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! ==Characteristics== ===Cosmology=== The Syrian–Egyptian traditions postulate a remote, supreme Godhead, the [[monad (Gnosticism)|Monad]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Apocryphon of John – Frederik Wisse – The Nag Hammadi Library |url=http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html |access-date=2022-10-18 |website=www.gnosis.org}}</ref> From this highest divinity [[emanationism|emanate]] lower divine beings, known as [[Aeon (Gnosticism)|Aeons]]. The [[Demiurge]] arises among the Aeons and creates the physical world. Divine elements "fall" into the material realm, and are latent in human beings. Redemption from the fall occurs when the humans obtain Gnosis, [[wikt: esoteric|esoteric]] or [[Intuition (psychology)|intuitive knowledge]] of the divine.{{sfn|Markschies|2003|p=16–17}} ===Dualism and monism=== {{See also|Nontrinitarianism}} Gnostic systems postulate a [[Dualistic cosmology|dualism]] between God and the world,{{sfn|Jonas|1963|p=42}} varying from the "radical dualist" systems of [[Manichaeism]] to the "mitigated dualism" of classic gnostic movements. Radical dualism, or absolute dualism, posits two co-equal divine forces, while in ''mitigated dualism'' one of the two principles is in some way inferior to the other. In ''qualified monism'' the second entity may be divine or semi-divine. Valentinian Gnosticism is a form of [[monism]], expressed in terms previously used in a dualistic manner.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Edwards|first=M. J.|title=Gnostics and Valentinians in the Church Fathers|date=1989|url=https://academic.oup.com/jts/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/jts/40.1.26|journal=The Journal of Theological Studies|language=en|volume=40|issue=1|pages=41|doi=10.1093/jts/40.1.26|issn=0022-5185}}</ref> ===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=217–220 |doi=10.1163/157007212x613483 |issn=0042-6032}}</ref> === Female representation === It is difficult to find real women represented in sources characterized as 'Gnostic.' The few that are mentioned are portrayed to be chaotic, disobedient, and even enigmatic.'''<ref name=":02">{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Nicola Denzey |chapter=Women in Gnosticism |date=2021-02-18 |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198867067.003.0007 |title=Patterns of Women's Leadership in Early Christianity |pages=109–129 |access-date=2023-05-05 |publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oso/9780198867067.003.0007 |isbn=978-0-19-886706-7 }}</ref>''' However, significant Gnostic texts like the Nag Hammadi place women in roles of leadership and heroism, contradicting the narrative that women in Gnostic spaces were mere victims to their circumstance.<ref name=":02"/>{{sfn|King|2003|p={{page needed|date=January 2024}}}}<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1123192570 |title=The Oxford handbook of New Testament, gender, and sexuality |date=2019 |editor=Benjamin H. Dunning |isbn=978-0-19-021341-1 |location=New York, New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en-us |oclc=1123192570}}</ref> The role women played in the evolution of Gnosticism is an area of study still being explored. 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