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Gnosticism was a rebellion against traditional Christian beliefs and attempted to combine Paganism with Christianity. Some Gnostic groups had beliefs that often contradicted the beliefs of other Gnostic groups. The one thing thay all had in common was that all of these groups departed from the orthodox Christian faith. Some of the various beliefs of these groups included:
*A belief in reincarnation
* That Lucifer and Christ were brothers
* That Jesus was not the only begotten Son of God
*That Jesus was actually the Archangel Michael
*That Jesus was all divine and not man
*That Jesus and Christ were two separate beings
*That the Creator God of the Old Testament was evil
* A rejection of all the sacred books of the Old Testament
*That John the Baptist was actually the Messiah, not Jesus
*That Satan is really Christ’s father and the God of the Old Testament is the Devil
*That salvation came through good works alone, and not grace
*That every sin in the Bible was a virtue and held orgies as part of their rites
* A belief in magic words and magic spells
*That women were inferior to men and some groups believed were incapable of salvation
* That sex between men and women was evil
*That the "villains" of the Bible (i.e., Cain, Simon Magus, the Serpent, Goliath, etc) were actually the "good guys". A sort of "Biblical character inversion".
* That The Serpent of the Garden of Eden was actually good and that God was evil
* The worship of the Greek goddess (an idol) of wisdom, "Sophia"
*That homosexuality was permissible and the only sex human beings should have
If you are a Christian reading this, I urge you not to believe that Gnosticism is compatible with Christianity!
Myth: "There were several different "Christianities" competing with one another. St. Paul’s just happen to win out. "
Christ established His Church in Jerusalem. It was headed by his earthly brother, James. The idea that somehow hundeds of different Christianities sprang up at once is impossible. In fact, Ministers in the various Orthodoxchurches (Greek, Russian, Armenian, Ethiopian, Indian,etc., ) Coptic Church of Egypt and Ethiopia, Nestorian Churches, Church of Utrecht and it's offshoots, Roman Catholic Church, and some branches of the Lutheran Church can all trace who ordained them right back to one of the 12 Apostles.
This is known as Apostolic Succession. Apostolic Succession is proof that Christ's Church has never left the earth. Most ministers with Apostolic Succession can trace their lineage back to the Apostle Matthew.
Gnosticism is said to have been formed at the same time as orthodoxChristianity, but this isn’t the case! Gnosticism was a syncretism of the sorcery of European Pagans, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, and Pagan philosophers such as Plato. It was an attempt to introduce Pagan ideas into Christianity. In 1945 several ancient Gnostic books in the form of leather scrolls were discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt.
Among the Nag Hammadi texts was a copy of Plato's Republic. Also found in the Nag Hammadi texts mentioned was a book called The Testament of Truth. It’s an account of the Garden of Eden from the serpent's point of view! A false book titled The Gospel of Thomas written around 400 A.D. was also included. Bible skeptics, liberal theologians, occultists, and such types get a big hoot from these books, but to orthodox Christians they are worthless as sources of scripture.
These scriptures mock the Judeo-Christian God constantly, trying to portray him as evil, bigoted, and jealous. Obviously, Gnosticism is a rebellion against Christianity. Orthodox Christianity logically must have existed before Gnosticism, since if it hadn’t, there would have been nothing to rebel against.
originally posted by: Raggedyman
a reply to: CIAGypsy
Yeah I know, I don't have the secret wisdom, I am just to dumb to be a gnostic
Do you insult every member who just joined and wants to share a good book they read with the website? Or are you talking about someone else?