Part of a series on Gnosticism

History of Gnosticism This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Image File history File links Simple_crossed_circle. ... The History of Gnosticism is subject to a great deal of debate and interpretation. ...

Persian Gnosticism Mandaeism Manichaeism Mandaeism or Mandaeanism (Mandaic: mandaiuta) is a blanket term for the religion of the Mandaeans (Classical Mandaic mandaiia, Neo-Mandaic Mandeyānā) who are the followers of Mendā d-Heyyi (Mandaic manda Knowledge of Life). Mandaeism is a monotheistic religion practiced primarily in southern Iraq and the Iranian province of... Manichean priests, writing at their desk, with panel inscription in Sogdian. ...

Syrian-Egyptic Gnosticism Sethians Thomasines Valentinians Basilideans Syrian-Egyptian Gnostic Schools were ancient Gnostic sects from around the middle east, with some Judaic influences. ... Sethian is also a Finnish progressive metal band. ... Thomas, also called Judas Thomas Didymus or Jude Thomas Didymus, was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. ... Valentinianism was a religious doctrine named after Valentinius, a Roman theologian who lived circa 2nd century. ... The Basilideans were a Gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria in the 2nd century. ...

Fathers of Christian Gnosticism Simon Magus Cerinthus Marcion Valentinus Several figures are mentioned as founding figures of ancient Christian Gnosticism. ... Simon Magus, also known as Simon the Sorcerer and Simon of Gitta, is the name used by the ancient Christian Orthodoxy to refer to someone they identified as a Samaritan (Proto-)Gnostic, and, also according to ancient Christian Orthodoxy, founder of his own religious sect. ... Marcion of Sinope (ca. ... This article is about the Gnostic Valentinus. ...

Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Thomasines Early Gnosticism Ophites Cainites Carpocratians Borborites Thomasines ... The Ophites is a blanket term for numerous gnostic sects in Syria and Egypt about 100 A.D. The common trait was that these sects would give great importance to the serpent of the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, connecting the Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) to... The Cainites were a Gnostic and Antinomian sect who were known to worship Cain as the first victim of the Demiurge Jehovah, the Old Testament God, who was identified by many groups of gnostics as evil. ... Carpocrates was an early Gnostic from sometime in the second century A.D. who was mentioned by Clement of Alexandria in the Mar Saba letter discovered in 1958 by ancient historian Morton Smith. ... According to Epiphanius of Salamis book Panarion/Adversus Haereses chapter xxv, xxvi and Theodorets Haereticarum Fabularum Compendium the borborites (or barbelos, barbelites, phibionites, stratiotici, coddians etc) were a extraordinarily filthy and evil Gnostic ophite sect. ... ...

Medieval Gnosticism Paulicianism Bogomils Cathars Paulicianism was a Gnostic and Manichaean Christian sect that florished between 650 and 872 in Anatolia, outgoing from Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the Byzantine Empire. ... Bogomilism is the Gnostic dualistic sect, the synthesis of Armenian Paulicianism and the local Slavonic Church reform movement in Bulgaria and Bosnia-Herzegovina between 950 and 1396. ... Cathars being expelled from Carcassonne in 1209. ...

Gnosticism in modern times Gnosticism in popular culture Gnosticism includes a variety of ancient religions prevalent in the Mediterranean in the third century CE. Prior to the 20th century, little was known about the various Gnostic movements, due to paucity of original material available to scholars and the public. ... // Literature Harold Bloom explores Gnosticism in his novel The Flight to Lucifer: A Gnostic Fantasy, and, with William Golding, traces Gnosticism in American beliefs in The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation. ...

Gnostic texts Nag Hammadi Library Codex Tchacos Gnosticism and the New Testament Gnosticism used a number of religious texts that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient manuscripts or are lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. ... The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus document containing early Christian Gnostic texts: The Gospel of Judas The First Apocalypse of James The Letter of Peter to Philip A fragment of Allogenes It is important because it contains the first known surviving text of the Gospel of Judas... This article discusses the relationship between Gnosticism and the New Testament. ...

Related Articles Gnosis Pythagoreanism Neoplatonism and Gnosticism Esoteric Christianity Theosophy This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Pythagoreanism is a term used for the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were much influenced by mathematics and probably a main inspirational source for Plato and platonism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Winged Self: The purpose of The Winged Self Symbol is to focus thought in the inner Divine perfection of each individual. ... Possible emblem of some Theosophical Society Theosophy, literally knowledge of the divine, designates several bodies of ideas. ... This box: view • talk • edit

Cerinthus was the leader of a late first-century or early 2nd century sect, an offshoot of the Ebionites yet similar to Gnosticism in some respects, interesting in that it demonstrates the wide range of conclusions that could be drawn from the life and teachings of Jesus. Cerinthus is noted in the early history of the Christian church as being a heresiarch or leader of a heretical sect ('arch-heretic' is a common but mistaken translation). It is believed that he was a contemporary to St. John who wrote the Fourth Gospel against him.^[1] The 1st century was that century which lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ... The 2nd century is the period from 101 - 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... A sect is generally a small religious or political group that has branched off from a larger established group. ... The Ebionites (from Hebrew; Ebionim, the poor ones) were a sect of Judean followers of John the Baptizer and later Jesus (Yeshua in Aramaic) which existed in Judea and Palestine during the early centuries of the Common Era. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Jesus (8–2 BC/BCE to 29–36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... The Church (Ecclesia) in Roman Catholic theology denotes the whole body of the faithful. ... Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. ... St John the Evangelist, imagined by Jacopo Pontormo, ca 1525 (Santa Felicità, Florence) John the Evangelist (? - c. ... The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the canon of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to John the Evangelist. ...

