Gnosticism

GNOSTICISM, a movement of religious syncratism (or fusion of different and previously independent beliefs), which maintained itself side by side with genuine Christianity as the latter was gradually crystallizing into the ancient Catholic Church, and which bore the strong impress of Christian influences. The movement first came into prominence in the opening years of the 2nd century; it reached its height in the 3rd quarter of that century, after which it began to wane, and from the 2nd half of the 3rd century was replaced by the closely-related and more powerful Manichaean movement. Offshoots of it, however, con tinued on into the 4th and 5th centuries and many of its ideas survived among later mystics.

Gnosis as Revelation.

If we wish to grasp the peculiar character of the great Gnostic movement, we must take care not to be led astray by the catchword "Gnosis." It is a mistake to regard the Gnostics as pre-eminently the representatives of intel lect among Christians, and Gnosticism as an intellectual tendency chiefly concerned with philosophical speculation, the reconcilia tion of religion with philosophy and theology. It is true that when Gnosticism was at its height it numbered amongst its followers both theologians and men of science, but that is not its main characteristic. Among the majority of the followers of the move ment "Gnosis" was understood not as meaning "knowledge" or 1 ",understanding," in our sense of the word, but "revelation." These little Gnostic sects and groups all lived in the conviction that they possessed a secret and mysterious knowledge, in no way accessible to those outside, and not based on reflection, on scientific inquiry and proof, but on revelation. It was derived directly from the times of primitive Christianity; from the Saviour himself and his disciples and friends, with whom they claimed to be connected by a secret tradition, or else from later prophets, of whom many sects boasted. It was laid down in wonderful mystic writings, which were in the possession of the various circles (Liechtenhahn, Die Offenbarung im Gnosticismus.

In short, Gnosticism, in all its various sections, its form and its character, falls under the great category of mystic religions, which were so characteristic of the religious life of decadent antiquity. All alike boast a mystic revelation and a deeply veiled wisdom. As in many mystical religions, so in Gnosticism, the ultimate object is individual salvation, the assurance of a fortunate destiny for the soul after death. As in the others, so in this the central object of worship is a redeemer-deity who has already trodden the difficult way which the faithful have to follow.

Symbols.

And as in all mystical religions, so here too, holy rites and formulas, acts of initiation and consecration, all those things which we call sacraments, play a very prominent part. The Gnostic religion is full of such sacraments. Indeed, sacred formu las, names and symbols are of the highest importance among the Gnostic sects. We constantly meet with the idea that the soul, on leaving the body, finds its path to the highest heaven opposed by the deities and demons of the lower realms of heaven, and only when it is in possession of the names of these demons, and can repeat the proper holy formula, or is prepared with the right symbol, or has been anointed with the holy oil, finds its way un hindered to the heavenly home. Hence the Gnostic must above all things learn the names of the demons, and equip himself with the sacred formulas and symbols, in order to be certain of a good destiny after death. The exposition of the system of the Ophites given by Celsus (in Origen vi. 25 seq.), and, in connection with Celsus, by Origen, is particularly instructive on this point. It was taught that even the redeemer-god, when he once descended on to this earth, to rise from it again,. availed himself of these names and formulas on his descent and ascent through the world of demons. Traces of ideas of this kind are to be met with almost everywhere. They have been most carefully collected by Anz (Unsprung des Gnosticismus, Texte and Untersuchungen xv. 4 passim) wh9 sees in them the central doctrine of Gnosticism.

Evil and the Emanations.

The basis of the Gnostic religion and world-philosophy lies in a decided Oriental dualism. In sharp contrast are opposed the two worlds of the good and of the evil, the divine world and the material world (An), the worlds of light and of darkness. The material world is believed to be the true seat of evil, full of active energies and hostile powers. Even when there is an attempt at reconciliation, it is still quite clear how strong was the original dualism which has to be overcome. A characteristic attempt is set forth in the so-called "system of emanations" in which it is assumed that from the supreme divinity emanated a somewhat lesser world, from this world a second, and so on, until the divine element (of life) became so far weakened and attenuated, that the genesis of a partly, or even wholly, evil world appears both possible and comprehensible. A system of emanations of this kind, in its purest form, is set forth in the expositions coming from the school of Basilides, which are handed down by Irenaeus. All these efforts at reconciliation show how clearly the problem of evil was realized in these Gnostic and half Gnostic sects, and how deeply they meditated on the subject.

