Gnosticism Beliefs

The Nag Hummadi find revealed that there was a broad range
of beliefs among the various independent Gnostic systems or

the sin of Adam and Eve. Rather the world was seen as being
evil at the time of its origin, having been created by an

schools. The However, the following points are believed to
be generally accurate throughout the movement:

inferior God.
Snake Symbol: Some Gnostic sects honored the snake. They did

Their Role: They believed that they alone truly understood

not view the snake as a seducer who led the first couple
into sinful behavior. Rather, they saw him as a liberator

Christ's message, and that other streams of thought within
Christianity had misinterpreted Jesus' mission and sayings.

who brought knowledge to Adam and Eve by convincing them to
eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and thus

Gnosis: Knowledge to them was not an intellectual exercise;

to become fully human.

it was not a passive understanding of some aspect of
spirituality. Rather, knowledge had a redeeming and

Christ: The role of the redeemer in Gnostic belief is
heavily debated at this time. Gnostics seem to have looked

liberating function that helped the individual break free of
bondage to the world.

upon Christ as a revealer or liberator, rather than a savior
or judge. His purpose was to spread knowledge which would

Deity: The Supreme Father God or Supreme God of Truth is

free individuals from the Demiurge's control and allow them
to return to their spiritual home with the Supreme God at

remote from human affairs; he is unknowable and undetectable
by human senses. She/he created a series of supernatural but

death. Some Gnostic groups promoted Docetism, the belief
that Christ was pure spirit and only had a phantom body;

finite beings called Aeons. One of these was Sophia, a
virgin, who in turn gave birth to an defective, inferior

Jesus just appeared to be human to his followers. They
reasoned that a true emissary from the Supreme God could not

Creator-God, also known as the Demiurge. (Demiurge means
"public craftsman" in Greek.) This lower God created the

have been overcome by the evil of the world, and to have
suffered and died. These beliefs were considered heresy by

earth and its life forms. This is the God of the Hebrew
Scriptures (Old Testament), a deity who was viewed as

mainline Christians. Some Gnostics believed that Christ's
resurrection occurred at or before Jesus' death on the

fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion
and prone to genocide. The Demiurge "thinks that he is

cross. They defined his resurrection as occurring when his
spirit was liberated from his body. Many Gnostics believed

supreme. His pride and incompetence have resulted in the
sorry state of the world as we know it, and in the blind and

that Jesus had both male and female disciples.

ignorant condition of most of mankind."

The Universe: This is divided into three kingdoms: The
"Earthly Cosmos": The earth is the center of the universe,

Duality of spirit and body: Spirit is of divine origin and
good; the body is inherently earthly and evil. Gnostics were

and is composed of the world that we know of and an
underworld. It is surrounded by air and by 7 concentric

hostile to the physical world, to matter and the human body.
But they believed that trapped within some people's bodies

heavenly spheres: one for each of the Moon, Venus, Mercury,
Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. (Although the planet Uranus

is visible to the naked eye, it was not recognized as a
planet in ancient times.) Beyond Saturn resides Leviathan, a

Salvation: A person attains salvation by learning secret

snake coiled in a single circle, devouring its own tail.
Within these spheres live demonic, tyrannical entities

knowledge of their spiritual essence: a divine spark of
light or spirit. They then have the opportunity to escape

called Archons. Beyond them lies Paradise which contains the
"Tree of Life", the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil",

from the prison of their bodies at death. Their soul can
ascend to be reunited with the Supreme God at the time of

and the flaming, turning sword of Genesis 3:24. Beyond
Paradise was the sphere of the fixed stars, divided into the

their death. Gnostics divided humanity into three groups:
the spiritual, who would be saved irrespective of their

12 signs of the zodiac.
The "Intermediate Kingdom is composed of an inner blue

behavior while on earth the Soulish, who could be saved if
they followed the Gnostic path the carnal who are hopelessly

circle of darkness and an outer yellow ring of light. Within
these rings is a sphere which is the realm of Sophia.

lost

The "Kingdom of God" consists of two spheres: an outer one

Evil: They did not look upon the world as having been
created perfectly and then having degenerated as a result of

of the unknowable Supreme God, and inner ring of the Son.