First Century Gnosticism

By Mary Jane Chaignot

Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowledge.” ·
Like Christianity, Gnosticism evolved over time.
There were many forms of Gnosticism throughout early Christianity.
Scholars have identified many strands prevalent in the first century that were synthesized within Gnosticism, including Egyptian religion, Judaism, Christianity, astrology, and Greek philosophy.
An initial wave of Gnosticism arose after the destruction of the temple in 70CE, but it wasn’t until the second century that it gained in prominence and achieved its classical form.
Early Gnosticism probably arose out of apocalyptic Judaism, and hostility towards the God of the Old Testament.
It arose after people abandoned the idea that God would take action on their behalf.
Gnostics believed that matter was evil and spirit was good.
This world and this body are not the ultimate reality.
Matter was eternal and the world had been created out of this evil stuff.
In other words, Gnostics believed that creation came out of evil matter.
Since God was spirit and good, he could not have created matter.
God created “spiritual elements” that handled matter and created the world.
As these “spiritual elements” drifted farther and farther from God, they became more and more ignorant of Him and, in the end, hostile to him.
Nonetheless, these spiritual elements had to be pacified (worshiped) because ultimately they were in control of the world, including all the people in it.
It led to a false humility of not being worthy and hence, not being able to approach God.
Therefore, one needed to submit to the angels and “spiritual elements.”
In essence, then, the Gnostics believed that a spiritual God did not create the world.
In Gnostic thought, Jesus was one of those “spiritual elements” that God created, although he was certainly above all of them.
Since matter derived from evil, it stands to reason the body was also evil.
Jesus, then, who was derived from God was spiritual.
He was not a real man (it has been said by Gnostics that when Jesus walked, he left no footprints).
In Gnostic thought, a “redeemer” would descend from heaven, teach gnosis, and then return to heaven.
Even though Gnostic thought predated Christ, it was adapted to include him.
It led to the argument that only through gnosis could people understand and participate in the fulness of Christianity.
In order for people to be saved, they had to find their way back to God.
This “way” was barred by all those “spiritual elements.”
In order for the soul to get to God, it had to bypass these elements, one by one.
The only way to pass by them was to have secret passwords or special knowledge.
Gnosticism was able to provide this secret knowledge.
Such knowledge came through doctrinal instruction, ritual, prophecy, sacramental initiations, and self-discovery.
This knowledge could be taught but generally came as a “call.”
All this really meant was that salvation was based on knowledge. (There was nothing about forgiveness of sins, love for others, or the cross and resurrection in this theology.)
Nor was every person going to be able to achieve this level of knowledge.
Only those who were spiritually minded could be saved.
The ordinary person, the earthly person was simply out of luck.
Because Gnostics saw matter as evil, many of them were rigidly ascetic.
They tried to move away from matter and material things.
Bodily pleasures were to be avoided.
Others, however, moved in the opposite direction of libertinism.
The thought was that since the body was already evil, what did it matter what one did or how one lived?
Their motto was “anything goes.”
Either way, they renounced their bodies and were “reborn.”
Gnostics believed themselves to be part of a privileged few.
Christianity would wrestle with Gnosticism for centuries.

Bibliography

Barclay, William. "The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians." Daily Study Bible. Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press. 1975.

Duling, Dennis and Norman Perrin. The New Testament. Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History. Philadelphia, PA: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. 1994.

Gaebelein, Frank. "Colossians." Expositor's Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing. 1985.

Martin, Ralph. "Colossians." The New Century Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B Eerdmans. 1973.

Patzia, Arthur. "Colossians." New International Biblical Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson. 1999.

Reumann, John. "Colossians." Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House. 1985.

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