What is the teaching of Gnosticism?

Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. All physical matter is subject to decay, rotting, and death.

What is Hellenistic Gnosticism?

Gnosticism nŏs´tĭsĭzəm [key], dualistic religious and philosophical movement of the late Hellenistic and early Christian eras. The term designates a wide assortment of sects, numerous by the 2d cent. AD; they all promised salvation through an occult knowledge that they claimed was revealed to them alone.

What do the Gnostics believe in?

Gnostics believed that the story of creation found in the Bible was a lie and that God wasn’t actually the one responsible for the creation of our world, at least not directly. They claim the evidence of this comes from the imperfection, tragedy, and evil in our world. A good God could never have created it.

What is the goal of Gnosticism?

To Gnostics, this world is a corrupt realm of suffering and evil created by a being who was not the true God but thought he was. Their goal, through Gnosis, was to wake a divine spark within themselves and gain the sacred knowledge needed to be free of this world after death.

What does Gnosticism teach about salvation?

Therefore, although Gnostics, like other Christians, find salvation through the messages of Jesus, Gnostics seek salvation not from sin but from “the ignorance of which sin is a consequence.” The gnostics believe that the evil creator God and his angels cause this ignorance.

What are Hellenism beliefs?

Hellenism is, in practice, primarily centered around polytheistic and animistic worship. Devotees worship the Greek gods, which comprise the Olympians, divinities and spirits of nature (such as nymphs), underworld deities (chthonic gods) and heroes. Both physical and spiritual ancestors are greatly honored.