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Gnosticism
early Christian and Jewish religious systems / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gnosticism is a group of religious ideas from around the 1st century. "Gnosis" is the ancient Greek word for "knowledge", but now more closely means "esoteric knowledge".[1] Gnostic ideas were a main part of early Christianity before being persecuted by other Christians.[2] Gnostic ideas are also found in sects of Judaism and Islam, as well as in alchemy and other kinds of esotericism.
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The word "Gnostic" was mostly used by people who were against these ideas. For this reason, some researchers have said that Gnosticism is a false grouping of many separate religious movements.[3] There are many problems for people who research Gnosticism:[2]
- Many Gnostic teachings were esoteric, meaning they were kept secret or hidden
- A lot of what is known about Gnostic beliefs came from attacks written by non-Gnostic Christians
- Almost all Gnostic writings were destroyed by non-Gnostic Christians who wanted to wipe them out