Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing
Stephan A Hoeller
Language: English
Pages: 272
ISBN: 0835608166
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Gnosticism developed alongside Judeo-Christianity over two thousand years ago, but with an important difference: It emphasizes, not faith, but direct perception of God--Gnosticism being derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Given the controversial premise that one can know God directly, the history of Gnosticism is an unfolding drama of passion, political intrigue, martyrdom, and mystery. Dr. Hoeller traces this fascinating story throughout time and shows how Gnosticism has inspired such great thinkers as Voltaire, Blake, Yeats, Hesse, Melville, and Jung.
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Insights, such as the figure of the Demiurge and his malicious archons, the radically flawed nature of the universe, and the presence of evil in its fabric. The Gnostic worldview, however, is an internally consistent whole; when we remove parts of the whole, its integrity suffers. Another important question is whether the elements of the Gnostic worldview are to be understood literally or symbolically. Literalism and dogmatism, which manifest all too often in the mainstream churches that have.
Contemporary society is increasingly dominated by a certain secular bias that has its roots in eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophy, while its trunk derives from Marxism, and its branches are largely made up of consumerism and hedonism-the worship of money, health, and youthfulness. This bias is founded on the assumption-sometimes tacit, sometimes overt-that only the tangible, physical world exists and that the supernatural is but a metaphor constellated around the physical. It is no.
Apokatastasis. It is fitting for those who do not only receive the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but have obtained them for themselves. If anyone does not obtain them for himself, the name also will be taken from him. (saying 6 7 ) The objective of a Gnostic sacrament is not merely temporary sanctification, as in the Roman Catholic doctrine of sacramental grace, but rather a total transformation, a change into the essence of the Godhead. The perfected Gnostic is not a.
Paradoxical ending of this passage holds the key: one transcends oneself through gnosis, which one finds within oneself. Most movements, whether political, religious, or artistic, are determined to somehow make their mark on this world. The Pharaohs left great steles inscribed with their names and deeds, the Caesars and Popes of Rome had their names inscribed on every monument, large and small. Even orthodox Christianity never ceased to envision a "new heaven and a new earth." The Gnostics,.
That does not lend itself to the language of theology and philosophy, but instead has a close affinity to and expresses itself through myth. In this context, the term myth does not mean stories that are not true, but rather, stories that embody truths of a different order than the dogmas of theology or the theories of philosophy. Myths were held in high regard in the ancient world. Though they lost esteem in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they are increasingly being rehabilitated.