have created it.
• The ultimate being in the whole universe is called “the One” – who is a perfect being.
• World was instead created by the Demiurge (A by-product of the entity called the One. This process is creation is called to emanate – where the next being is not as pure as the first)
• The world is therefore created by the Demiurge where everything material (objects and things we can see) is bad, and everything spiritual is good.

As this theory originated from Greek philosophers such as Plato, there is a bit more mumbo-jumbo to the next part.

The Demiurge then decides to create another being (Remember: this process is called emanation) He wants to do this as he wants to imitate his creator.

He steals the power to create from his mum Sophia, and as a result, Sophia’s power (Which is more powerful and a higher form) is trapped in material man.

The Goal of Gnosticism is therefore thru “Secret Knowledge” release this spark within us & return ourselves back to the higher form.

In today’s context, I think the theory is a bit far fetched, especially with the decline of people reading & being schooled in the teachings of Plato.

It was probably interesting to the intellectuals, as it offered an interesting alternative to Christianity (Kind of like Evolution today)

It also made the intellectuals feel superior to the common people, as they had more “secret knowledge”.

Well, I hope you guys are still there after that long elaboration….

Here’s a video to keep you entertained, if historical theology is not your cup of tea.