The date of his birth and his death are unknown. In the Roman province of Asia he founded a school and gathered disciples. None of Cerinthus' actual writings seem to have survived, and it is unlikely that any were ever very widely disseminated. As is the usual case, we can interpret his teachings only through what his more orthodox enemies reported. By the time we have the most detailed accounting of Cerinthus' teachings, from Epiphanius in the 4th century, the accounts are all second- and third-hand hearsay and not reliable, as the Catholic Encyclopedia (1910) notes. The Roman province of Asia was the administrative unit added to the late Republic, a Senatorial province governed by a proconsul who was an ex-consul, an honor granted only to Asia and the other rich province of Africa. ... The word orthodoxy, from the Greek ortho (right, correct) and doxa (thought, teaching, glorification), is typically used to refer to the correct theological or doctrinal observance of religion, as determined by some overseeing body. ... Epiphanius (clearly manifested) was the name of several early Christian scholars and ecclesiastics: Epiphanius of Salamis, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, died 410, author of Panarion Epiphanius of Constantinople, died 535, Patriarch of Constantinople 520—535 Epiphanius Scholasticus, known only as the assistant of Cassiodorus who compiled the Historiae... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in 1913 by The Encyclopedia Press. ...

The earliest surviving account of Cerinthus is that in Irenæus' refutation of Gnosticism, Adversus haereses (I: xxvi; III: iii and xi), which was written about 170 CE. According to Irenæus, Cerinthus, a man educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, claimed angelic inspiration. He taught that the visible world and heavens were not made by the supreme being, but by a lesser power (Demiurge) distinct from him. Not Jehovah but the angels have both made the world and given the law. These creator-angels were ignorant of the existence of the Supreme God. The Jewish law remained sacred and essential to salvation. An engraving of Irenaeus ( 130–202), bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (now Lyon, France). ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is a supernatural being found in many religions. ... The term Demiurge refers in some belief systems to a deity responsible for the creation of the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Yahweh. ... Candidates for regular freemasonry are required to declare a belief in a Supreme Being; a generic description allowing the candidate to adhere to whichever deity or concept he holds to be appropriate. ... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ... In religion, salvation refers to being saved from an undesirable state or condition. ...

Cerinthus distinguished between the man Jesus and the Christ. He denied the supernatural birth of Jesus, making him the son of Joseph and Mary, and distinguishing him from Christ, who descended upon him at baptism and left him again at his crucifixion. Cerinthus is also said to have taught that Jesus will be raised from the dead at the Last Day, when all men will rise with Him.

He was thus similar to an Ebionite in his Christology, but Gnostic in his doctrine of the creation. The Ebionites (from Hebrew; Ebionim, the poor ones) were a sect of Judean followers of John the Baptizer and later Jesus (Yeshua in Aramaic) which existed in Judea and Palestine during the early centuries of the Common Era. ... Christology is that part of Christian theology which studies and attempts to define Jesus the Christ. ... Gnosticism is a blanket term for various religions and sects most prominent in the first few centuries A.D. General characteristics The word gnosticism comes from the Greek word for knowledge, gnosis (γνῶσις), referring to the idea that there is special, hidden mysticism (esoteric knowledge... Creation is the theological doctrine that all material in the universe was created by a divine agency, such as God, out of nothingness (ex nihilo). ...

Cerinthus believed in a happy millennium which would be realized here on earth previous to the resurrection and the spiritual kingdom of God in heaven. Millennialism (or chiliasm), from millennium, which literally means thousand years, is primarily a belief expressed in some Christian denominations, and literature, that there will be a Golden Age or Paradise on Earth where Christ will reign prior to the final judgment and future eternal state, primarily derived from the book... Resurrection of the Flesh (1499-1502) Fresco by Luca Signorelli Chapel of San Brizio, Duomo, Orvieto The term resurrection is used in the literal sense to mean either the religious concept of the reunion of the spirit and the body of a dead person, or the return to life of... Heaven is an afterlife concept found in many religions or spiritual philosophies. ...

According to Irenaeus, Polycarp told the story that St. John the Divine, in particular, is said to have so feared Cerinthus that he once fled a bathhouse when he found out Cerinthus was inside, yelling "Let us flee, lest the building fall down; for Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is inside!" Polycarp of Smyrna (martyred in his 87th year, ca. ... St John the Evangelist, imagined by Jacopo Pontormo, ca 1525 (Santa Felicità, Florence) John the Evangelist (? - c. ...

Among the teachings of Cerinthus that were in opposition to the apostles and other early church fathers: The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles... The (Early) Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian Church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. ...

• A lesser deity created the physical world
• Jesus the man and "Christ" the godly spirit were not one in the same
• Justification by works, in particular the ceremonial observances of Judaism.

Cerinthus may be the alleged recipient of the Apocryphon of James (codex I, text 2 of the Nag Hammadi library), although the name written is largely illegible. A second- or third-century heretical Christian sect (later dubbed the "Alogi") alleged Cerinthus was the true author of the the Gospel of John and Book of Revelation. According to Catholic Encyclopedia: Caius: "Additional light has been thrown on the character of Caius's dialogue against Proclus by Gwynne's publication of some fragments from the work of Hippolytus "Contra Caium" (Hermathena, VI, p. 397 sq.); from these it seems clear that Caius maintained that the Apocalypse of John was a work of the Gnostic Cerinthus." Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... The Apocryphon of James, also known by the translation of its title - the Secret Book of James, is a text amongst the New Testament apocrypha. ... The Nag Hammadi library is a collection of early Christian Gnostic texts discovered near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. ... The Revelation of St. ...

References

1. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia article cited below

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia: 'Cerinthus'
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Cerinthus
• EarlyChurch.org.uk: Cerinthus
• Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae.