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A common thread within most religions is that while they generally present themselves as a unified whole, each religion contains within it an almost infinite amount of variation and conflicting belief. The Christian tradition of Gnosticism provides an excellent example of this variation.

Contrary to mainstream Christian belief, Gnostic thought begins with two divine beings: the Demiurge, a god of darkness, and his counterpart, the Pleroma, a god of light. The Gnostic creation myth tells that the Demiurge captured part of the Pleroma, imprisoning it within a clay prison and calling the result 'Adam'. To further imprison the light, the Demiurge split half of it off of Adam and called the result 'Eve'. Through sexual reproduction, then, the Demiurge felt as though it could keep the imprisoned light captive, distracting it from the true source of light.

While this was happening, the Pleroma came to the conclusion that it must descend to the material world, so that the divine spark within all people could be shown the way back to the light of god. To do this, it came to Earth in the form of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. While on Earth as Jesus, the Pleroma sought to bring people away from the false rules and morality of the Demiurge, and back towards the oneness and light.

All things considered, Gnosticism is a fascinating religion. It represents a Christianity that is not only completely stripped of its Jewish roots,
but which attempts to revision them as a source of immorality and suffering. A Christianity centred around not the importance of faith or good works, but rather the quiet contemplation of the inner soul. Much of the Gnostic tradition was labeled heresy by other Christian groups, who attempted to wipe the school of thought out; however, the recent discovery of the Nag Hamadi library, containing many important Gnostic documents, including the Gospel of Judas, the Apocalypse of Adam, and the Gospel of Jesus, has sparked a rebirth in the study of the religion.

Learn more about this author, Ryan Harron.
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