The Encyclopedia of World Religions

174 S Gnosticism

ing near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, made copies of important Gnostic writings. These writings, called the Nag Hammadi Codices, were discovered in 1945. They are the most important source for the knowledge of Gnosticism today. Also in the third century the Persian prophet Mani claimed to make perfect the revelations that had been given to Z ARATHUSTRA , the B UDDHA , and J ESUS . His preaching began the religion of Man ichaeism. Many consider Manichaeism to be the Gnostic world religion. At one time it stretched from the Atlantic coast of Spain and Morocco to the Pacific coast of China. In the late fourth century C . E . Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Gnosticism became illegal, and the government and the church sought to eradicate it. Neverthe less, throughout European history various move ments seem to have revived Gnosticism. Examples are the Cathari and the Bogomils in the Middle Ages. In Asia Gnosticism survived much longer. Some Gnostic groups still exist today. The best known are the Mandaeans. They live in southeast ern Iraq and southwestern Iran. Mandaean priests baptize their followers weekly ( see BAPTISM ). They claim this practice derives from their founder, John the Baptist. The Mandaeans have also preserved sacred scriptures and teachings that have Gnostic characteristics. IDEAS The name Gnosticism presupposes a teaching in which people are saved by knowledge. But the knowledge that saves is not the knowledge one can get from studying, say, physics or chemistry. The saving knowledge is knowledge of the hidden truths about the universe and human beings and their relations to the highest G OD . This knowledge, like God itself, is inaccessible to ordinary human experience. In most Gnostic systems it is revealed by an emissary from the otherwise unknown God. For Christian Gnostics that emissary is Jesus. Gnostic knowledge tends to be esoteric knowl edge. That is, it is secret knowledge revealed only to the initiated ( see INITIATION , RELIGIOUS ). There was never any centralized authority in Gnosticism, and

moment of carelessness. Resigned to his ultimate fate, Gilgamesh returns to building the city walls.

Gnosticism A religious trend in the ancient Mediterranean world that emphasized knowledge as the means by which people are saved. The name comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis. The people who follow this trend are called “Gnostics.” Gnosticism has been viewed as a uniquely Christian heresy. But the movement actually extends beyond C HRISTIANITY . It is also often inde pendent of Christianity. Therefore many in the 20th century considered Gnosticism a religion in itself. In important ways, however, Gnosticism is not a single religion but a trend in thought. In that way it resembles FEMINISM in the late 20th century. There have been feminist movements within many religions. Some feminists have also cultivated an independent GODDESS worship because they have found traditional religions unsatisfying. Similarly, there have been Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Gnostics as well as independent gnostic religions, for example, M ANICHAEISM and Mandaeism. HISTORY Scholars do not agree on where or how Gnosti cism began. Some have argued that it was inspired by Persian myths, for example, the myth of the savior who must first save himself. Others have suggested that Gnosticism grew from Jewish and Greek roots. Some of the earliest Christians found Gnosti cism attractive. According to many scholars, the people against whom P AUL argued in his N EW T ES TAMENT letters included Gnostics. In the second cen tury C . E . important teachers of Gnosticism emerged within the context of Christianity: Marcion, Basi lides, and Valentinus. The ancestors of the Ortho dox and Catholic churches rejected them. In the late third century Christians began to settle in the desert of Egypt as MONKS AND NUNS . Gnostics found that environment attractive, too, perhaps because there they could avoid attacks from Christians. In the fourth century monks liv