Gnosticism

t. secret wisdom

basically, you can't know what I know, F.U.
when you think about it, it's the most patrician way of life.

>>8468275
Could you go into a bit more detail on this? Sounds pretty interesting desu

>>8468270

Gnosticism is interesting because it's an attempt to answer why evil exists. There are many types, but a lot of them have Dualist, which is to say that they believe the world was created by a lower emanation than the real God. The world creator is merely a Demiurge, an architect, (variously seen as vengeful, boasting, and equated with the (Old Testament God) and his creation is flawed, and so evil and vice and ignorance can be explained as the inevitable consequence of a flawed creation.

Gnostic sects constructed a mythology to explain things, and riffed on Christian ideas. Their popularity and rising influence threatened the institutional church in the early centuries.

There is a good podcast with academics who give a summary of Gnosticism. Look for Mervyn Bragg's In Our Time podcast on the BBC website.

Like Bloom I find it fascinating. There is the whiff of the occult about it, of secret knowledge. It is as seductive a belief system as it is incendiary (The Old Testament God as a lesser, evil God, with a greater God above him.)

>>8468315
Outside of their basic tenets and a general worldview, I can't share much, and that can all be found online pretty easily. You could always just go down to your local Masonic lodge and knock on the door too.

The apocryphon of John gives their version of creation. Its a start.

http://gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-davies.html

>>8468388
How do Gnostics reconcile with the Immutability of God? (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 102:26; Mal. 3:6; 2 Tim. 2:13; Heb. 6:17–18; Jam. 1:17)

>>8468397
Because Jesus is both god and man. Hence they reason that God isn't immutable.

>>8468397
The Gnostics don't believe the Old Testament, and the ten commandments are necessary for redemption. They are the product of an inferior God. They also have their own canon (mostly lost to history, but some were recovered in the Nag Hammadi finds.)

As for the God above the creator, he is apparently unknowable to us. The idea is to live our lives so that our souls can join him.

You need to read the Nag Hammadi texts. Also, check out Terence McKenna's lectures and watch The Matrix.