Whereas Plato's demiurge is good wishing good on his creation, gnosticism contends that the demiurge is not only the originator of evil but is evil as well.

In the past many scholars believed that gnosticism pre-dated Christianity, but now it is generally accepted that gnosticism developed into a coherent movement only in the second century CE.

The Christian groups first called " gnostic " a branch of Christianity, however Joseph Jacobs and Ludwig Blau ( Jewish Encyclopedia, 1911 ) note that much of the terminology employed is Jewish and note that this " proves at least that the principal elements of gnosticism were derived from Jewish speculation, while it does not preclude the possibility of new wine having been poured into old bottles.

The notion of an originally divine mankind being held captive by sinister forces is borrowed from gnosticism.

In the case of gnosticism it is important to understand that Plotinus and the Neoplatonists viewed it as a form of heresy or sectarianism to the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy of the Mediterranean and Middle East.

His refutation of a culturally predominate puritanical temptation to a profane dualistic gnosticism is elaborated in the redemptive third book of his prose text Gli Asolani reconciling fallen human nature in a Platonic cosmic transcendence, mediated by reconciling Trinitarian love, and dedicated to Lucretia Borgia.

The diverse religious movements covered by the term " gnosticism " share the basic doctrines that the surrounding world is fundamentally evil or inhospitable, that we are trapped in the world through no fault of our own, and that we can be saved from the world only through secret knowledge ( gnosis ).

The Gnostic Society, is a secular organization for the study of gnosticism founded in 1928 and incorporated in 1939 by James Morgan Pryse.

Jonas's career is generally divided into three periods defined by the three works just mentioned, but in reverse order: studies of gnosticism, studies of philosophical biology, and ethical studies.

The female divinity of gnosticism is Sophia, a being with many aspects and names.

Thus, he holds the heathen gods to be real beings, but subordinate to the supreme Christian God ; in a streak of gnosticism, he affirms that the human soul ( Book II, 14-62 ) is not the work of God, but of an intermediate being, and is not immortal by nature, but capable of putting on immortality as a grace.

As the level of technology progresses, so do the religious views of the WorldWeb populace, which is mentioned to adhere largely to a hybrid religion of Zen Buddhism and gnosticism, although a significant minority belong to cults such as the Church of the Final Atonement, which worships the Shrike and the retribution it believes the creature will bring upon society for humanity's past errors.

One saying in particular appears to identify the levels of initiation in gnosticism, although what exactly the bridal chamber represented in gnostic thought is currently a matter of great debate:

The question of how much gnosticism has influenced Kabbalah is one of the major themes of modern-day research on Kabbalah, see the works of Gershom Scholem and Moshe Idel for more information.

The fundamental problem in the study of the book is: is this affinity based on an as yet unknown historical link between the gnosticism of the mishnaic and talmudic era and the sources from which the material in Sefer HaBahir is derived?

In these forms of gnosticism, the God of the Old Testament is often considered to have been the Demiurge, not the Monad, or sometimes different passages are interpreted as referring to each.

However, Paul does also suggest Gnosis puffeth up ( often this passage is found with gnosis translated-knowledge puffeth up ), which appears to diminish support for gnosticism, but Clement of Alexandria offered the explanation that this meant to entertain great and true sentiments and was a reference to the magnitude of the effect of receiving it.

For the gnostics, Jesus in Mark is often viewed as referring to secret teachings and secrets, even to assert that some teachings should be kept secret and deliberately obscured, all of which were attitudes shared with, and intrinsic to, gnosticism.

The phrase " and the Word became flesh, and dwelt amongst us " is generally seen as being against docetism, a belief that many Gnostics held that the human nature of Jesus was illusory, as the Perfect Saviour inherent in a Christ could not partake in the inherently corrupt ( according to gnosticism ) nature of matter.

The Druze faith began as a movement in Ismailism, that was mainly influenced by Greek philosophy and gnosticism and opposed certain religious and philosophical ideologies that were present during that epoch.

Emil Cioran also write his " Le mauvais démiurge ( The evil Demiurge )" published in 1969, influenced by gnosticism and Schopenhauerian interpretation of Platonic ontology as well as that of Plotinus.