Another characteristic feature of the Gnostic conception of the universe is the role played in almost all Gnostic systems by the seven world-creating powers. There are indeed certain exceptions; for instance, in the systems of the Valentinian schools there is the figure of the one Demiurge who takes the place of the Seven. But how widespread was the idea of seven powers, who created this lower material world and rule over it, has been clearly proved, especially by the systematic examination of the subject by Anz (Unsprung des Gnosticismus) . These Seven, then, are in most systems half-evil, half-hostile powers ; they are frequently char acterized as "angels," and are reckoned as the last and lowest emanations of the Godhead; below them—and frequently con. sidered as derived from them—comes the world of the actually devilish powers. There can scarcely be any doubt as to the origin of these seven powers; they are the seven planetary divinities, the sun, moon and five planets. They imply a fusion of Babylon ian and Persian beliefs, resulting in a degradation of the Babylon ian planetary deities into half-angelic, half-demonic beings, in finitely remote from the supreme God of light.

The Way to Heaven.

With this fundamental doctrine of Gnosticism is connected, as Anz has shown, a side of their religious practices to which we have already alluded. Gnosticism is to a great extent dominated by the idea that it is in the highest degree important for the Gnostic's soul to be enabled to find its way back through the lower worlds and spheres of heaven ruled by thF Seven to the kingdom of light, of the supreme deity of heaven. Hence, a principal item in their religious practice consisted in communications about the being, nature and names of the Seven (or of any other hostile daemons barring the way to heaven), the formulas with which they must be addressed, and the symbols which must be shown to them. But names, symbols and formulas are not efficacious by themselves : the Gnostic must lead a life having no part in the lower world ruled by these spirits, and by his knowledge he must raise himself above them to the God of the world of light. Throughout this mystic religious world it was above all the influence of the late Greek religion, derived from Plato, that also continued to operate ; it is filled with the echo of the song, the first note of which was sounded by the Platonists, about the heavenly home of the soul and the homeward journey of the wise to the higher world of light.

The Great Mother.

We cannot here undertake to set forth and explain in detail all the complex varieties of the Gnostic systems ; but it will be useful to take a nearer view of certain principal figures which have had an influence upon at least one series of Gnostic systems. In almost all systems an important part is played by the Great Mother (1.67-np) who appears under the most varied forms.

The origin of this figure is not far to seek. It is certainly not derived from the Persian religious system, to the spirit of which it is entirely opposed. Neither would it be correct to identify her entirely with the great goddess Ishtar of the old Babylonian religion. But there can hardly be any doubt that the figure of the great mother-goddess or goddess of heaven, who was worshipped throughout Asia under various forms and names (Astarte, Beltis, Atargatis, Cybele, the Syrian Aphrodite), was the prototype of the µiT77p of the Gnostics. The character of the great goddess of heaven is still in many places fairly exactly preserved in the Gnostic speculations. Hence we are able to understand how the Gnostic µ6T77p, the Sophia, appears as the mother of the Heb domas. The great goddess of heaven is the mother of the stars.

Primal Man.

Another characteristic figure of Gnosticism is that of the Primal Man (irpWror avepwiros), the man who existed bef ore the world, the prophet who goes through the world in various forms, and finally reveals himself in Christ. This figure can particularly be compared with that of the Gnostic Sophia. It represents that divine power which, whether simply owing to a fall, or as the hero who makes war on and is partly vanquished by darkness, descends into the darkness of the material world, and with whose descent begins the great drama of the world's develop ment. From this power are derived those portions of light exist ing and held prisoner in this lower world. And as he has raised himself again out of the material world, or has been set free by higher powers, so also shall the portions of light still imprisoned in matter be set free.

A parallel myth to that of the Primal Man are the accounts to be found in most of the Gnostic systems of the creation of the first man. In all these accounts the idea is expressed that so far as his body is concerned man is the work of the beings who created the world. And as the man thus formed was unable to move, but could only crawl like a worm, the supreme Power put into him a spark of life, and man came into existence.

The Myth of Salvation.

