Who Were the Gnostics?
Gnosticism “developed in the same places as dawning Christianity and the Judaic religions: Palestine, Syria, Samaria and Anatolia [Asia Minor]” (The Gnostics, Lacarriere, 1989, p. 43). Gnostic teachers claimed to have secret knowledge about the creation of the world and the purpose of life and competed with the Apostles on the same ground. British historian Paul Johnson describes Gnosticism as “a spiritual parasite which used other religions as a carrier… Gnostic groups seized on bits of Christianity, but tended to cut it off from its historical source” (A History of Christianity, 1976, p. 45). Gnostic teaching was a particular threat to Christianity because Gnosticism created “the illusion it was a Christian doctrine” by referring to the Hebrew Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, while twisting and perverting the original meaning (Lacarriere, p. 44). Many Gnostics also claimed to be Christians. Historian Johnson notes the Apostle Paul “fought hard against Gnosticism, recognizing
