Sioux City Journal

A Gnostic speaks out

Posted: Tuesday, June 13, 2006

SIOUX CITY -- "The DaVinci Code" is not the first book written on the subject of The Heresy. Gnosticism is hardly "New Age." The first fiction written on the subject was put to parchment centuries ago. My eighty-eight-year-old father investigated Gnostic doctrine before I was born. The Heresy received its commercial publicity in the early 1980s. Books concerning the gnostic heresy have been commercially published since the early 1900s. Gnostic artwork has been with us from the Rennaisance.

The response that I'm seeing by those of the faith does not surprise me. The church responded the same way hundreds of years ago when faced with The Heresy - with fear and anger. But instead of writing editorials to their local newspapers, the Vatican armies wiped out whole societies of Heretical sects, killing and torturing Gnostic Christians by the score. The Spanish Inquisition was created to force the repentance of Heretics by rape, maiming, burning and a host of other atrocities, all implemented in the name of God by the church to keep those pesky Heretics from discussing Jesus' marriage and subsequent lineage.

We Gnostic Christians believe there are more circumstances and clues in the Bible pointing to Jesus' marriage to the regal personage of Mary Magdalene than not. But the Bible has been manipulated throughout antiquity by literates in power for their own oppressive gain. Much scripture had been intentionally omitted. These works have been rediscovered by the miraculous finds of the Dead Sea scrolls, the Gnostic Gospels and the Nag Hammadi Library ... ancient scripture that gives us a very different view on Jesus' lifestyle, social standing and teachings. -- Kristi Capron

Story Comments

Red Cedar Owl wrote on Jun 19, 2006 7:03 AM:

" As I understand it Gnosticism is a form of self enlightenment. That makes Buddhism a "gnostic religion". It hasn't done so bad on the world stage. And this "revealed stuff" over the form of "enlightenment" that the gnostic receives is just semantics. I can assure you that the knowledge received when one achieves "oneness" is revealed! Red Cedar Owl, a gnostic neo-Pagan "

Kristi wrote on Jun 18, 2006 8:22 PM:

" Speaking of contradictions in terms, JG, you have contradicted yourself here: "what would a gnostic civilization look like"...to start, an examination of the Essenes, and later on, the Cathars would aid in your research. "Would they have produced hospitals?" The Essenes and Cathars were known to be healers, so I'm sure they had an equivalent of an ancient hospital, depending on the Essene or Cathar budget. "Universities?" Both sects were known to be quite literate, although I don't know if they enjoyed the comics section. "Cathedrals?" Later Gnostics produced Notre Dame, St. Sulpice, Amien Cathedral, Chartres...need I go on? "Exquisite painting, sculpture, music?" Look up the word 'Rennaisance'..."The manumission of slaves?" Gnostics held no slaves. "The emancipation of women?" One of the defining differences of the Gnostics was their acceptance of women as equals; clearly ahead of their time. Paganism by definition is not adhering to a belief in a western monotheism i.e. Judeo/Christian belief systems. Pagans are pantheistic and tend to subscribe to earth/shamanic belief systems;Gnostics are absolutely NOT pagans. They uphold Christianity in its truest form. "

Jordan Stratford wrote on Jun 16, 2006 1:45 PM:

" Vogelin's assumptions that Gnosticism had any desire to "immanentize the eschaton" or to create utopias via totalitarianism is groundless. Vogelin's work has been completely dismissed by historians and sociologists alike, and has no place in any intelligent discourse on the topic. He's the Erik von Daniken of sociology. "

J.G. wrote on Jun 16, 2006 12:52 PM:

" Chololino, you're spot on apropo of Eric Voegelin! "

J.G. wrote on Jun 16, 2006 11:25 AM:

" What would a gnostic civilization, a contradiction in terms if there ever was one, look like? Would it have produced hospitals, universities, cathedrals, exquisite painting, sculpture and music, metaphysical equality, the manumission of slaves, the emancipation of women,etc.? I doubt it. To think otherwise is to be appalingly ignorant of history. Furthermore, contemporary gnosticism is just another version of contemporary paganism, which is to say, it isn't a revealed religion but simply a project of human needs--in this case, I believe it's a religion of those who suffer from incorrigible igorance. "