Eλευθερί
Junior Member
@eleutheri
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Post by Eλευθερί on Jul 3, 2018 13:27:06 GMT
Most people don't know much about Gnosticism, so I suppose this is a question for those who have more than the average amount of interest in comparative theology.
Do you consider Gnostics to be Christians?
Why or why not?
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Post by clusium on Jul 3, 2018 13:39:34 GMT
Most people don't know much about Gnosticism, so I suppose this is a question for those who have more than the average amount of interest in comparative theology. Do you consider Gnostics to be Christians? Why or why not? There were some Gnostic religions that were Christian, back in the day, however, not all Gnostics were Christian. Eg: Mandaeaism is a Gnostic religion, but, they were not Christian.
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Post by Aj_June on Jul 3, 2018 14:01:07 GMT
They had a sort of eastern touch in their philosophy even though it might have been developed independently. Yes, not only do I count them as Christians but I want Gnosticism to make a come back.
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Post by drystyx on Jul 3, 2018 18:01:37 GMT
Yes. I'm technically Gnostic, but there's a definitive problem with Gnosticism. It can't be a religion, certainly not an organized one, by definition.
That's because the basis primarily for the Gnostic Christianity is that Gnosticism applies the power handling this world to be mostly, if not totally, under the hand of the enemy of the Holy Ghost.
That is the Gnostic says that Satan or demons cause Cancer, death, dismemberment, decay, scars, crippling, all that good stuff that the fundamentalist says the good God does because of a grand scheme of a grand Chess game.
That's the difference in a nutshell.
Problem is that the Gnostic knows he cannot have an organized church for that very reason. The enemy has everything under its thumb, and attacks the Gnostic church in every way, above all else, even turning Gnostic against Gnostic. That's not hard to do when you control all the senses and all the matter and all the demons. In fact, it's a testimony for Gnosticism that it isn't very organized or powerful in scope.
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Jul 3, 2018 19:42:35 GMT
They had a sort of eastern touch in their philosophy even though it might have been developed independently. Yes, not only do I count them as Christians but I want Gnosticism to make a come back. I must admit, I am confused, I thought you were non-religious. But, I know very little about Gnosticism, so could you enlighten me?
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Post by Aj_June on Jul 3, 2018 19:53:38 GMT
They had a sort of eastern touch in their philosophy even though it might have been developed independently. Yes, not only do I count them as Christians but I want Gnosticism to make a come back. I must admit, I am confused, I thought you were non-religious. But, I know very little about Gnosticism, so could you enlighten me? Yes, I am a non-religious person. I believe that religion will continue to remain in society. There is no way it can go away. So the best possible scenario for us is for less centralised and less dogmatic religions to be in fashion than more centralised religions or more dogmatic religions. One reason why I want gnosticism to replace Christians sects like Protestantism is that Gnosticism does not believe in sin but in ignorance. Gnostic relies more on her personal spiritual experience or awakening than on teachings of a book. While it has its own demerits it is a philosophical view which encourages individuals to make their own conclusions regarding cosmos and god/truth than take for granted what is written in a book. Because it is extremely decentralised philosophy you will never get a proper definition of what exactly is gnosticism.
You can check the short intro here. I might be willing to discuss it in detail in a little while.
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Post by Terrapin Station on Jul 3, 2018 19:57:30 GMT
You could just cut off the question at "Do you consider gnostics?" And I'd say "No."
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Jul 3, 2018 19:57:55 GMT
I must admit, I am confused, I thought you were non-religious. But, I know very little about Gnosticism, so could you enlighten me? Yes, I am a non-religious person. I believe that religion will continue to remain in society. There is no way it can go away. So the best possible scenario for us is for less centralised and less dogmatic religions to be in fashion than more centralised religions or more dogmatic religions. One reason why I want gnosticism to replace Christians sects like Protestantism is that Gnosticism does not believe in sin but in ignorance. Gnostic relies more on her personal spiritual experience or awakening than on teachings of a book. While it has it's own demerits it is a philosophical view which encourages individuals to make their own conclusions regarding cosmos and god/truth than take for granted what is written in a book. Because it is extremely decentralised philosophy you will never get a proper definition of what exactly is gnosticism.
You can check the short intro here. I might be willing to discuss it in detail in a little while.
Wow, thanks for the fast response! I will go to that link in a bit, I have some domesticity to attend to first but will go there when the house is in order.
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Post by Aj_June on Jul 3, 2018 20:01:16 GMT
Yes, I am a non-religious person. I believe that religion will continue to remain in society. There is no way it can go away. So the best possible scenario for us is for less centralised and less dogmatic religions to be in fashion than more centralised religions or more dogmatic religions. One reason why I want gnosticism to replace Christians sects like Protestantism is that Gnosticism does not believe in sin but in ignorance. Gnostic relies more on her personal spiritual experience or awakening than on teachings of a book. While it has it's own demerits it is a philosophical view which encourages individuals to make their own conclusions regarding cosmos and god/truth than take for granted what is written in a book. Because it is extremely decentralised philosophy you will never get a proper definition of what exactly is gnosticism.
You can check the short intro here. I might be willing to discuss it in detail in a little while.
Wow, thanks for the fast response! I will go to that link in a bit, I have some domesticity to attend to first but will go there when the house is in order. Sure. Take your time and have a good time. I am watching England-Colombia football world cup Pre-quarter final it has become very interesting.
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Post by rachelcarson1953 on Jul 4, 2018 15:17:08 GMT
Wow, thanks for the fast response! I will go to that link in a bit, I have some domesticity to attend to first but will go there when the house is in order. Sure. Take your time and have a good time. I am watching England-Colombia football world cup Pre-quarter final it has become very interesting. That was an extremely interesting article; thanks for that link, I will revisit and re-read! Now your stance of wanting to see a return of that makes sense. Enjoy that world cup!
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Post by Aj_June on Jul 4, 2018 15:26:29 GMT
Sure. Take your time and have a good time. I am watching England-Colombia football world cup Pre-quarter final it has become very interesting. That was an extremely interesting article; thanks for that link, I will revisit and re-read! Now your stance of wanting to see a return of that makes sense. Enjoy that world cup! You are welcome, Rachel. I will start a thread on the topic for further discussion but I cannot promise how soon. I am spending a bit more time on sports board at the moment with this exciting world cup but RFS board is the one I consider my home.
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