There have also been periodic tensions with both mainstream and fundamentalist Christians, who think the religion is aligned with Gnosticism or is a cult, and fault it for departing from traditional Christian doctrine.

Druze beliefs incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism and other philosophies.

Catharism apparently inherited their idea of Satan as the creator of the evil world from Gnosticism.

Gnosticism attributed falsehood, fallen or evil, to the concept of Demiurge or Creator ( see Zeus and Prometheus ), though sometimes the creator is from a fallen, ignorant or lesser, rather than evil, perspective ( in some Gnosticism traditions ), such as that of Valentinius.

The English term " Gnosticism " derives from the use of the Greek adjective gnostikos (" learned ", " intellectual ", Greek γνωστικός ) by St. Irenaeus ( c. 185 AD ) to describe the school of Valentinus as he legomene gnostike haeresis " the heresy called Learned ( gnostic )".

Gnosticism taught that salvation came from gnosis, secret knowledge, and Gnostics did not see Jesus as a savior but a revealer of knowledge.

" It has been suggested that similarities between John's Gospel and Gnosticism may spring from common roots in Jewish Apocalyptic literature.

This last phrase ( from 1 Timothy 6: 20 ) is the origin of the title of the book by Irenaeus, On the Detection and Overthrow of False Knowledge, that contains the adjective gnostikos, which is the source for the 17th Century English term " Gnosticism.

Gnosticism was an important development of ( and departure from ) early Christianity, blending Jewish scriptures and Christian teachings with traditional pagan religion and esoteric Greek philosophical concepts.

New Age practices and philosophies sometimes draw inspiration from major world religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam ( especially Sufism ), Judaism ( especially Kabbalah ), Sikhism ; with strong influences from East Asian religions, Gnosticism, Neopaganism, New Thought, Spiritualism, Theosophy, Universalism and Western esotericism.

Gnosticism is Panentheistic, believing that the true God is separate from the physical universe however, there are aspects of the true God in the physical universe as well.

However the inter-relation of Manicheanism, Orphism, Gnosticism and neo-Platonism is far from clear.

This mysterious Western, offshoot of Gnosticism had no single feature about it which could soften the hostility of a character such as Martin's, but he resisted the introduction of secular punishment for evil doctrine, and withdrew from communion with those bishops in Gaul, a large majority, who invoked the aid of Maximus against their erring brethren.

In spite of his schism from the Church, he continued to write against heresy, especially Gnosticism.

In a parallel tradition, Hermetic philosophy rationalized and systematized religious cult practices and offered the adept a method of personal ascension from the constraints of physical being, which has led to confusion of Hermeticism with Gnosticism, which was developing contemporaneously.

History shows that the early church especially in Rome, was influenced by pagan rituals and beliefs from the Roman imperial cult, Hellenistic philosophy, notably Neoplatonism, and Gnosticism.

* Clement of Alexandria: Theologian and apologist who wrote on Greek philosophy, using ideas from pagan literature, Stoic and Platonic philosophy, and Gnosticism to argue for Christianity

Samael Aun Weor had taught emanationism from his studies with the Kabbalah and Gnosticism.

" In a profile of the group for Newsweek, Kenneth Woodward compares his dualism to that of ancient Christian Gnosticism, although Peters notes that his theology departs from Gnosticism by privileging the physical world.

In portraying Christ as a spirit that came from heaven, undertook its divine task in the material world, and then returned, he anticipates the fully developed Christian Gnosticism in later decades.

Gnosticism and the New Testament is the connection between the Christian sects described by Irenaeus ( c. 180 ), and other writers, as gnostikos, and the New Testament, and also the use of the New Testament in the Nag Hammadi texts ( c. 300-400 ).

For Robert Price " docetism ", together with " encratism ", " Gnosticism ", and " adoptionism " has been employed " far beyond what historically descriptive usage would allow ".

Christianity as it emerged out of Second Temple Judaism ( or Hellenistic Judaism ) stood in competition with other religions advocating " pagan monotheism ", including Neoplatonism, Mithraism, Gnosticism, Manichaeanism, and the cult of Dionysus.

