Gnosticism : A Diverse Set Of Beliefs

against the heresy of fellow clergy who deny the third person of the Trinity. Gregory states his

The theological differences were some of the biggest reason why the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches split. The Eastern churches had theological roots in Greek philosophy and the Western churches had theologies that constructed on their Roman law (“Schism of 1054”, 2014, para. 3). A strong issue that the two churches had was the theological proposition of the placement and addition of “the Son” to the Roman creed. The Roman churches included the “Father and the Son” in the Nicene creed without consulting the Eastern church while the Eastern church only used the Father. The Orthodox Church believe it should have been written with “the Father” proceeded by the Holy Spirit.

It only seemed natural for the Orthodox East and the Catholic West to have a series of elements differentiating them from each-other. However, it is actually surprising that most of these differences emerged as a result of cultural practices influencing each branch of Christianity. Individuals in the East developed innovative methods of putting across Christian thinking and managed to create a cult that largely differed from the one in the West. In spite of the fact that the Byzantine Empire shrank across time, it managed to induce intense feelings in communities neighboring it. Some of these influences can be

The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, are two variations of the same religion, that due to some disagreements over certain ideas and religious teachings leads to the great Schism in 1054 AD. The great schism of 1054 refers to the final separation of the Eastern Orthodox church, led by the patriarch in Constantinople and the western church, led by Pope Leo IX. The estrangement between the Orthodox and Roman church, happened gradually over the course of the 5th and much of the 11th century. The reasons of the Schism are attributed to several differences between the two churches. The religious and doctrinal studies of the East, had roots in Greek philosophy, while the Western studies closely followed Roman law. Misunderstandings between the two churches then led to two separate ways of defining one doctrine, which would initiate the split. The doctrine in question, procession of the Holy Spirit, where without consulting the East the Roman churches added “and from the Son” to the Nicene Creed. This was not the only thing the two churches clashed on. The eastern church resented the forced clerical celibacy, political jealousies and interests only intensified the disputes. There had been schisms before but not ones that were permanent. While there may have been hopes for a reconciliation, the eastern Greeks were infuriated by the Latin capture of Constantinople in 1204 A.D. After this, any pleas from the west concerning reunion were rejected. (“Schism of 1054”)

The term Gnosticism originates from the word gnosis, which means knowledge. It is a religious movement that became popular during the first and second centuries. The school of thought behind the Gnostic movement has not been able to be traced to its exact origin. However, some of the influences on this movement go as far back as the second and first centuries BCE. Among those influences would be the early treatises of the corpus Hermeticum and the Jewish Apocalyptic writings. The greatest source for the movement came through the Platonic philosophy and the Hebrew Scriptures (Moore). The movement is a controversial one with scholars being unable to put it in a definitive category. In one instance it is called “the label for an ill-defined category” that is “under heavy criticism” (Olsen). A major problem with Gnosticism lies in the fact that there are very few absolutes where questions and answers are concerned. This makes it problematic to have a dialogue that can bring everyone into agreement on the subject.

Religion is something most people around the world have in common. Whether one holds religious beliefs or not, he can relate to others with similar beliefs. A belief in a higher power has a big impact on society today just as it has in the past, as illustrated in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Religion impacts all members of society, whether they believe in one or not.

Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics once included a solitary Christian church with two focuses of force, Rome and Constantinople. Known as the Great Schism, was the official split between Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Church. The Church split along doctrinal, religious, phonetic, political, and geographic lines, and the central break as never been mended. Though the Church split because of their differences, they still had some things that were similar.

