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Gnosticism: Jewish Gnosticism
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A second factor which contributed greatly to Gnosticism was the spirit of Oriental mysticism. As is abundantly attested by history, the Oriental mind has a peculiar bent toward the allegorical, the mystical, the vague, and the immense. By a mind ... disposed, clear outlines and divine simplicity were poorly appreciated. Jewish history, and even the gospel history, appeared too narrow and commonplace. It was thought necessary, therefore, to penetrate beyond the range of revelation, to traverse the secret chambers of the universe, and to view the facts of the gospel in the light of developments which had taken place within the God-head, and among the higher powers.
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A modification: Ancient Gnosticism was not a branch of Christianity. Rather like the New Age, Gnosticism drew on spiritual and philosophical traditions from all over the known world, intepreting them into their belief system. There was a Christian Gnosticism which interpreted the Gospels in a Gnostic way, presenting Jesus as the savior who showed people the false nature of reality...but there was ... a Jewish Gnosticism and a pagan Gnosticism as well.
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Gnosticism, in its first stage, did not proceed far outside the limits of Syria. What Lipsius counts as the second stage dates from the migration of Gnostic systems to Alexandria, where the myths of Syriac Gnosis came to be united to principles of Grecian philosophy. Different Gnostic systems resulted according as the principles of this of that Grecian school were adopted. Thus, in the system of Valentinus, the Pythagorean Platonic philosophy predominates, the Stoic in that of the Basilidians as presented by Hippolytus. In these systems, tinged with Hellenism, the Jewish religion is not so much controverted or disparaged as ignored. The mythological personages among whom in the older Gnosis the work of creation was distributed are in these Hellenic systems replaced by a kind of abstract beings (of whom the Valentinian aeons are an example) which personify the different stages of the process by which the One Infinite Spirit communicates and reveals itself to derived existences.
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The origins of Gnosticism are not known. Some of its ideas, especially the pervasive theme of androgyny, can be found in Plato. Various scholars have attempted to trace Gnostic dualism to Zoroastrianism and other features of Gnosticism to Buddhism or Judaism. A treasure trove of Gnostic documents found at Nag Hammadi include several works which represent a sour, blasphemous Jewish Gnosticism that takes a perverse delight in saying spiteful things about God as He is revealed in the Old Testament.
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Gnosticism held that human beings consist of flesh, soul, and spirit (the divine spark), and that humanity is divided into classes representing each of these elements. The purely corporeal (hylic) lacked spirit and could never be saved; the Gnostics proper (pneumatic) bore knowingly the divine spark and their salvation was certain; and those, like the Christians, who stood in between (psychic), might attain a lesser salvation through faith. Such a doctrine may have inspired extreme asceticism (as in the Valentinian school) or extreme licentiousness (as in the sect of Caprocrates and the Ophites). The influence of Gnosticism on the later development of the Jewish kabbalah and heterodox Islamic sects such as the Ismailis is much debated.
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Both the New Age Occult Movement and the secret societies, including Freemasonry, derive in large part from the Jewish Kabballah and Gnosticism. This is one reason why, if Gnostics did chang some New Testament verses in copies leading to the Alexandarian copies, the Westcott-Hort Greek text and its huge number of English translations is an important study. It is ... why author Gail Riplinger, a staunch defender of the KJV, calls the NIV and other new translations New Age Bibles. Because so many differences between the King James Version-Textus Receptus and the Westcott-Hort-NIV, etc are consistent with Gnostic theology, this is evidence (although not absolutely conclusive) the Gnostics changed some New Testament copies.
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Jewish Gnosticism