The spiritual journey of Gnostic Christians

O! and JanforGore,.....what unimatrix0 said,...ditto!

"To some however, the ancient beliefs of Gnostics will sound like something out a science fiction novel, but when you put it into perspective of how society works, it does on some level make sense". -heh- The Mormons got sent a golden 3 ring binder,....go figure. Seriously,...Gnosticism is as interesting to interpret as it is to spell,....both in terms of spirituality/mysticism,...AND aa a wealthy mine of ideas for Science Fiction!

"Don't take what does not belong to you."

Who are any of us to say what does or does not belong to anyone in regards to what they believe? That type of exclusivity is what turns so many off to religion in the first place. I am a believer of the secret knowledge of life Christ imparted to those closest to him. The knowledge that we are all capable of finding through the words of the living Christ in taking the spiritual journey of Christ as revealed through the Gnostic Gospels found at Nag Hammadi. Bottomline, in using a term to describe that be it Gnostic Christian or any other label is not the point. The point is what we believe and how we go about applying that belief to our daily lives and actions.

Janforgore,

You are full of enthusiasm for this new belief, but be mindful of morirjedi's adivice. "Do not take what does not belong to you."

The name Christian has a specific meaning. Choose or create any religion you wish. You are free to do this. Call yourself by any name you wish, but do not take on names that have longstanding meanings and redefine them. This confuses the issue. I simply point out that the term gnostic Christian is neither accurate or appropriate. Others have made similar observations which you have not addressed.

As a gnostic you appeal to feelings for merit of truth. A Christian or Jew simply cannot do this, we are bound by the revelation as received and by our reason and logic which must be employed to interpret it.

A gnostic is bound by none of this, they can have secret knowledge and mystical experience that is entirely personal and contradiction with self, tradition, other gnostics will not bother them. So perhaps to you a person of integrity can be two opposite things at once. For a Christian this is not so.
I again ask you not to take what does not belong to you.

Constantly searching for something greater. This is the plight of man/woman. Can we not find direction in trying to best the best person we can be? Can giving freedom to others to believe or not believe a sin? Why is so much of each sides argument about putting down the others?
Don't take what does not belong to you
Treat others as you wish to be treated
All are equals
Keep you hands to yourself
Clean up after yourself
Religion? Not really sure, but if so let me know where to sign up.

I did describe myself in accurate terms. Sure hope you aren't implying that I am not a person of integrity or intellectual honesty for doing so.

In matters of faith, we can create our own beliefs, or we can accept a tradition, or we can accept a revelation old or new. We can mix tenets of all three, but we then must take care to describe ourselves in accurate terms in order to remain persons of integrity.

I could say I agree with Buddhism in many things (not all, and not some main points) , but I would be in serious error to call myself a Christian Buddhist or Bhuddist Christian.

Intellectual honesty is called for. If one simply wants to create a new religion from parts of old ones that are agreeable to you-- please call it by a new name. It obfuscates discussion of theological and philosophical ideas to do otherwise.

Syncreticism (mixture of beliefs) has occurred throughout the history of the Church. Celibacy and the Crusades are resultant of admixture. The truth is syncreticism is a misnomer. The new belief, in actual practice, more often than not, DISPLACES the old.

Example- TV preachers such as Jan and Paul and Jim and Tammy syncreticized American materialism with Christianity. But in fact, they rarely, if EVER discussed the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. (The fundamental belief of Christianity.) An analysis of these shows proved this. Jesus was a mere magic word repeated incessantly.

Judaism and Christianity are "revealed religions" meaning they hold to a "revelation as truth." One is forbidden from adding or subtracting from that divine revelation. They are both founded upon upholding the law of God and turning to God's method of atonement for receiving forgiveness and mercy after breaking it.

Scholars and theologians had many reasons for leaving out the "gnostic gospels" of the cannon-- A good seminary would offer courses on this. It is not JUST because they didn't agree with doctrine of the accepted cannon. Many are obviously written many years after the period, and quite obviously not by persons they are attributed to. Submit them to careful, linguistic and historical analysis and you will also find out why scholars disregarded them as divine revelation.

Personally, I find Agnosticism the most honest and least hypocritical approach.

http://atheism.about.com/od/aboutagnosticism/p/overview.htm

One has to be very careful in referring to Gnostics as Christians. They were inspired by earlier religious ideals from the Middle East, Egypt and Persia, and only adopted the outward trappings of Christianity later. They were not really Christian.

Christianity is an open religion with clearly spelled-out texts. Gnosticism and its descendants focused on secret knowledge limited to elites within the groups. It was very different in practice and outlook from Christianity.

Also, many, if not most, Gnostics believed in a dual creation. An imperfect God, or Creator, created the physical world, and a perfect God, either created the spiritual world, or was the ever-existing spiritual world. This clearly marks it out from the Jewish and Christian idea of God creating the world and the concept that, that creation was a good one.

In Gnostic eyes, if there were a creation of the world, it was bad. That's why it's a terrible mistake to think, as many modern people do, that Gnostics and their successors would value the natural world at all. In their eyes, the natural world was a physical world that was flawed, imperfect and evil.

