Gnostics
Ancient esoteric believers
Gnostics were members of various religious movements in the early Christian era who believed salvation came through secret knowledge (gnosis) rather than faith alone.
They often viewed the material world as corrupt or illusory, created by a lesser god.
The Gnostics developed elaborate cosmologies featuring divine emanations and fallen creators.
Their texts, including the Gospel of Thomas, were suppressed by orthodox Christianity but rediscovered in the twentieth century. (Lowercase gnostics can refer more generally to anyone claiming hidden spiritual knowledge.)
Divine cosmic craftsman
- archonsChief officials of Athens
- aeonsImmense time periods
- SophiaGreek-derived feminine name
- syzygyTrilinear celestial arrangement
emanation · pneuma · psychic · nous · divine spark · fall · creation myth · dualism
Deliverance from harm
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- illuminationProvision of light
- divine sparkSacred essence within beings
- liberationRelease from constraint
awakening · self-knowledge · redemption · ascent · return · escape · transcendence · initiation
Soul, mood, or liquor
- matterSpace-occupying substance with mass
- lightVisible electromagnetic radiation
- darknessTotal absence of light
- goodSatisfactory in quality
evil · soul · body · divine · worldly · transcendent · immanent · salvation
Late Egyptian language
- AlexandriaEgyptian Mediterranean port
- early ChristianityFaith's founding centuries
- heterodoxContrary to accepted doctrine
- suppressedForcibly held down
Fourth-century church father
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- refutationDisproving a statement
- apologeticsSystematic doctrine defense
Esoteric Greco-Egyptian spiritual tradition
- NeoplatonismPlotinus's systematic mystical metaphysics
- KabbalahJewish esoteric tradition
- theosophyMystical divine knowledge system
- JungAnalytical psychology founder
Mandaeism · depth psychology · archetype · individuation · New Age
demiurge
Divine cosmic craftsman
syzygy · emanation · pneuma · psychic · nous · divine spark · fall · creation myth · dualism · light and darkness
salvation
Deliverance from harm
- enlightenmentProfound spiritual awakening
- illuminationProvision of light
- divine sparkSacred essence within beings
liberation · awakening · self-knowledge · redemption · ascent · return · escape · transcendence · initiation · revelation
spirit
Soul, mood, or liquor
- matterSpace-occupying substance with mass
- lightVisible electromagnetic radiation
- darknessTotal absence of light
good · evil · soul · body · divine · worldly · transcendent · immanent · salvation · entrapment
Gospel of Thomas
Apocryphal collection of logia
Coptic
Late Egyptian language
- AlexandriaEgyptian Mediterranean port
- early ChristianityFaith's founding centuries
- heterodoxContrary to accepted doctrine
Augustine
Fourth-century church father
- heresyBelief opposing official doctrine
- orthodoxyAdherence to accepted beliefs
- refutationDisproving a statement
Ptolemy
Greco-Egyptian astronomer, geographer
- MarcusTraditional Roman praenomen
Hermeticism
Esoteric Greco-Egyptian spiritual tradition
- NeoplatonismPlotinus's systematic mystical metaphysics
- KabbalahJewish esoteric tradition
- theosophyMystical divine knowledge system
Jung · Mandaeism · depth psychology · archetype · individuation · New Age
agnostic, diagnostic, agnosticism, diagnostics, Gnosticism, diagnostician, agnostically