Gnostic Beliefs
Although there are some beliefs in the Gnostic religion that vary from movement to movement, as well as to fit the times the religion is practiced in, there are some specific beliefs and practices that remain consistent throughout. Although these beliefs reference certain parts of other religions, they are inherently different and the view taken by those in Gnosticism is very unique to any other religion.
Gnosis is an ultimate state of knowledge, derived from the Greek meaning “knowledge.” This is not to the Gnostics, simply knowing about spirituality but rather a state of understanding of how to break free from the physical world or an experience with God. Gnostics believe that they are the only ones who truly understand Christ’s message. They believe that all other religions have a great misinterpretation of the words that Christ left.
When it pertains to evil, Gnostics believe that anything from the physical world or creator of that world, such as the Demiurge is evil. They believe in Adam and Eve, like other religions do but they don’t believe that what Adam and Eve did created sin in the world. Rather, they believe that the world was already sinful because it was created by a lesser God. The Gnostic god Sophia comes into play when speaking about the world, the spirits and evil. Because they believe that everything from the physical world is evil, this makes the human body evil as well. However, some people have sparks of divinity within them and that these sparks were given to them by Sophia. Gnostics also revere the snake, as it was the snake who led Adam and Eve to the forbidden fruit. Instead of seeing the snake as the perpetrator of sin, they viewed the snake as one who gave Adam and Eve to become fully human by eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Along with these sparks of divinity and the evil earthly body, comes their beliefs regarding salvation. Gnostics believe that a person achieves salvation once they have realized the divine sparks within their evil earthly bodies. Upon one’s death, the sparks of divinity can save their soul. It is at that time that the sparks can unite with the Supreme God. Gnostics believe that there are three types of souls on earth. The first type is the spiritual, who will be saved regardless of what their behavior was like on earth. The second type is the Soulish, who will be saved after death if they have followed the Gnostic religion and beliefs while on earth. And lastly there are the carnal who have no hope of being saved.
Although Gnostics believe in Christ just as other religions do, they do not see him as a savior or a judge. Instead, they view him as one who brought knowledge to the people of how they could be saved after death by returning to the Supreme God. They think this because they do not believe that someone in a godly state could succumb to the physical world and be tortured and killed. They believed that Jesus had a ghost-like body and that he only appeared human to those who followed Him.
The Gnostics also believe that the Universe is divided up into three different parts. The first part is the Earthly Cosmos, which is the world that we know and see. Surrounding the Cosmos are seven spheres, one for each of the planets, except Uranus which was not thought of as a planet in ancient times. The second part is the Intermediate Kingdom which has a blue circle of darkness that is surrounded by a yellow ring of light. Within this ring is the sphere of Sophia. The third part of the Universe is the Kingdom of God. It is here that the Supreme God is in the outer ring and within that ring is the Son.