The Gnostics gave rise to the Manichaeans and the Cathari. They, also, heavily influenced the modern Yezidi and Mandeans in Iraq.

The author Zoe Oldenbourg wrote two interesting books about the last stand of the Gnostics in their Cathari form in the West. The first is a novel entitled "Destiny of Fire," and the second is a non-fiction account of the last days of the Cathari called "Massacre at Montsegur." These two books give some insight into the Cathari mind and belief system.

You're welcome. When you (used in general) find you are at a crossroads in your life when what you see before you in this material world is not enough and you feel and know that you need more, that is then the moment you must seize to search for it. It is there. And that is hopeful as well as enlightening.

Hey this is very cool, I appreciate hearing your perspective Jan. Thank you for sharing.

There is no doubt that Jesus was a great teacher, as was Socrates and Buddha.

Chubbo: This video absolutely spoke exactly how I feel about nature and man's destructiveness towards it. It is that destruction and a lack of essence that keeps us from realizing the divine within us. He is so correct. Once people are conscious of that essence and how necessary nature and the environment are to brigning us to that higher consciousness and that we do have it within us all to save it, then we want to save it and fight for it. He is also correct that there is a lack of love in humanity (war) that is causing this destruction of nature and stopping that essence from bringing peace. And going by the terms used in Gnosticism, those who seek to profit off of destruction of this beautiful and amazing world are the archons of today. I would definitely list Monsanto as one of the greatest archons in history along with many other corporations on behalf of politicians and the media that do nothing but defile our world for profit and work to keep people in the dark.Those who rip down our forests, pollute our water with toxic sludge, and those who have a total disregard for the indigenous peoples of this planet who have that essence within them. Thank you for posting this video.

If you wish to know more about gnosticism and the Nag Hammadi Gnostic Gospels (gospels excluded at the Council of Nicea) discovered in Egypt in 1945, Elaine Pagel's works are worth taking a look at. The Gospels of Philip, Thomas, and Mary Magdalene (who I believe was indeed Jesus's companion, or wife) give great insight into the teachings of Christ.

""Gnostics believe that this material world we live in is an evil diversion set upon us by the Demiurge, or false god." You believe this in a literal or conceptual way?

"That for me is still debatable as I believe humans are divine as was Christ." Christ was divine as in, Gnostics do believe he was the son of God and God as in the God described in the bible?

"It would be illogical to have creation without a creator." Why?

I've always wondered about Gnostics. They're such a small sect (no offense meant) that it's hard to actually find one and learn about their religion personally.

"We have always possessed within us the divine spark and power to make the divine on Earth, and as Jesus Christ preached, it is through pure love and acknowledgement that the power to do so lies within us all."

How would you, as a Gnostic, define "divine." In other words what would the "divine" world be like?

"In this material world we live in there are Aeons, or 'angels' (Jesus /Christ and Sophia being the first) who were non material spirits sent to lead us to gnosis, or knowledge of the divine light within all of us"

Reminds me of Buddhism to a certain extent, which pre-dates regular Christianity by 800 years. The trying to achieve enlightenment part that is(or in this case the "divine light."

It sounds very interesting, not my cup o' tea, but interesting (and sounds like a peaceful religion/sect) nonetheless.

cont.

This is what I know of Gnosticism, which is really just the basics as volumes of writings have been discovered that even predate Christianity that are all not known yet. The Nag Hammadi Gnostic Gospels discovered in Egypt in 1945 however, give us a compelling and controversial look at the gospels that record the words of Christ. These gospels were excluded from the Bible at the Council of Nicea when church dogma was being voted on and the divinity and humaness of Christ was being debated.

And while I do not espouse to all of it, I do believe that there are archon types that are on Earth deliberately here to in essence stop us from ascending to a higher consciousness in order to have freedom of mind and spiritual equality and the transcendence necessary to bring that divine world Christ spoke of to Earth in order to maintain power for themselves. Obviously, because to allow us to reach that transcendence would then bring us not only individual freedom of mind but individual power they could not control. I also do believe that there is a divine light in all of us and that we are all capable of divine actions on Earth in our daily lives and do not need to be given instruction by human intermediaries who deign to tell us they possess powers we do not have until we accept that they are more powerful than we are.

We have always possessed within us the divine spark and power to make the divine on Earth, and as Jesus Christ preached, it is through pure love and acknowledgement that the power to do so lies within us all. Therefore, I do not believe in hierarchal organized religion that seeks to suppress that knowledge, nor do I believe that we are here simply by chance or that this is all there is. It would be illogical to have creation without a creator.

So, there you have it. These are my beliefs and my public proclamation that I believe in, love, and revere the words and deeds of Jesus Christ the divine who sought to bring the key to true enlightenment to humans in order that we might one day free ourselves of mind and soul to reach a higher consciousness that reveals the true meaning of life beyond this material world made by those with the intent of keeping us from making it truly a divine place. And that includes making a peaceful sustainble world for those to come.

Feel free to discuss your own beliefs now, or question mine. I welcome it.

Thanks.