Definition of Gnosticism
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Description: Gnosticism died not by chance, but because it lacked vital power within itself; and no amount of theosophistic literature can give life to that which perished from intrinsic and essential defects.
The doctrine of salvation by knowledge. This definition, based on the etymology of the word ( , "good at knowing"), is correct as far as it goes, but it gives only one, though perhaps the predominant, characteristic of Gnostic systems of thought. Whereas Judaism and Christianity, and almost all pagan systems, hold that the soul attains its proper end by obedience of mind and will to the Supreme Power, i.e. by faith and works, it is markedly peculiar to Gnosticism that it places the salvation of the soul merely in the possession of a quasi-intuitive knowledge of the mysteries of the universe and of magic formulae indicative of that knowledge. Gnostics were "people who knew", and their knowledge at once constituted them a superior class of beings, whose present and future status was essentially different from that of those who, for whatever reason, did not know. A more complete and historical definition of Gnosticism would be:
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| Page title: | Definition of Gnosticism |
| Keywords: | Definition, Gnosticism, gnostic, dissent, dissenter, heretic, heresy, apostate, apostasy, schism, schismatic, pagan, new, age, modernism, liberalism |
| Description: | Definition of Gnosticism |
| IP-address: | 198.27.70.84 |