Abrahamism vs Gnosticism in a Nutshell :)

by ProdigalSon 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  ProdigalSon

  http://www.armageddonconspiracy.co.uk/Sex-for-Salvation-II%282395055%29.htm

  Judaism claims that the way to God is through obeying endless rules allegedly imposed by God. The great philosopher Immanuel Kant claimed that Judaism wasn't a religion at all, but a mere body of laws. Jews put very little thought into the soul and the afterlife. They are completely preoccupied with "being Jewish" i.e. obeying all the rules of Judaism. Their "religion" is thus more like a computer program. There is nothing spiritual about it. Their slavish, mindless obedience to the rules was replicated just as fanatically by those other human robots - the Muslims, who are machines loaded with the "Islam Program", which they run 24/7.
  
  The Catholic Church claims that the way to God is through the Church and its sacraments. The Pope, the head of the Church, is Christ's representative on Earth, and there is no Salvation outside the Church.
  
  Protestantism rejects the Pope, the Church and the sacraments and claims that the way to God is through the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ alone. A Protestant is "justified by faith." For Protestants, reason is the "Devil's whore".
  
  Islam claims that the way to God is solely through the Koran and Allah's prophet Mohammed.
  
  Gnosticism says, "Fuck all that shit!"
  
  Gnosticism (by which we also include Neoplatonism and Hermeticism) asserts that there is no need for any intermediaries between you and the divine. No Church is needed, no Pope, no rules, no holy books, no prophets, no faith. You yourself are in fact God. You just don't realise it yet. When you do, you have attained the state called gnosis.
  
  There's no need for intermediaries because your problem is not one of needing anyone else's intercession to plead your case to God, but one of lack of self-recognition as to who you truly are. It is ignorance of the truth from which you suffer. The remedy is knowledge, and that comes from subjects such as science, philosophy, mathematics and psychology, not from books of revelation by bearded prophets.
  
  Do you see the remarkable difference between Abrahamism and Gnosticism? The first wants to make you dependent on something or someone. The second wants to make you dependent on yourself. The first wants to control you, the second for you to control yourself. The first is a slave religion, the second is for the greatest human beings of all: those who consider themselves capable of perfection through their own efforts.
  
  The first can never control the second. No Gnostic will ever be a slave to another man's system. A Gnostic will never obey someone else's dumb rules, or wait for a Saviour or Messiah, or turn to faith, or listen to crazy prophets, or be in awe of a book written in Arabic.
  
  Gnostics have contempt for the zombie legions that sign away their lives because a book or a prophet told them to.
  
  Get off your knees. Stand up straight. Think! Use your reason. Challenge the orthodox position. Always ask questions (but make sure they're good ones!) Take as much personal responsibility as you can. Be as creative as possible. Decide for yourself what is good and what is evil. Because these are the qualities that define God.
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  Satanus

  I'm gnostic. The idea is also contained in hinduism, at the core, and in buddhism.

  "Fuck all that shit".

  Amen.

  S

  Ps, you very well expained all those abrahamisms.
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  Band on the Run

  I studied Gnosticism with Prof. Elaine Pagels. This is a different explanation of Gnosticism that I have ever heard. Gnostics reject the physicality of the world. The world was created by a less, evil god. Deep inside is a divine spark that calls out to us. Secret knowledge can lead your essence back to the original God, the God of not physicality. The Gnostic gospels teach us Jesus was a spirit guide. Through proper study and exercises, we can be Jesus.

  I've wanted to read Jewish gnostics.

  Gnosticism existed within Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Christianity. I do not know about Islam.

  Gnostic literature can be read on the Internet.
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  garyneal

  Ugh, the New World Order?!

  What is this?
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  Aussie Oz

  What mankind needs is to stop looking for answers and explanations and just needs to accept.

  accept that we are here, how does not matter

  accept that we die, end of story

  accept that we can think for ourselves, not be told what to think.

  oz
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  ÁrbolesdeArabia

  I don't know how following another leader in search of the intangible "gnosis' some guru would teach you is liberation. The Gnostics I read of follow the same line of thinking this article from CRI author wrote. How is your gnostism by seeking a "holy man" who found the secret knowledge freedom?

  http://carm.org/gnosticism

  Gnosticism traces its roots back just after the beginning of the Christian Church. Some researchers state that evidence of its existence even predates Christianity. Whichever the case, the error of gnosticism had affected the culture and church of the time and possibly even a earned a mention in 1 John 4.