Of the fundamental ideas of Gnosticism of which we have so far treated, it can with some certainty be assumed that they were in existence before the rise of Christianity and the influence of Christian ideas on the de velopment of Gnosticism. The main question with which we have now to deal is that of whether the dominant figure of the Saviour in Gnosticism is of specifically Christian derivation, or whether this can also be explained apart from the assumption of Christian influence. And here it must be premised that, intimately as the conception of salvation is bound up with the Gnostic religion, the idea of salvation accomplished in a definite historical moment to a certain extent remained foreign to it. Indeed, nearly all the Christian Gnostic systems clearly exhibit the great diffi culty with which they had to contend in order to reconcile the idea of an historical redeemer, actually occurring in the form of a definite person, with their conceptions of salvation. In Gnosticism salvation always lies at the root of all existence and all history. In fact salvation, as conceived in Gnosticism, is always a myth, a history of bygone events, an allegory or figure, but not an historical event. This explains the laborious and artificial way in which the person of Jesus is connected in many Gnostic systems with the original Gnostic conception of redemption. In this patchwork the joins are everywhere still clearly to be recognized.

Thus the essential part of most of the conceptions of what we call Gnosticism was already in existence and fully developed before the rise of Christianity. But the fundamental ideas of Gnosticism and of early Christianity had a kind of magnetic attraction for each other. What drew these two forces together was the energy exerted by the universal idea of salvation in both systems. Christian Gnosticism actually introduced only one new figure into the already existing Gnostic theories, namely that of the historical Saviour Jesus Christ. This figure afforded, as it were, a new point of crystallization for the existing Gnostic ideas, which now grouped themselves round this point in all their mani fold diversity. Thus there came into the fluctuating mass a strong movement and formative impulse, and the individual systems and sects sprang up like mushrooms from this soil. Above all the Gnostics represented and developed the distinctly anti-Jewish tendency in Christianity. Paul was the apostle whom they rev erenced, and his spiritual influence on them is quite unmistakable. The Gnostic Marcion has been rightly characterized as a direct disciple of Paul. Paul's battle against the law and the narrow national conception of Christianity found a willing following in a movement, the syncretic origin of which directed it towards a universal religion. St. Paul's ideas were here developed to their extremest consequences, and in an entirely one-sided fashion such as was far from his intention. In approximately all the Gnostic systems the doctrine of the seven world-creating spirits is given an anti-Jewish tendency, the god of the Jews and of the Old Testament appearing as the highest of the seven. The Demiurge of the Valentinians always clearly bears the features of the Old Testament creator-God.

The attitude of Gnosticism to the Old Testament and to the creator-God proclaimed in it had its deeper roots, as we have already seen, in the dualism by which it was dominated. With this dualism and the recognition of the worthlessness and absolutely vicious nature of the material world is combined a decided spirit ualism. The conception of a resurrection of the body, of a further existence for the body after death, was unattainable by almost all of the Gnostics, with the possible exception of a few Gnostic sects dominated by Judaeo-Christian tendencies. With the dualistic philosophy is further connected an attitude of absolute indifference towards this lower and material world, and the prac tice of asceticism. Marriage and sexual propagation are con sidered either as absolute Evil or as altogether worthless, and carnal pleasure is frequently looked upon as forbidden. Then again asceticism sometimes changes into wild libertinism. Here again Gnosticism has exercised an influence on the development of the Church by way of contrast and opposition. If here a return was made to the old material view of the resurrection (the apostolic ava.Q-raOCs Tfjs rap#a5 ), entirely abandoning the more spiritual conception which had been arrived at as a compromise by Paul, this is probably the result of a reaction from the views of Gnosticism. It was just at this point, too, that Gnosticism started a development which was followed later by the Catholic Church. In spite of the rejection of the ascetic attitude of the Gnostics, as a blasphemy against the Creator, a part of this ascetic principle became at a later date dominant throughout all Christendom. And it is interesting to observe how, e.g., St. Augustine, though des perately combating the dualism of the Manichaeans, yet after wards introduced a number of dualistic ideas into Christianity, which are distinguishable from those of Manichaeism only by a very keen eye, and even then with difficulty.

Gnosticism and the Church.

The Gnostic religion also an ticipated other tendencies. As we have seen, it is above all things a religion of sacraments and mysteries. Through its syn cretic origin Gnosticism introduced for the first time into Christianity a whole mass of sacramental, mystical ideas, which had hitherto existed in it only in its earliest phases. Gnosticism was also the pioneer of the Christian Church in the strong emphasis laid on the idea of salvation in religion.

