Gnostic Mystery" by Andrea Diem. There are different groups of
thought in Gnosticism which may involve different group leaders or
different aspects of symbolism in religion. The main goal of
Gnostics is to attain knowledge of God. Not the knowledge as in
wisdom but an experience of knowledge of God. Gnostics believe that
God is hidden and we must unlock several doors to get to him using
several keys to get there. They generally believe that there was no
other god before thee God and therefore he has no name because no one
could have named him. And that he is immeasurable no size or
description can accurately describe God. Gnostic tradition starts
back with Christianity in the fact that they took several dimensions
of Christianity into their school of thought. Some forms of
Gnosticism take the stories told in the Old Testament to have
different lessons to be learned besides the traditional ones. For
example with Adam and Eve, some Gnostics look at the serpent as good
and that the serpent blessed Adam and Eve with powers. They believe
that the god of Abraham isn't the "real" ultimate god of the godhead
but a minor lesser god. This put them at odds with the traditional
Christian community. Some claim that this god was an evil god and
not one to be known. Other sects of Gnosticism prohibit marriage,
sex, and eating of meat. And still others feel that we are
continually reincarnated until we find the knowledge of God and then
move on.
When you look at Gnosticism and Sant tradition you find many
similarities and some differences. Sant tradition is a religion.
Sants believe in a God whose knowledge is attainable and that God
wants us to know Him and wants us to do this out of our own self-
will. A Sant is someone who has lost his personhood and has
attained the highest realm of knowledge with God according to Dr.
Diem's article. They feel that these Sants are continuously brought
into this world through reincarnation to help others discover what
they have discovered. Sants also believe in vegetarianism, no
drugs/alcohol, and no illicit sex. However, I'm not clear if they
ban marriage though. Sants also believe that Jesus, Buddha, etc.
were all different sons of God and that there is not one specific
true son. They don't give religious preference towards anyone.
Both religions believe that God is sovereign and that He is
immeasurable and both groups think there is a Supreme God and
a "creator" god. Gnosticism it seems have a little bit of Calvinism
in them in using the term that the "elect" are granted salvation
while the remainder have to "cycle" through life after life until
they attain the knowledge. They also both believe in the Christian
view that sins are passed down and that is why all of us suffer at
some point in life. Both religions also use lights and sounds to
allow themselves the proper "key" to unlock the doors required to
attain more knowledge. In difference Gnostics just care about the
knowledge were Sants want to learn of the experience involved as
well. These are the major points of similarities I found in the
reading. Others are their but seemed like both sides differed on
the details as to each. I feel that those things are what
differentiates both groups so I will keep them different.
In talking about why Gnosticism failed with other religions and Christianity succeeded one must look into how the different religions where set up. Almost all the religions of that time had some sort of savior legend and in fact there were even Christmas like holidays and Passover time holidays involved in other religions of the time as well. So why is it that the other religions didn�t strike more of a gathering of supporters? Well for one it offered them no reasoning as to why they should accept the leadership they were under and gave their leaders almost godly status and authority. Secondly it allowed all people�s of all races, genders, status in society, and etc. There was no requirements for it based on these things. And lastly Christians believed that soon we would be ruled by a Kingdom of God. According to Tim Callahan in �Triumph of Christianity� many of the other religions required different requirements to get in including Judaism that required male followers to be circumcised which for adults was painful and unsanitary in the conditions of the times. It also allowed followers to eat what they like. Christianity also carries a strict ethical code and also Christians believe in an omniscient, omnipotent God who transformed Himself into a human to save them. Who also died and was risen. Also Christians then and now feel that Christ will be returning to Earth to liberate them and punish those who do not believe and that we will soon be ruled in a Kingdom of God in a new Earth one that is pure. Whether you believe in the literal translations or not the fact that it�s there gives Christians a positive expectation that is very attractive.