Post 12 - Gnosticism

I appreciate Gnosticism approach to God and other theological problems; in fact the gnostic ideas of God make more sense to me than the traditional Judeo-Christian views. Gnostics view the God of the bible as a demon, a vengeful, petty creator. He is not the transcendent God that we are looking for, but rather a distraction. This demonic god, a lower deity than the true god, only seeks to keep us in ignorance and suffering. In the film, it was mentioned that we can discern the nature of the creator god by simply looking at his creation, our world. It is full of pain, hate and suffering. The reading even mentions that we are created out of hate, which is why some more ascetic Gnostic sects refuse to marry and procreate. They viewed having children as entrapping “a seed of light into an evil creation.” I have heard this particular view from many different people in my life about why they choose refrain from having children. It is interesting that some Gnostic sects favored this approach, while others took sexual liberties and some took the middle way.

Not only does Gnosticism take the traditional biblical god and reinterpret it, but it also reinterprets the story of Adam and Eve. I do find this fascinating. Gnostics take  a story about the humanities fall from grace and the inherent wickedness of women, and turns it into a positive story. In the Gnostic version, Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden and told not to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. However, the god who tells them this is not a good, just god. This god wants to keep humanity in a prison of ignorance. The serpent that convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit is a positive figure in this story. The reading mentions that the serpent is acting through the agency of the mother, wisdom or Sophia, and when Adam and Eve partake in the fruit they become superior beings, realizing their divine nature. I love this take on the traditional story, because instead of original sin being a fall from grace based off a women’s action, the original sin is forgetting our inner nature and focusing on worldly things. Indeed, it is a woman who helps us understand our divine nature. Within the story of Adam and Eve is the story of Seth, Adam’s son. Adam imparts on him secrets of a spiritual nature and Seth incarnates as the “great illuminator” or a Christ figure.

Jesus Christ is presented more of a teacher that has become enlightened, like Buddha or a Sant, than a holy being. Jesus is sent into the world to teach the secret ways, to call the souls back to the divine and lead them out of the cycle of reincarnation and entrapment by the jealous god. Jesus comes from the true god, a transcendent, indescribable God who appears to more of a cosmic force than a being. He imparts wisdom onto those who are ready for it. The Gnostic tradition is a very interesting topic because it takes familiar material and transforms it into something very much like the Indian mystic tradition, with a focus on the inner self and the outer world being an illusion.