Subj : Bible
To   : CURTIS JOHNSON
From : RALPH ZETTER
Date : Thu Nov 02 2000 11:18 pm

>  > 
>  >  His peculiar usage of "gnostic" is another example--but we've
>  > already been through that, haven't we?
> 
> 
>  RZ> Didn't the gnostics believe that we were pieces of God that become
>  RZ> trapped in the world, and 
>  RZ> that through their teachings we could regain our divinity?
> 
>  Usage note:  to avoid confusion, "Gnostic" should be capitalized
> to indicate reference to the Basilideans, Valentinians, etc., etc.
> Uncapitalized, "gnostic" is more of a general attitude that there is
> secret spiritual wisdom, etc.  Church Father Clement of Alexandria,
> for instance, while arguing against Gnostics, went on at great length
> about the path of the "true Christian gnostic" such as himself.

Really? A Christian gnostic. I'd like to hear more about that.

> 
>  The Gnostics were a pretty diverse bunch, and their cosmogonies
> were quite complex and varied, so one hesitates to generalize.  But
> your statement tends to fit the Neo-Platonists (IIRC) and the Manicheans
> much better.  A lot depends also on what you mean by "regain our
> divinity."  The Gnostics did not have a program of becoming God(s),
> nor did the Manicheans.

What did those people believe then?
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