Gnosticism

Gnosticism is one of the religious traditions by which many people sort for Yahoshea Meshiyach and his apostolic assemble during the first to fourth centuries.

Though many gnostic groups were in existence before the birth of Yahoshea, yet they held him as one of the prominent figures of their movements. 

Origin of the Group

One of the early school of thoughts or religious group that influenced Yahosheanism was Gnosticism. The term Gnosticism possesses wide variety of meanings by different scholars and followers. The term came into wide use by a pre-Yahoshea's era group called “Sethians” who termed themselves as “Gnostikoi”. This term later became used by numerous other sects that include Valentinians and Besilides.

At early age of Yahosheanism,there arose many schools of thoughts that sprout as thorns in the vineyard. Many were Gnostics who claim to have personal remedies to questions of life. Gnostics may be simply termed as men who propound self-made remedies to issues of life.

The religious sects are common in character of admixing religious thoughts of ancient Egyptoism, esoteric sciences, oriental mysteries and Judae-Christian consciousnesses.

Some of the Gnostic groups included many religious figures as their early fathers or teachers. Such figures includes Adam, Seth, Noah, John the Baptist, Yahoshea Meshiyach, Peter, Paul etc. Some of the Gnostic groups equally honour early Roman thinkers and philosophers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Pluto of Alexandra, Zoroaster etc as amongst the Gnostic leaders.

Many Gnostic groups avered Yahoshea Meshiyach and some of his disciples as gnostic leaders. For example, Thomas the Apostle was viewed as one of high degree gnostic figures amongst many gnostic groups. They claim that he founded a Gnostic group called “Thomasine”. Equally, they claim that Mary Magdalene was respected as a gnostic leader and was considered superior to twelve apostles.

Roles  In Early Yahosheanism

When Yahoshea translated, many of the gnostics embraced his religious thought and received conversion into the fold. Shortly, they began to mix the doctrine of Yahoshea Meshiyach with those of their Gnostic mysteries

One of the noted gnostic leader that embraced the early ministry was Simon Magus whom the scriptures of the early disciples termed as Simon the sorcerer.

Later Gnostics as Bardaism and Mani were noted for their negative influence over the Assemblies of Yahoshea Meshiyach. For example, Mani founded Manicheanism which was religious thought that made combination of doctrines of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and Yahosheanity.

By 4th century AD, gnostics were expelled out of the apostate church. Later, a death sentence was imposed on any gnostic by the church.

Gnosticism was one of the foremost heretic thought that mixed with the early assemblies of Yahoshea meshiyach and infected its doctrines negatively. History bear that Sethian Gnostic, Archonitic Gnostics, Basilidian Gnostics, Vocentinian Gnostics and Manicheans survived to 4th century AD and such influenced the teachings of Yahoshea Meshiyach in a bad light. These were some of the early religious communities that were contesting over ownership or continuity of Yahoshea Meshiyach and his assembly.

Even when the constituted Church of Rome banned their activities, the gnostic influence has already crept into the assembly of Yahoshea as well as many religious sects that were recognized by Roman authority during the formation of the Roman church.

For instance, St. Augustine of Hippo was a gnostic before becoming a Manichean and later joined Roman Catholic Church where he was promoted to the office of a church Father. These Gnostics that joined the Yahoshea ministry and later became church members were known apostates to Yahoshean doctrines and practices because they brought into the Assembly their religious heresies that later overshadowed the pure scriptural doctrine of Yahoshea's assembly.

Today, many of them are viewed as holy and approved workers of Yahweh by church records but the actual fact is that they were pure heretics that imposed Romanism over the scriptural doctrines from Yahweh. Some of the gnostic figures and their movements treated below.

Nature and Belief

This was one of the notable religious traditions that flourished during the first century Ad whose adherents admixed knowledge of many ancient religions with the primary aim of shunning the material world that they claim to have been created by the demiurge and thereby to embrace the spiritual world.

The term “Gnosticism” is derived from the Ancient Greek “gnostikos” which means “Learned”.  The term had its root from “gnosis” that means “knowledge”.

The religious tradition hold that gnosis which is variously interpreted as knowledge, enlightenment, salvation, emancipation or oneness with Yahweh can be attained through search for wisdom to helping others and practicing of philanthropy, personal poverty and sexual abstinence.

Although, Gnostic families or groups varies in thoughts but majority hold to the belief that the universe or material world is created by the “demiurge” which is encompassed with matter, flesh, time and all elements of ephemeral world.  The world of demiurge is represented as the “lower world” while the world of Yahweh is classified as the “upper world” which is associated with soul and perfection.  The upper world is not part of the physical world as it is eternal and timeless.

The primary or common aim of majority or the diverse groups was the teaching that based on revelation of esoteric or intuitive knowledge as the method of salvation to a soul from the material world.

The root of Gnosticism is unclear since necessary evidence of its existed before the Yahoshea's era has not been traced.  Scholars lately changed their perception that Gnosticism was a pre-Yahoshean religious belief when the “Nega Hammadi Library” was discovered.  It left the scholars with the option that Gnosticism was a first and second centuries religious tradition that related much to Yahosheanism admixed with thoughts as Neoplatonism, Hellenism, Yahudaism, Neo-Roman religious mystery and Zoroasterism.

