Gnosticism

Overview

Gnosticism is a collective term for a number of religious ideas and groups that arose from the late first century in close interaction with Judaism and early Christianity. The name derives from the Greek word gnōsis, meaning "knowledge." The Korean term yeongji means "spiritual knowledge." The term does not denote a single body or a unified doctrinal system but refers collectively to a number of distinct sects. Gnosticism is regarded as one of the principal heretical movements that the early church opposed.

Principal Teachings

Although teachings varied from sect to sect, the following features are commonly identified as shared characteristics.

• Distinction between two gods: A distinction is drawn between the true supreme God and an imperfect lesser deity, the "Demiurge" (meaning "craftsman"), who made the material world. The material world is accordingly regarded as imperfect.
• Salvation through enlightenment: Salvation is taught to occur when the divine element imprisoned within human beings attains secret knowledge of its own origin. Ignorance and enlightenment, rather than sin and repentance, become the central concepts.
• Three classes of humanity: Some sects divided the human being into spirit, soul, and body and classified people as spiritual, psychic (soulish), or material. They regarded themselves as the spiritual people, closest to salvation.
• Low regard for the body: The disparagement of matter was sometimes linked to Docetism, the view that Christ did not take on a real body but only appeared to do so. Gnostics also emphasized a spiritual resurrection rather than the resurrection of the body.

Well-known teachers include Valentinus and Basilides in the second century.

Response of the Early Church

Around 180, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon, wrote Against Heresies, in which he described and refuted various Gnostic sects, including the Valentinians. He set the public teaching handed down from the apostles against the secret traditions of the Gnostics. He also maintained that the Creator of the Old Testament and the Father of Jesus Christ are the same God, and that human beings will be raised in a real body. Irenaeus likewise criticized Marcion, who regarded the Creator and the Father of Christ as different gods (Marcionism). Hippolytus of Rome also left writings refuting Gnosticism.

In the course of this controversy, the orthodox church emphasized faith in the Incarnation—"the Word was made flesh" (John 1:14)—the belief that God's creation is good, and the bodily resurrection. First John 4:2-3, which warns against any spirit that denies that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is commonly interpreted as having ideas such as Docetism in view.

The Nag Hammadi Library and Modern Scholarship

For a long time, Gnosticism was known chiefly through the writings of the Church Fathers who refuted it. Then in 1945, near the village of Nag Hammadi in Egypt, a farmer discovered thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices stored in a jar. This discovery made it possible to study texts written by the Gnostics themselves. The documents are written in Coptic (the final stage of the ancient Egyptian language) and are thought to be translations of Greek originals. They include the Gospel of Thomas and the Secret Book of John (the Apocryphon of John). Since this discovery, scholars have emphasized that Gnosticism was not a single system of thought but a highly diverse set of currents. Small Mandaean communities survive to this day. Some modern Western esoteric movements regard themselves as a revival or continuation of ancient Gnosticism.

Reception in Korea

The Nag Hammadi texts, including the Gospel of Thomas, are not accepted as canonical by Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox churches. A Korean translation of all fifty-two Nag Hammadi tractates by the late Lee Kyu-ho was published by Dongyeon Press in 2022 and was presented as the first complete Korean translation. At the time of publication, some media outlets commented that the Korean church had been reluctant to study or introduce Gnosticism, regarding it as an unorthodox teaching that denies the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus.