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Gnosticism is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) above the proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity who is responsible for creating the material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment.
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge. The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where it signifies a spiritual knowledge or insight into humanity's real nature as divine, leading to the deliverance of the divine spark within humanity from the constraints of earthly existence.
Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to:
Ecclesia Gnostica is an open sacramental neo-Gnostic church based in the United States. It has ordained clergy and conducts regular sacramental services, including two weekly Masses, as well as monthly and seasonal services in accordance with the liturgical calendar. It has active parishes in Seattle, Portland, Austin, and Los Angeles.
Pistis Sophia is a Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The existing manuscript, which some scholars place in the late 4th century, relates one Gnostic group's teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples, including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha. In this text, the risen Jesus had spent eleven years speaking with his disciples, teaching them only the lower mysteries. After eleven years, he receives his true garment and is able to reveal the higher mysteries revered by this group. The prized mysteries relate to complex cosmologies and knowledge necessary for the soul to reach the highest divine realms.
Samael Aun Weor, born Víctor Manuel Gómez Rodríguez, was a spiritual teacher and author of over sixty books of esoteric spirituality. He taught and formed groups under the banner of "Universal Gnosticism", or simply gnosis. A prolific author of syncretistic books, Gómez first made a name in the early gnostic movement in his native country of Colombia, before moving to Mexico in 1956, where his movement gained increased popularity, and his works became popular among practitioners of occultism and esotericism, and were translated into other languages.
Jules-Benoît Stanislas Doinel du Val-Michel, also known simply as Jules Doinel or Tau Valentin II was an archivist and the founder of the first Gnostic church in modern times who claims, that he was consecrated into a new episcopal lineage in a dream by the "Eon Jesus".
Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica (E.G.C.), or the Gnostic Catholic Church, is a Gnostic church organization. It is the ecclesiastical arm of the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgating the Law of Thelema.
Sophia is a central idea in Hellenistic philosophy and religion, Platonism, Gnosticism and Christian theology. Originally carrying a meaning of "cleverness, skill", the later meaning of the term, close to the meaning of phronesis, was significantly shaped by the term philosophía as used by Plato.
Esoteric Christianity is an approach to Christianity which features "secret traditions" that require an initiation to learn or understand. The term esoteric was coined in the 17th century and derives from the Greek ἐσωτερικός.
Gnosticism in modern times includes a variety of contemporary religious movements, stemming from Gnostic ideas and systems from ancient Roman society. Gnosticism is an ancient name for a variety of religious ideas and systems, originating in Jewish-Christian milieux in the first and second century CE.
JeanBricaud, also known as Tau Jean II, was a French student of the occult and esoteric matters. Bricaud was heavily involved in the French neo-Gnostic movement. He was consecrated a Gnostic bishop on 21 July 1913 by bishop Louis-Marie-François Giraud. He was the Patriarch of the Église Gnostique Universelle and a central figure in the various lines of the apostolic succession of subsequent Gnostic churches, as well as a spiritual heir of Jules Doinel. From 1916 he was head of the Ordre Martiniste. He was a friend of the occultists Papus and August Vandekerkhove.
Sophiology is a controversial school of thought in Russian Orthodoxy which holds that Divine Wisdom is to be identified with God's essence, and that the Divine Wisdom is in some way expressed in the world as 'creaturely' wisdom. This notion has often been understood or misunderstood as introducing a feminine "fourth hypostasis" into the Trinity.
Holy Wisdom is a concept in Christian theology.
In many Gnostic systems, various emanations of God are known by such names as One, Monad, Aion teleos, Bythos, Arkhe, Proarkhe and as Aeons. In different systems these emanations are differently named, classified, and described. In Basilidian Gnosis they are called sonships ; according to Marcus, they are numbers and sounds; in Valentinianism they form male/female pairs called syzygies.
Sophia is a major theme, along with Knowledge, among many of the early Christian knowledge theologies grouped by the heresiologist Irenaeus as gnostikoi (γνωστικοί), "knowing" or "men that claimed to have deeper wisdom". Gnosticism is a 17th-century term expanding the definition of Irenaeus' groups to include other syncretic faiths and the Greco-Roman mysteries.
The Gnostic Church of France is a neo-Gnostic Christian organisation formed by Jules Doinel in 1890, in France. It is the first Gnostic church in modern times.
Tau Malachi is an American neo-Gnostic religious leader and writer. He is currently the Gnostic Apostle of Ecclesia Pistis Sophia, also known as The Fellowship.
References
- ↑ Eichler-Levine, Jodi (2013-01-01). "Imagining Mary Magdalene: The Discourse of Hidden Wisdom in American Popular Culture". Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts and Contemporary Worlds. 7 (1): 1–25. doi:10.1558/post.v7i1.1. ISSN 1743-887X . Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ↑ Miller, David Ian (2012-02-11). "Tau Malachi, a Sophian Gnostic bishop, talks about Gnosticism and 'The Da Vinci Code'". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ↑ Walters, B. Dave (2012-04-21). "Tau Malachi, Christian Mystic and Gnostic Teacher". Beliefnet. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
- ↑ Ecclesia Pistis Sophia.
- ↑ Tau Malachi. Llewellyn.
- ↑ Brett Cagle. History of the Independent Sacramental Movement (ISM). Accessed 2021-11-26.