Gnostic Christianity

[Cassandra]

I'm considering joining a Gnostic Christian church. I want to ask whether anyone here has any thoughts on gnostic ideas or anything else relevant.

About me: I was raised southern baptist, lost my faith as a teenager, and through myself into political struggle almost in place of my once fervent faith. I no longer believe political change, at least through any of the conventional avenues, is possible. I now find myself without purpose, and I feel the spiritual void stronger than ever. I've tried looking into other religions, buddhism for example, but it's all over my head. For better or worse, the "language" of Christianity is the only spiritual symbolic order that makes sense to me. That said, I don't have it within me to earnestly believe in the *bodily* resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gnostic tradition seems friendly to spiritual seekers and open to various interpretations of the bible, including metaphorical ones, which draws me.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Since Gnostic is a term that has been applied in a number of ways, I can't be certain what the church you are thinking of joining believes. However, historical Gnosticism is largely a repackaging of Neoplatonic nonsense that treats the physical world as bad and an idealized abstract spiritual world as good.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

What do you mean by "gnostic" exactly? Gnosticism tends to insist on all sorts of doctrines like immaterial souls being trapped by magical beings that are no less ridiculous (to my mind) than a bodily resurrection. I think it's a mistake to imagine it a rationalised Christianity, if that's what you're after. There's deism for that.

[PSOL]

I'm considering joining a Gnostic Christian church. I want to ask whether anyone here has any thoughts on gnostic ideas or anything else relevant.

About me: I was raised southern baptist, lost my faith as a teenager, and through myself into political struggle almost in place of my once fervent faith. I no longer believe political change, at least through any of the conventional avenues, is possible. I now find myself without purpose, and I feel the spiritual void stronger than ever. I've tried looking into other religions, buddhism for example, but it's all over my head. For better or worse, the "language" of Christianity is the only spiritual symbolic order that makes sense to me. That said, I don't have it within me to earnestly believe in the *bodily* resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gnostic tradition seems friendly to spiritual seekers and open to various interpretations of the bible, including metaphorical ones, which draws me.

The core belief of gnosticism is not necessarily a dualism - a lot of those ridiculous speculators in the late AncientWorld derived from the monism of the Stoa -; instead, that the human soul would be pars DEI, what is a satanic lie.

May you give us further detail on the nature of the spirit in Monism?

[Georg Ebner]

I'm considering joining a Gnostic Christian church. I want to ask whether anyone here has any thoughts on gnostic ideas or anything else relevant.

About me: I was raised southern baptist, lost my faith as a teenager, and through myself into political struggle almost in place of my once fervent faith. I no longer believe political change, at least through any of the conventional avenues, is possible. I now find myself without purpose, and I feel the spiritual void stronger than ever. I've tried looking into other religions, buddhism for example, but it's all over my head. For better or worse, the "language" of Christianity is the only spiritual symbolic order that makes sense to me. That said, I don't have it within me to earnestly believe in the *bodily* resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gnostic tradition seems friendly to spiritual seekers and open to various interpretations of the bible, including metaphorical ones, which draws me.

The core belief of gnosticism is not necessarily a dualism - a lot of those ridiculous speculators in the late AncientWorld derived from the monism of the Stoa -; instead, that the human soul would be pars DEI, what is a satanic lie.

May you give us further detail on the nature of the spirit in Monism?

Really never heard of the logos spermatikos?

[PSOL]

I'm considering joining a Gnostic Christian church. I want to ask whether anyone here has any thoughts on gnostic ideas or anything else relevant.

About me: I was raised southern baptist, lost my faith as a teenager, and through myself into political struggle almost in place of my once fervent faith. I no longer believe political change, at least through any of the conventional avenues, is possible. I now find myself without purpose, and I feel the spiritual void stronger than ever. I've tried looking into other religions, buddhism for example, but it's all over my head. For better or worse, the "language" of Christianity is the only spiritual symbolic order that makes sense to me. That said, I don't have it within me to earnestly believe in the *bodily* resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gnostic tradition seems friendly to spiritual seekers and open to various interpretations of the bible, including metaphorical ones, which draws me.

The core belief of gnosticism is not necessarily a dualism - a lot of those ridiculous speculators in the late AncientWorld derived from the monism of the Stoa -; instead, that the human soul would be pars DEI, what is a satanic lie.

May you give us further detail on the nature of the spirit in Monism?

Really never heard of the logos spermatikos?

I am not a Christian scholar nor even a god-fearing man.

Explaining further into the question I asked however would educate me further.

[PSOL]

I'm considering joining a Gnostic Christian church. I want to ask whether anyone here has any thoughts on gnostic ideas or anything else relevant.

About me: I was raised southern baptist, lost my faith as a teenager, and through myself into political struggle almost in place of my once fervent faith. I no longer believe political change, at least through any of the conventional avenues, is possible. I now find myself without purpose, and I feel the spiritual void stronger than ever. I've tried looking into other religions, buddhism for example, but it's all over my head. For better or worse, the "language" of Christianity is the only spiritual symbolic order that makes sense to me. That said, I don't have it within me to earnestly believe in the *bodily* resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gnostic tradition seems friendly to spiritual seekers and open to various interpretations of the bible, including metaphorical ones, which draws me.

The core belief of gnosticism is not necessarily a dualism - a lot of those ridiculous speculators in the late AncientWorld derived from the monism of the Stoa -; instead, that the human soul would be pars DEI, what is a satanic lie.

May you give us further detail on the nature of the spirit in Monism?

Really never heard of the logos spermatikos?

