What were Gnostic beliefs?

Answer 1

AnswerThe term 'Gnostic' comes from the Greek word "to know". The ancient Gnostics, nearly all of whom were Christians, sought knowledge about God and Jesus, through personal revelation - knowledge was available to all, equally. Because the Gnostic view was that all, equally, had access through prayer to the divine, the Gnostic churches had little need for clergy and few Gnostic sects had their own bishops.

Unlike the 'Catholic-Orthodox' branch of Christianity that would eventually dominate the faith, their was no concept of an imposed dogma outside of which all other ideas were heresy. The faithful were free to try to find new knowledge, and if others accepted someone's new view of Christianity, then a new denomination could be formed by the followers of that view. Because Gnostics strove for the truth, but accepted that they were still only on the path to finding the truth, the Gnostic religious leaders did not persecute those who left their community.

There were numerous Gnostic sects in early Christianity, and some scholars think that Gnostics may have constituted up to half the Christian population during the third century. Because of the diversity of the Gnostic branch of Christianity, there was no one set of Gnostic beliefs.

One of the most important and widespread beliefs was that the vengeful God of the Old Testament was a different God than the loving God of the New Testament. Many believed that the Genesis creation was by the Demiurge ('craftsman' God), a lesser God, whom some believed to be ignorant of the higher God above him.

Most Gnostics were quite strict vegetarians, who believed that certain vegetables, particularly melons, contained more 'light'. The world itself was considered evil, and many Gnostics felt it wrong to bring a baby into this evil world. A common Gnostic view was that sex was acceptable, as long as it was unlikely to result in conception. Marriage was strongly discouraged.

AnswerGnostic beliefs differed from Christian beliefs and ran counter to them. They were based on Greek philosophy such as Plato's writings. Gnostics believed knowledge and salvation were available to only a select few, God was impersonal and did not love anyone, Jesus was neither literally human nor divine, His sufferings and body were merely illusory, matter was evil while the spirit was inherently good which divorced personal accountability from actions, salvation was attained through the gaining of knowledge, and the Bible was not believed to be God's word.

Answer 2

There seem to have been many Gnostic Christian sects. New sects kept forming because of the belief that all the initiated were entitled to find knowledge (gnosis) about Christianity. Quite early sects include the Sethians and Mandians, who may also have been the Nazarenes. The most important early Gnostic Group was Manichaeanism. The Cathars arose in Western Europe in the twelfth century, but was put down some two hundred years later. The modern Bosnians are believed to be descendants of the followers of Bogomil. Each sect had its own specific beliefs, but they shared some in common. Most believed that the harsh and merciless God of the Old Testament was a lesser god, the Demiurge, who created the world, unaware of a transcendental, loving God who sent his son, Jesus, to save us from the Demiurge. Many believed that the Demiurge had trapped holy Light that must be freed to return to God's heaven so that the world can end. Most Gnostics were vegetarians, at least in the higher ranks of the faith.