  The word "gnosticism" comes from the Greek word "gnosis" which means "knowledge." There were many groups that were Gnostic and it isn't possible to easily describe the nuances of each variant of Gnostic doctrines. However, generally speaking, Gnosticism taught that salvation is achieved through special knowledge (gnosis). This knowledge usually dealt with the individual's relationship to the transcendent Being.

  A more detailed Gnostic theology is as follows. The unknowable God was far too pure and perfect to have anything to do with the material universe which was considered evil. Therefore, God generated lesser divinities, or emenations. One of these emanations, Wisdom desired to know the unknowable God. Out of this erring desire the demiurge an evil god was formed and it was this evil god that created the universe. He along witharchons kept the mortals in bondage in material matter and tried to prevent the pure spirit souls from ascending back to god after the death of the physical bodies. Since, according to the Gnostics, matter is evil, deliverance from material form was attainable only through special knowledge revealed by special Gnostic teachers. Christ was the divine redeemer who descended from the spiritual realm to reveal the knowledge necessary for this redemption. In conclusion, Gnosticism is dualistic. That is, it teaches there is a good and evil, spirit and matter, light and dark, etc. dualism in the universe.

  What we know about Gnosticism is gained from the writings of Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Origen, and some later manuscripts discovered in the eighteenth century such as the "Codex Askew, Codex Bruce, the Berlin Gnostic Codes and, most recently, the Nag Hammadi collection."1 Nag Hammadi is a town in Upper Egypt near ancient Chenoboskion and 13 codices discovered were discovered about 1945.

  The danger of gnosticism is easily apparent. It denies the incarnation of God as the Son. In so doing, it denies the true efficacy of the atonement since, if Jesus is not God, He could not atone for all of mankind and we would still be lost in our sins.

  There is debate whether or not this is a Christian heresy or simply an independent development. The evidence seems to point to the later. Nevertheless, the Gnostics laid claim to Jesus as a great teacher of theirs and as such requires some attention. It is possible that 1 John was written against some of the errors that Gnosticism promoted.
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  Terry

  An adult of a certain age who has lived in contemporary society who doesn't know how to behave is undoubtedly neurotic.

  How each of us comes to know and understand that living around other people requires self-control, empathy and manners differs from person to person.

  Yet, the end result is what creates a social enviornment.

  Religion is just one tool. That's all.

  Religion is about behavior.

  What works for one person doesn't work for another. This is why there are MANY religions.

  It is simple-minded to compare one religion with another and form an absolute judgement about "meaning" or truth.

  Why? Because a hammer is not a better or worse tool than a screwdriver.

  A tool is a tool. Depends on the job.

  A fork works for many foods but is lousy for eating soup.

  Judaism has produced an extraordinary group of creative geniuses in the history of the world. Why? It has emphasized education and success.

  For whatever its many failures may be its successes are legion.

  Whatever else you may complain about--this cannot be overlooked.

  How many benefactors to humankind have been produced by gnostics?

  This is simply a practical way of measuring these matters.

  The bottom line is that religion is just a tool. But, the right tool in the hands of the right person can repair the world.

  And that is what Judaism comes down to: world repair. One person and one deed at a time.
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  designs

  Well said Terry.
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  Justitia Themis

  I do not know about Islam.

  The Sufis practice Gnostic Islam. Rumi is one of their most well-known authors.
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  Christ Alone

  This is a different explanation of Gnosticism that I have ever heard.

  You say that to alot of people, Band. Yet, I've read the same about Gnosticism. I've never posted any of my own views of it because I haven't studied it in depth. But maybe there is more to Gnosticism than just what Elaine told you about.

  I found much of what ProdigalSon wrote about Gnosticism in other sources as well. For example:

  http://www.rosicrucian.org/publications/digest/digest2_2011/04_web/01_gnosis_introduction/01_gnosis_introduction_112911.pdf

  It says: "The interior center of knowledge, with no need for an intermediary, is a familiar theme that manifests in Rosicrucian studies and practice. Gnostics viewed the role of their savior or revealer to be to awaken people, rather than to die for their salvation or to be sacrificed for their sins. Dr. Meyer writes, "The gnostic revealer discloses knowledge that frees and awakens people, and that helps them recall who they are. When enlightened, gnostics can live life appropriate for those who know themselves and god (the divine). They can return back to the beginning, when they were one with god (the Divine)." There would be no need for a church, holy book, or god; since you ARE god.

  I'm not sure why you have this need to tell everyone that they are wrong when they speak about gnosticism. Taking "A" class on gnosticism doesn't make one an expert. And I am by no means an expert either. But what I quote about gnosticism is never my own.