Gnosticism: The Path of Inner Knowledge

by Martin Seymour-Smith

Gnosticism, the school of spiritual philosophy that flourished throughout the Roman world in the first two centuries after Christ, was Christianity's earliest rival. It focused not on belief, good deeds and contrition, but on the attainment of gnosis (knowledge, or an intuition of the truth) which brings salvation from ignorance. Gnostic rites were practiced in secret, particularly after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The radical dualism of the Gnostic universe, in which good and evil are co-eternal, was anathema to the early Church, which persecuted it relentlessly for over a thousand years. However, the symbolic and psychological truths of Gnosticism continued to be recognized down the centuries, and had a profound influence on many of the great creative writers and thinkers of Western culture. Gnosticism poses burning questions, the answers to which are very relevant to our day. It resonates with the idea of the psyche, with Jung's concept of the collective unconscious, and with the post-war struggle for meaning in existential philosophy. Gnostic thinking underlies much of modern mysticism, and offers contemporary seekers a living path to enlightenment.

Genres: Gnosticism, Spirituality

61 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[unevendesk · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is really short and the text is a bit of a rush job (although the binding and printing are good; it's a gift book). The same information and more can be found in Seymour-Smith's other book, The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: The History of Thought from Ancient Times to Today, but if you're after something on gnosticism particularly, Gnosticism does have a useful-looking bibliography and the first entry, Filoramo, G. A History of Gnosticism, sounds like a good place to start.

[James Rutledge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives a decent conception of early Gnosticism and as a bare bones outline of the history of Gnosticism. It rarely offers further explanation on concepts. A nice primer, but not a great book for information.

[Devon Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not rating this five stars because I think it's the go-to text on Gnosticism or anything, it certainly is not, but it served its purpose perfectly as a brief overview for newcomers intent on delving deeper & reading many more books, with the added perk of engaging visual accompaniment. I devoured it in one sitting while high on weed oil & was all like 'ohhhhh, the Everything Is Connected/seeing symbols everywhere/subliminal messaging in fantasy literature thing wasn't a psychotic episode, I just discovered Gnosticism' ~ the reason I felt like I had suddenly learnt a secret language from the collective unconsciousness that interconnects all of Time & Culture & History is because that is literally what happened....... which is reassuring & so cool wow I love that magic is real, sucks that they erased it but the Light is brighter than ever & I understand the significance of being here in this moment on the cusp of the New Age <3

[Lingui5t · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, quick gift book. About as much substance as one could ask for in a coffee table text.

[Melissa Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the subject intriguing to learn about but the book was extremely complex to understand. I began looking up the terms in the Catholic websites and encyclopedias for more information and I still don't have a clear grasp of the concept within the book.