Gnosticism

(Michael O'Connell,2009).

• Denied Jesus humanity
  
• Clearly a mix between Philosophy and Christianity (physical bad / spiritual good)
  
• Claimed to have secret knowledge (like most of the mystery cults during the time)
  
• A theosophical system that pre-dates Christianity. 
  
• But became mixed with Jewish and Christian ideas, particularly in Egypt, to produce forms of Gnostic Christianity in 2^nd through 4^th centuries. 
  
• Appears to have been dualistic: a good, spiritual world created by good God (or emanations from this God), and an evil god who created material world. 
  
• Human beings are mixed creatures, containing the divine spark, but mired in materiality of body and its needs, desires.
  
• They must seek knowledge (= gnosis in Greek) of the spiritual world in order to liberate themselves from evil and material world. 
  
• Salvation comes through knowledge, gnosis.

Some of the Gnostic writings

• The Gospel of Mary Magdalene
• The Gospel of Thomas

Michael O'Connell (2009). English 116B: The Literature of the New Testament. The University of California, Santa Barbara, retrieved from www.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/oconnell/newtestament/Thomas.ppt