Yahoshean Gnosticism

This is the term the Christian theology referred as the “Christian Gnosticism”.  Although, its root is not traced to the ancient of days but it is a natural growth of Hellenistic Philosophy that flourished in some centuries before the era of Yahoshea Meshiyach.

For instance, stoicism was one of the famous philosophical schools that flourished before the 1st century Ad. Founded by Zeno of Citicium in the 3rd century before Yahoshea’s era,  It  influenced numerous scholars on Hellenistic knowledge.

Stoicism was primarily concerned of the active relationship between cosmic determinism and human freedom.  The school of thought present that it is necessary for a sage to maintain a will that is in accord to nature.

The movement hung on development of human virtues and ethics through appropriate management of one's emotion.  The school taughts on how to apply virtue on power of the mind and to use reason or logic to understand the thought of nature.

The four cardinal virtues of the philosophical school are wisdom, courage, justice and temperance.  This virtues were expected to be judiciously applied by a person to achieve his or her assignment, on the universal plan or reason.

One of the major departure or differences between Gnosticism and philosophy is based on the idea that philosophical thoughts are pantheists in which Yahweh is never fully transcendent but always immanent.

In philosophy, Yahweh is never firmly viewed as a world creating entity but is taken as totality of the universe and each person has part of the logos within.  The philosophical thoughts do not recognize the accounts of divine creation and the matters of the beginning and end of the universe.

Gnosticism borrowed virtually all natural belief of the philosophers but differed on its concept of a creator whom majority of the groups allege to be the demiurge.  Gnostics equally borrowed or engaged on religious practices that are obtainable in some established traditions. They do not rely on the orthodoxy which hold that right behaviour for Yahosheans is administered through a prescribed belief by a central authority of the assembly which were passed through the apostles of Yahoshea to the overseers. Such brought the rift that prompted the apostolic and Church Fathers of the second to fifth centuries to mark the Gnostic groups as heretics.

The Gnostics did not follow the direct path of the apostles rather each group developed an internalized inclination of the adherents to assume paramount on issues based on personal motivation.  Each group chooses its figures especially some pre-Yahoshean characters that may depart from the Hebrew scriptural prescribed figures.

For example, some Gnostic groups adopted figures as Adam, Seth, Norea (figure not included in the canonized scriptures of the Old Testament but claimed to have saved the Gnostics from the flood in the days of Noah).

Many Gnostic groups recognize Yohanna the Baptist as a high degree Gnostic. Some of the groups honoured Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Philo of Alexandra, Zoroaster etc.

The Yahoshean Gnostics include Yahoshea Meshiyach and his apostles as central figures of their Gnosticism.  Included were figures as Thomas the Apostle, whom some claim to be the founder of Thomasine form of Gnosticism. Equally,  Mirriam Magdalene was included as one of the Gnostic figures. She was considered superior to the twelve apostles.  Others include Yahonnah the evangelist, Apostle Paul, Simon Magus, Nicholas of Antioch etcetera.

Majority of these Gnostics were Hellenistic scholars who took knowledge from the path of Greek philosophical schools but were attracted by the teachings and practices of Yahosheanism whose teachings appeared wider in approach to divine and human relationship against the tradition of divine determinism of the Yahudaism.

The simplicity of Yahoshea's teachings attracted the gentile adherents into the fold.  The Gnostics and their groups treasured the methodology of Yahosheanism and such prompted them to formulate thesis that separate Yahosheanism with the Hebrew centred Yahudism that was in conflict with the Hellenism.

The Yahoshean Gnostics argued against the religious belief of the Yahudism with much emphasizes to its strictness on obedience to the laws of Yahweh.  Many Gnostics openly demonstrated hatred over Yahudistic tradition hence began to formulate heresies against Yahweh whom the Yahudism worshipped or reverenced.

With passage of time, the Gnostics began to include Yahweh of Hebrew amongst the demiurge (false god) of the world and many adherents began to speak disrespectable heresies against the personage of Yahweh and his name.

To separate Yahoshea with Yahweh's consciousness, they started changing the holy names to bear Greek idol names.  The Gnostics began to separate Yahoshea with Meshiyach via their new name as “Ihsous” and “Christ”.  They formulated that “Yahoshea” was a full mortal without heavenly origin but that “Meshiyach” was a heavenly substance that inhabited or occupied Yahoshea to produce excellent miracles, signs and wonders which he performed.

As the gentile Yahosheans began to assert control over the movement, they began to identify Gnosticism and other Greek philosophical bodies as acts of paganism and heresies.

This was spurred by excessive abuses upon Yahweh and his sacred revelations by Gnostics and Philosophers.  Gnostics like Mani (founder of Manichaeism) and Marcio were pronounced Anti-Hebrew Gnostics who hate the scriptural accounts of Yahweh terribly.

This resulted to disputes between the Gentile Yahosheans who claim to apostolic succession and the Gnostics who admix the Yahoshean teachings with those of other religious thoughts.

Beside the dispute, majority of the apostolic and Church Fathers were persons that formerly professed either Gnostics or philosophy and they employed some of the Gnostic terms in their writings or other works.

The Church Fathers acting as successors of apostles began to distinguish the orthodoxy and heresies thereby enlisting the Gnostic groups as heretics.

The dispute between the Church Fathers and the Gnostics came to its peak by the 4th century Ad when the church officially banned all Gnostic groups from existence.

The church equally banned all philosophical schools in 529 Ad by order of Justinian I who ruled that their pagan characters  were at odd with Christian faith.