With further reference to the " sign of life ", i. e. the infinity symbol and its connection with the number 8, it may be remembered that Christian Gnosticism speaks of rebirth in Christ as a change " unto the Ogdoad.

Mead claimed Marcionism makes certain points of contact with Gnosticism in its view that the creator of the material world is not the true deity, rejection of materialism and affirmation of a transcendent, purely good spiritual realm in opposition to the evil physical realm, the belief Jesus was sent by the " True " God to save humanity, the central role of Jesus in revealing the requirements of salvation, the belief Paul had a special place in the transmission of this " wisdom ", and its docetism.

Ehrman acknowledges many of Marcion's ideas are very close to what is known today as " Gnosticism ", especially its rejection of the Jewish God, the Old Testament, and the material world, and his elevation of Paul as the primary apostle.

The word means fullness from (" I fill ") comparable to πλήρης which means " full ", and is used in Christian theological contexts: both in Gnosticism generally, and by St. Paul the Apostle in Colossians Colossians 2: 9 KJV ( the word is used 17 times in the NT ).

Dwid Hellion, frontman of Integrity, advocated the " Holy Terror Church of Final Judgment ", an apocalyptic belief system related to Gnosticism and Catharism.

" In his over sixty books and hundreds of held conferences, he describes a teaching called " Gnosis ", the Greek word for " knowledge ", from which is derived the name " Gnosticism ", which is a term also used to designate various sects such as the Ophites which appeared at the beginning of the Christian Era who were considered heretics by the Catholic Church.

This portrayal seems to conform to a notion current in some forms of Gnosticism, that the human form is a spiritual prison, that Judas thus served Christ by helping to release Christ's soul from its physical constraints, and that two kinds of human beings exist: the men furnished with the immortal soul which is " from the eternal realms " and " will abide there always " (" the strong and holy generation ... with no ruler over it ", to whom Judas belongs ), and the other ones, the majority of mankind, who are mortal and therefore unable to reach the salvation.

The terms " Gnosticism " and " Gnosis " refer to a family of religious movements which claimed to possess secret knowledge ( gnosis ).

In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies a ' spiritual knowledge ' or religion of knowledge, in the sense of mystical enlightenment or ' insight '.

In Gnosticism divine knowledge or gnosis is hoped to be attained.

* In Gnosticism, the snake is thanked for bringing knowledge to Adam and Eve, and thereby freeing them from the Demiurge's control.

In the different systems these emanations are differently named, classified, and described, but the emanation theory itself is common to all forms of Gnosticism.

Many associate the term " born again " with the revelation of a new concept, or an experience of conversion, defined as mental assent to the acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior ; though some believe that this experience or mental assent ( See Gnosticism ) is not alone sufficient to merit Christian salvation.

To say John ’ s Gospel contained elements of Gnosticism is to assume that Gnosticism had developed to a level that required the author to respond to it.

In Mysticism, Gnosticism, as well as some Hellenistic religions, there is a female spirit or goddess named Sophia who is said to embody wisdom and who is sometimes described as a virgin.

Irenaeus ' best-known book, Adversus Haereses or Against Heresies ( c. 180 ) is a detailed attack on Gnosticism, which was then a serious threat to the Church, and especially on the system of the Gnostic Valentinus.

However, in dualistic theologies such as that of Gnosticism, the two deities are not of equal rank, and the role of the Gnostic demiurge is closer to that of the Devil in Christian trinitarian theology than a diarch on equal terms with God ( who is represented in pantheistic fashion, as Pleroma ).

Valentinian Gnosticism claims that matter came about through emanations of the supreme being, and to some this event is held to be more of an accident than of being on purpose.

This position was crucial in the Christian confrontation with Cynicism and some of the chief forms of Gnosticism, such as Manichaeism, which taught that man is by nature flawed and therefore not responsible for evil in himself or in the world.

Gnosticism refers to several beliefs seeing evil as due to the world being created by an imperfect god, the demiurge and is contrasted with a superior entity.

Based on his study of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Taoism, and other traditions, Jung believed that this journey of transformation, which he called individuation, is at the mystical heart of all religions.

The number eight plays an important part in Gnostic systems, and it is necessary to distinguish the different forms in which it has entered in different stages of the development of Gnosticism.