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Sources of Gnosticism
Sources from church fathers and Greek philosophers eg Celsus
Gnostics took ideas from both, so they are depicted poorly
Few scrolls discovered at Nag Hammedi, so we do not know how accurate these depictions are
Belief on God
Greek influence:
Unknowable and supreme, and creation came from an inferior being
Salvation
3 groups:
Pneumatics (possessed divine spark)
Psychics (Below Pneumatics but recieved some salvation)
Materials (no divine spark)
To be saved, one needed ‘secret knowledge’ from a ‘secret apostle’
The church did not have this knowledge, and could not be saved
View of X
Docetic view
Saw as bringer of knowledge
Lifestyles
Dependant on which school: Some had lax views as they had ‘divine spark’, others practised ascetism like X
Teachers
Simon Magus: From Acts, believed God descended into him to rescue Ennoia from Helen’s body
Menander: Believed path to wisdom was through magic
Valentinius: Much of Bible was allegorical, world been created by a lesser being (demiurge) and left divine sparks.
Basilides: Hierarchy of angels (Yahweh one of them) that ruled earth. X came to rescue earth from rule of angels
Marcion: 2 Gods
Cerinthus: X came to live in Jesus at his baptism, before leaving at his resurrection
