Gnosticism

Gnosticism is a term created by modern scholars to describe a collection of religious groups, many of which thought of themselves as Christians, which were active in the first few centuries AD.[1] There has been considerable scholarly controversy about exactly which groups to describe with this term. There is dispute among scholars on the extent to which early groups may have described themselves using the term "gnostikoi".[2][3] Sometimes the term gnosticism is reserved for groups that might have used it to describe themselves, but often the term is used more widely to identify groups emphasizing the salvific benefit of individual wisdom.

The term gnosis is a Greek word expressing a type of understanding or consciousness gained through personal experience. It is through this type of transcendental experience that followers of Gnostic belief systems seek escape from ignorance. Although many Gnostic movements identified with the teachings of Jesus Christ and were Christian by their own definition, there remains widespread variation in the particular religious orientations of many Gnostic groups. Especially notable for their extended and uninterrupted presence up until the modern era are the followers of the Persian Prophet Mani, the Manicheans; and the Pre-Christian Mandaeans who still survive in Iraq and Iran.

Particularly with the rise and fall of the Albigensian "Cathar" movement, European Gnostic thought became heavily influenced by the idea of a mythological struggle between competing forces of light and dark. This viewpoint would lead to the development of a strongly dualistic system in which there was a marked division between the higher celestial realms, and the material realms, the latter of which were thought to be under the governance of an ignorant entity known as the Demiurge who created the material universe or world. Influenced by more widespread branches of Christianity, the Demiurge was eventually conflated with many of the properties of Satan. One potential source of this newfound dualism is directly from the other Near-Eastern schools of Gnosticism, possibly via the influence of the Bogomils.