Gnosticism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Moral and ritual practice=== Gnostics tended toward [[asceticism]], especially in their sexual and dietary practice.{{sfn|Layton|1987|loc=Introduction to "Against Heresies" by St. Irenaeus}} In other areas of morality, Gnostics were less rigorously ascetic, and took a more moderate approach to correct behavior. In normative early Christianity, the Church administered and prescribed the correct behavior for Christians, while in Gnosticism it was the internalised motivation that was important. Ptolemy's ''[[Letter to Flora|Epistle to Flora]]'' describes a general asceticism, based on the moral inclination of the individual.{{refn|group=note|[[Ptolemy (gnostic)|Ptolemy]], in ''Letter to Flora'': "External physical fasting is observed even among our followers, for it can be of some benefit to the soul if it is engaged in with reason (''[[logos]]''), whenever it is done neither by way of limiting others, nor out of habit, nor because of the day, as if it had been specially appointed for that purpose."}} For example, ritualistic behavior was not seen to possess as much importance as any other practice, unless it was based on a personal, internal motivation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=van Gaans |first=Gijs Martijn |date=2012 |title=David Brakke, The Gnostics. Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity, Cambridge, Massachusetts & London: Harvard University Press 2010; xii + 164 pp.; ISBN 978-0-674-04684-9; US$ 29.95 (hardback with jacket). |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157007212x613483 |journal=Vigiliae Christianae |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=217β220 |doi=10.1163/157007212x613483 |issn=0042-6032}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page