Finally, it was Gnosticism which gave the most decided im pulse to the consolidation of the Christian Church as a church. Gnosticism itself is a free, naturally-growing religion, the religion of isolated minds, of separate little circles and minute sects. The homogeneity of wide circles, the sense of responsibility engen dered by it, and continuity with the past are almost entirely lack ing in it. It is based upon revelation, which even at the present time is imparted to the individual, upon the more or less convinc ing force of the religious imagination and speculations of a few leaders, upon the voluntary and unstable grouping of the schools round the master. Its adherents feel themselves to be the isolated, the few, the free and the enlightened, as opposed to the sluggish and inert masses of mankind degraded in matter, or the initiated as opposed to the uninitiated, the Gnostics as op posed to the "Hylici" (yXctcol) ; at most in the later and more moderate schools a middle place was given to the adherents of the Church as Psychici (kyucol).

This freely-growing Gnostic religiosity aroused in the Church an increasingly strong movement towards unity and a firm and inelastic organization, towards authority and tradition. An organ ized hierarchy, a definitive canon of the Holy Scriptures, a con fession of faith and rule of faith, and unbending doctrinal dis cipline, these were the means employed. A part was also played in this movement by a free theology which arose within the Church itself, a kind of Gnosticism which aimed at holding fast whatever was good in the Gnostic movement, and obtaining its recognition within the limits of the Church (Clement of Alex andria, Origen).

It must be considered as an unqualified advantage for the further development of Christianity, as a universal religion, that at its very outset it prevailed against the great movement of Gnosticism. In spite of the fact that in a few of its later repre sentatives Gnosticism assumed a more refined and spiritual aspect, and even produced blossoms of a true and beautiful piety, it is fundamentally and essentially an unstable religious syncretism, a religion in which the determining forces were a fantastic oriental imagination and a sacramentalism which degenerated into the wildest superstitions, a weak dualism fluctuating unsteadily be tween asceticism and libertinism.

Sects and Leaders.

For descriptions of the various sects and leaders reference must be made to the works mentioned below. Only the briefest indication can here be given. The earlier sects are not associated with the name of any personal founders or leading teachers. In the controversial writings of the Fathers we can distinguish the "Ophites," "Naasenes," "Peratae," "Sethians," "Cainites," "Archontics," "Severians," "Barbelo-gnostics," "Jus tinians," "Nicolaitans," and other more obscure sects. In these, the element of imaginative and fantastic mythology pre dominates over Christian or philosophical speculation. On the other hand, the sects or systems connected with the names of personal teachers reflect the main development of Gnosticism in its alliance with Christianity, which first appears definitely in Cerinthus (q.v.), towards the end of the first century, then in Satornilos and (with extreme antinomianism) in Carpocrates and above all in the two great masters of Gnosticism, Basilides (q.v.) and Valentinus (q.v.). Both of these founded influential schools of followers who developed and altered their doctrines. Irenaeus connects with Valentinus the doctrines of Ptolemaeus, Heracleon, Bardesanes, and others. Bavdesanes, however, is an independent and original thinker and has been called the last of the great Gnostic teachers. Apart from all other Gnostics stands Marcion. With him, the manifold Gnostic speculations are reduced to the one problem of the contrast of justice and love, of the God of the Old Testament and the God of the Christians. Between these Marcion affirms an irreconcilable opposition which with him rests on a speculative basis. Through the noble simplicity and intensely religious character of his teaching, Marcion was able to found not only schools of followers, but a religious com munity which gave trouble to the Church longer than any other Gnostic movement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Of the actual writings of the Gnostics, which were Bibliography.—Of the actual writings of the Gnostics, which were extraordinarily numerous, very little has survived ; they were sacrificed to the destructive zeal of their ecclesiastical opponents. Numerous fragments and extracts from Gnostic writings are to be found in the works of the Fathers who attacked Gnosticism. Most valuable of all are the long extracts in the 5th and 6th books of the Philoso phumena of Hippolytus. The most accessible and best critical edition of the fragments which have been preserved word for word is to be found in Hilgenfeld's Ketzergeschichte des Urchristentums. One of the most important of these fragments is the letter of Ptolemaeus to Flora, preserved in Epiphanius, Haeres. xxxiii. 3-7 (see on this point Harnack in the Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, 5902, PP. • Gnostic fragments are certainly also preserved for us in the Acts of Thomas. Ilere we should especially mention the beautiful and much-discussed Song of the Pearl, or Song of the Soul, which is generally, the lgh without absolute clear proof, attributed to Bardesanes (till lately it was known only in the Syrian text; edited and translated by Bevan, Texts and Studies, v. 3, 5897; Hofmann, Zeitschrift fiir neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, iv.; for the newly-found Greek text see Acta apostolorum, ed. Bonnet, ii. 2, C. 108, p. 219) . Generally also much Gnostic matter is contained in the apocryphal histories of the Apostles. We should also mention in this connection the text on which are based the pseudo-Clementine Homilies and Recognitiones (beginning of the 3rd century) . It is, of course, already permeated with the Catholic spirit, but has drawn so largely upon sources of a Judaeo-Christian Gnostic character that it comes to a great extent within the category of sources for Gnosti cism. Complete original Gnostic works have unfortunately survived to us only from the period of the decadence of Gnosticism. Of these we should mention the comprehensive work called the Pistis Sophia, probably belonging to the 2nd half of the 3rd century, translated by C. Schmidt, Koptisch-gnostische Schriften, i. (19o5), in the series Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte. The Egyptian Gnostic texts edited by C. Schmidt, Texte u. Unter suchungen, vol. viii. (1892) and Koptische-gnostische Schriften, vol. i., probably represent an advanced stage in the decadence of Gnosticism (but see also the same writer in Sitzungsberichte der Berl. Akad. for 1896, p. 839 ff.) .