Hence sectarians and followers of gnosticism were first rejected by the Jewish communities of the Mediterranean ( see the Notzrim 139 – 67 BCE ), then by the Christian communities and finally by the late Hellenistic philosophical communities ( see Neoplatonism and Gnosticism ).

In commentary on the impact of the Xenu text, academic scholars have discussed and analyzed the writings by Hubbard and their place within Scientology within the contexts of science fiction, UFO religions, gnosticism and creation myth.

The image of the serpent as the embodiment of the wisdom transmitted by Sophia was an emblem used by gnosticism, especially those sects that the more orthodox characterized as " Ophites " (" Serpent People ").

Some see this as a direct attack by the author of John on docetism, and the gnosticism that used the synoptic accounts to advocate it.

The historian Helmut Koester has suggested, with some evidence, that originally the Christians in Egypt were predominantly influenced by gnosticism until the efforts of Demetrius of Alexandria gradually brought the beliefs of the majority into harmony with the rest of Christianity.

* Manichaeism: 3rd century ditheistic gnosticism that may have been influenced by Mandaeism.

An expert in gnosticism and Renaissance magic, he was encouraged and befriended by Mircea Eliade, though he gradually distanced himself from his mentor.

The universe of this story seems to be more influenced by gnosticism than by the Judeo-Christian religion, and the beings that looked like angels were probably not superior to Silvia.

In such a movement as early Christian gnosticism, Assyrio-Babylonian elements — modified, to be sure, and transformed — are largely present, while the growth of an apocalyptic literature is ascribed with apparent justice by many scholars to the recrudescence of views, the ultimate source of which is to be found in the astral-theology of the Babylonian and Assyrian Priests.

Despite Irenaeus ' claims for Paul's non gnosticism, Valentinus, the leader of a large faction of gnostics, claimed that Paul had initiated his own teacher Theudas into the Deeper Mysteries of Christianity, which revealed a secret gnostic doctrine of God.

Reasons for this include its linguistic differences from 1 Peter, its apparent use of Jude, possible allusions to 2nd-century gnosticism, encouragement in the wake of a delayed parousia, and weak external support.

At this conference, intended to allow scholars to arrive at a group consensus concerning the definition of gnosticism, James M. Robinson, an expert on religion, assembled a group of editors and translators whose express task was to publish a bilingual edition of the Nag Hammadi codices in English, in collaboration with the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity at the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.

He has been highly critical of scholars, such as Rudolf Bultmann, who have used third and fourth century AD Gnostic texts as primary evidence for the existence of pre-Christian gnosticism.

* Pythagoreanism has had a clear and obvious influence on the texts found in the hermetica corpus and thus flows over into hermeticism, gnosticism and alchemy.

In some versions of Christian gnosticism, especially those deriving from Valentinius, a lesser deity known as the Demiurge had a role in the creation of the material world in addition to the role of the Monad.

The ensuing debate reached an impasse as awareness grew that the very term ‘ docetism ’ like ‘ gnosticism ’ was difficult to define within the religio-historical framework of the debate.

John D. Turner, professor of religious studies at the University of Nebraska and famed translator and editor of the Nag Hammadi library, stated that the text Plotinus and his students read was Sethian gnosticism which predates Christianity.

The discussion of gnosticism changed radically with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library, and led to revision of older assumptions.

Although some scholars still postulate pre-Christian gnosticism, no evidence has been found to date.

The Neoplatonic philosophers, including Plotinus, rejected followers of gnosticism as being un-Hellenistic and anti-Plato due to their vilification of Plato's creator of the universe ( the demiurge ), arriving at dystheism as the solution to the problem of evil, taking all their truths over from Plato.

Christian authorities have generally regarded occultism as heretical whenever they met this: from early Christian times, in the form of gnosticism, to late Renaissance times, in the form of various occult philosophies.

Adherents of gnosticism were most numerous during the second and third centuries.

Much of the metaphysical speculation in From Hell can be attributed to Moore's embrace of gnosticism, which takes a more central role in his other work, most notably his comic series Promethea.

Modern occultists display his image, loosely connected now with Hermetic gnosticism.

Deriving from earlier varieties of gnosticism, Cathar theology found its most surprising success in the Languedoc and the Cathars were known as Albigensians, either because of an association with the city of Albi, or because the 1176 Church Council which declared the Cathar doctrine heretical was held near Albi.