The differences derive from theology. Both Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics understand God to exist in three forms, known as the Trinity. God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Father refers to God’s role as the creator of the world. The Son refers to Jesus. Finally, the Holy Spirit, they believe, enters people's souls during their daily lives. Another similarity is that holding reverence for the saints plays a central role in the spiritual lives of Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Catholics. The physical representation of the saints tends to take different forms, however. Roman Catholics usually use statutes to represent their saints, as evident in St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church; meanwhile, Orthodox Catholics more often use paintings to represent their saints, as evident at St. Michael’s Antiochian Orthodox Church. Another difference between the two is that for Roman Catholics there is a procedure for choosing officially sanctioned saints. This process does not exist in the Orthodox community. The central doctrinal divide between the two Christian churches concerns the Pope and his supremacy. Roman Catholics believe the Pope is the living embodiment of Jesus. He is then, in their opinion, the head of the entire Christian religion. Eastern Orthodox Catholics view the Pope as the head of Christianity in Rome, a geographical

Christianity and Deism have the same worldview in believing that there is a God but differ in their system of faith. As defined by Philip G. Ryken in his pocket book “Christian Worldview, A Student’s Guide”, worldview is the structure of human’s understanding to make sense of the world (Ryken, 2013). Though it may be hard to understand others’ worldview, it is helpful to gain such knowledge and understanding.

Up until the mid to late 1900’s the knowledge about Marcion and the Gnostics was only known through the heresiologists. (Gonzales 1984, 70) Heresiologists – Christian writers that argued against Gnosticism and its tenets. In 1945 a large collection of Gnostic writings were discovered in Egypt; they included the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Truth of Valentinus, a leading Gnostic teacher.

Despite the fact that both are branches of Christianity as a whole, Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism seem to have poor opinions of each other. They share many core beliefs regarding Jesus

It is said that Gnosticism formed when early Christians did not agree with the Old Testament and that Gnosticism was another way for them to understand Jesus’ teachings, which is why there are differences between Orthodox beliefs and Gnostic beliefs (Mansager). In Gnosticism, Jesus, instead of being looked at as a human, is only looked at as a divine being and the divine being presents the key to reaching salvation. In line 39 of the Gospel of Thomas it is

The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagel discusses the origins of the Christian faith and the true reasons behind some of the Christian’s beliefs. Pagel claims that the theological disputes between the Orthodox Church and Gnostics in the early stages of Christianity were largely motivated by the political struggle for leadership of the religion. Orthodox Christians supported texts and interpretations to strengthen their goal which was to create an organization of believers. Gnostics, who was not necessarily seeking authority over Christianity, were eventually overshadowed by the supremacy of the Orthodox. Prior to the discovery of the artifact at Nag Hammadi in Egypt 1945 there were only had texts that support the Orthodox Christians belief, now historians were able to fully evaluate the two groups in a new prospective. Some of the writings found in this newly discovered artifact are believed to be the Gospel of Thomas and Mary Magdalene. Although Mary Magdalene does not have a book in the current bible, it is believed by many gnostic Christians that Jesus came to her in spirit after his death and passed on to her the secret knowledge of enlightenment. The new gospels that were discovered in Nag Hammadi doesn’t emphases on the birth or death of Jesus as the current biblical gospels do, but focuses more on Jesus’ life. Each chapter is devoted to a major theological problem that divides the Orthodox from the Gnostic. Pagel makes a compelling case that theological beliefs

Gnosticism, which was viewed as a threat to early Christian beliefs can be defined as the “thought and practice especially of various cults of late pre Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis (King, p.5).” Besides the dictionary’s condensed definition summarizing Gnosticism, “Gnosticism” is a much more complex belief composed of numerous myths defining humans and God and viewed as an ancient Christian heresy. Gnosticism is rather a term invented in the early modern period to aid in defining the boundaries of normative Christianity. Yet, it has been mistakenly come to be thought of as a distinctive Christian heresy or seen as a religion in its own

In the article, “On Being an Atheist”, H.J. McCloskey discusses the reasons of why he believes being an atheist is a more acceptable than Christianity. McCloskey believes that atheism is a more rational belief versus having a God who allows people to suffer so he can have the glory. He believes to live in this world, you must be comfortable. The introduction of his article, he implements an overview of arguments given by the theist, which he introduces as proofs. He claims that the proofs do not create a rationalization to believe that God exists. He provides 3 theist proofs, which are Cosmological argument, teleological argument, and the argument of design. He also mentions the presence of evil in the world. He focuses on the existence