What do Nazarenes/Gnostics believe?  
     
 

Similar to the name of Gnostics and Nazarenes, the complex belief system of Gnosticism is one of the most misrepresented philosophies in human history.

 
 

In terms of christian scholars and ancient christian writers who were obsessive in their hatred of gnostics, little of their writing provides objective or accurate insight.

 
  Even contemporary writers using the discovered Nag Hammadi scrolls as evidence continue this history of misrepresentation. Part of the problem is the complexity of Gnostic thought- it requires one to have read more than just the Bible to start to understand its meaning.  
  In fact, it is not until a person has read at least four to five major sections of sacred literature from Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism (for example) that an appreciation of the Gnostic philosophy can take hold.  
  Without such reading, it remains difficult to even comprehend many of the ideas of the Gnostic gospels.  
 

In essence, Gnostic and Nazarene thought is based around some essential ideas:

 
 
  • One (monad) supreme divinty known by many names including Pleroma
  • The existence of positive divinities which are aspects of the supreme being
  • The existence of evil divinities which pretend to be god
  • Human beings were deliberately created by evil flesh and blood gods
  • The creation of humans re-awakened the true soul lost by our creators
  • Our (evil) creators cursed us with a counterfeit soul
  • Jesus Christ is our saviour and an incarnation of a line of saviours
  • The priests of old religions (eg Sadducees) are evil pretending to be good
  • Respect of life means refraining from killing animals and eating flesh
  • Self knowledge in one's true soul is the key to defeating the false soul
 
 

As you can imagine, some of these ideas directly challenge the authority and credibility of many major religions, most notably ancient Sadduccee Judaism and its successor Christianity.

 
  It is no wonder therefore that every major christian scholar since the religion was first formed by Paul of Tarsus has sought the destruction of it.  
     

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