I am not a Christian scholar nor even a god-fearing man.

Explaining further into the question I asked however would educate me further.

The logos spermatikos does not come from Christianity, but from the monistic Stoa. Like all so-called "materialists" they did in fact not idolize the materia (=HardWare) per se, but the "SoftWare": the "energy" streaming through the universe. Their "rationalism" ended - as it did in the dualistic gnosticisms - in phantastic cosmosophic mythologies...

Ok, seems like a significant amount of this stuff I’ll use wiki to bridge my gaps. Still, let’s get it rolling.

Can you explain the main difference between the traditions of Gnostics and the believers of the Stoa? I’m familiar with a little of the “phantastic cosmophobic mythologies” and “energy” of Gnosticism, but not of Stoa.

So tying this back with Christianity, where is the “Satanic lie”?

[Kingpoleon]

Since Gnostic is a term that has been applied in a number of ways, I can't be certain what the church you are thinking of joining believes. However, historical Gnosticism is largely a repackaging of Neoplatonic nonsense that treats the physical world as bad and an idealized abstract spiritual world as good.

There are three sorts of Platonists: theists, Gnostics, and atheists. Of these three, the Gnostics are the worse.

For anyone unfamiliar, modern atheistic Platonists include Roger Penrose and Andreas Wagner.

[Georg Ebner]

I'm considering joining a Gnostic Christian church. I want to ask whether anyone here has any thoughts on gnostic ideas or anything else relevant.

About me: I was raised southern baptist, lost my faith as a teenager, and through myself into political struggle almost in place of my once fervent faith. I no longer believe political change, at least through any of the conventional avenues, is possible. I now find myself without purpose, and I feel the spiritual void stronger than ever. I've tried looking into other religions, buddhism for example, but it's all over my head. For better or worse, the "language" of Christianity is the only spiritual symbolic order that makes sense to me. That said, I don't have it within me to earnestly believe in the *bodily* resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gnostic tradition seems friendly to spiritual seekers and open to various interpretations of the bible, including metaphorical ones, which draws me.

The core belief of gnosticism is not necessarily a dualism - a lot of those ridiculous speculators in the late AncientWorld derived from the monism of the Stoa -; instead, that the human soul would be pars DEI, what is a satanic lie.

May you give us further detail on the nature of the spirit in Monism?

Really never heard of the logos spermatikos?

I am not a Christian scholar nor even a god-fearing man.

Explaining further into the question I asked however would educate me further.

The logos spermatikos does not come from Christianity, but from the monistic Stoa. Like all so-called "materialists" they did in fact not idolize the materia (=HardWare) per se, but the "SoftWare": the "energy" streaming through the universe. Their "rationalism" ended - as it did in the dualistic gnosticisms - in phantastic cosmosophic mythologies...

Ok, seems like a significant amount of this stuff I’ll use wiki to bridge my gaps. Still, let’s get it rolling.

Can you explain the main difference between the traditions of Gnostics and the believers of the Stoa? I’m familiar with a little of the “phantastic cosmophobic mythologies” and “energy” of Gnosticism, but not of Stoa.

So tying this back with Christianity, where is the “Satanic lie”?

As my second account here, which i would need to avoid getting logged out when using another computer, has been deleted it's safer to send You a personal mail.

[Mopsus]

Since Gnostic is a term that has been applied in a number of ways, I can't be certain what the church you are thinking of joining believes. However, historical Gnosticism is largely a repackaging of Neoplatonic nonsense that treats the physical world as bad and an idealized abstract spiritual world as good.

Neither Neoplatonists nor gnostics regarded the spiritual world as abstract; they regarded it as something which, with the right practice, a person could experience directly. In fact, if there's one thing Neoplatonists, gnostics, and Nicene Christians could all agree on, it's that the spiritual world is far more real than the material world.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Since Gnostic is a term that has been applied in a number of ways, I can't be certain what the church you are thinking of joining believes. However, historical Gnosticism is largely a repackaging of Neoplatonic nonsense that treats the physical world as bad and an idealized abstract spiritual world as good.

Neither Neoplatonists nor gnostics regarded the spiritual world as abstract; they regarded it as something which, with the right practice, a person could experience directly. In fact, if there's one thing Neoplatonists, gnostics, and Nicene Christians could all agree on, it's that the spiritual world is far more real than the material world.

As you probably have already realized, I am neither a Neoplatonist not a Gnostic. For that matter, I would disagree with your assertion that the Nicene Creed implies that the spiritual world is more real (or more important) than the material world. Equally real and important, but not more real or important. I will grant that many Christian theologians have been infected with Neoplatonic thought.

[Mopsus]

Since Gnostic is a term that has been applied in a number of ways, I can't be certain what the church you are thinking of joining believes. However, historical Gnosticism is largely a repackaging of Neoplatonic nonsense that treats the physical world as bad and an idealized abstract spiritual world as good.

Neither Neoplatonists nor gnostics regarded the spiritual world as abstract; they regarded it as something which, with the right practice, a person could experience directly. In fact, if there's one thing Neoplatonists, gnostics, and Nicene Christians could all agree on, it's that the spiritual world is far more real than the material world.

As you probably have already realized, I am neither a Neoplatonist not a Gnostic. For that matter, I would disagree with your assertion that the Nicene Creed implies that the spiritual world is more real (or more important) than the material world. Equally real and important, but not more real or important. I will grant that many Christian theologians have been infected with Neoplatonic thought.

So how do you handle a passage like Matthew 6:19-20, which, if it hadn’t come from the mouth of Jesus himself, you would surely suspect of Neoplatonic influence?