On the whole, then, for an exposition of Gnosticism we are thrown back upon the polemical writings of the Fathers in their controversy with heresy. The most ancient of these is Justin, who according to his Apol. i. 26 wrote a Syntagma against all heresies (c. A.D. 150), and also, probably, a special polemic against Marcion (fragment in Irenaeus iv. 6. 2) . Both these writings are lost. He was followed by Irenaeus, who, especially in the first book of his treatise Adversus haereses (E)Eyxov Kal avarpoirris T7)1 tkevbcoUV/OU ')'vWQEWS f3Lf3XLa E7rrvE, c. A.D. I80), gives a detailed account of the Gnostic heresies. He founds his work upon that of his master Justin, but adds from his own knowledge among many other things, notably the detailed account of Valentinianism at the beginning of the book. On Irenaeus, and probably also on Justin, Hippolytus drew for his Syntagma (begin ning of the 3rd century), a work which is also lost, but can, with great certainty, be reconstructed from three recensions of it: in the Panarion of Epiphanius (after 374), in Philaster of Brescia, Adversus haereses, and the Pseudo-Tertullian, Liber adversus ommes haereses. A second work of Hippolytus (Kara 7raac2v aipEaEWv gXeyxos) is pre served in the so-called Philosophurnena which survives under the name of Origen. Here Hippolytus gave a second exposition supple mented by fresh Gnostic original sources with which he had become acquainted in the meanwhile. These sources quoted in Hippolytus have lately met with very unfavourable criticisms. Very noteworthy references to Gnosticism are also to be found scattered up and down the Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria. Especially important are the Excerpta ex Theodoto, the author of which is certainly Clement, which are verbally extracted from Gnostic writings, and have almost the value of original sources. The writings of Origen also contain a wealth of material. In the first place should be mentioned the treatise Contra Celsum, in which the expositions of Gnosticism by both Origen and Celsus are of interest (see especially v. 61 seq. and vi. 25 seq.) . Of Tertullian's works should be mentioned: De praescrip tione haereticorum, Adversus Marcionem, Adversus Hermogenem, and finally Adversus Valentinianos (entirely founded on Irenaeus). Here must also be mentioned the dialogue of Adamantius with the Gnostics, De recta in deum fide (beginning of 4th century) . Among the followers of Hippolytus, Epiphanius in his Panarion gives much independent and valuable information from his own knowledge of contemporary Gnosticism. But Theodoret of Cyrus (d. 455) is already entirely dependent on previous works and has nothing new to add. With the 4th century both Gnosticism and the polemical literature directed against it die out. The modern literature of the subject is extensive. Here references are given to a few modern contributions where guidance to further study can be obtained. See E. F. Scott, articles "Gnosticism" and "Valentinianism" in Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, and A. S. Peake, articles "Basilides," "Cerinthus" and "Marcion," ibid.; Harnack, Dogmenge schichte, 4th ed. (where the account of Gnosticism differs from that of the 3rd ed. from which the English translation was made) ; Kruger, article "Gnosticismus" in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie; Liechtenhan, Die Ofjenbarung im Gnosticismus, 1901 ; E. de Faye, Introd. d l'etude du Gnosticisme, 1903; W. Bousset, Hauptprobleme der Gnosis, 1911; and the works of Anz and others mentioned above.

(S. H. M.)