I must completely and utterly disagree... but then, I disagree with a lot of misconceptions held about Gnostics.
I wish to quote from my dear friend Tau (Bishop) Rosamonde Miller, on her definition of Gnostics. She is ordained in not one, but two, of the ancient Gnostic traditions. You will see that from a Gnostic Bishop's standpoint, at least, the Gnostic mindset is as far away from the JW's dictates as you can get.
(quote pasted from http://www.gnosticsanctuary.org/who_are_we.html a wonderful site)
"This is a group of people with a sense of humor. Life is too serious for us to take ourselves seriously. We enjoy life and all it has to offer. We rejoice in the discoveries of science: the decoding of the DNA, the functioning of the brain, the wresting of the mysteries within the heart of the atom itself, the new physics, modern technology, and the computer age. We rejoice in poetry, music, and dance. We rejoice in nature.
"We also remain aware of the past and its traditions. We do not follow the traditions themselves, nor do they bind us. Rather we acknowledge them as part of our cultural past and as a source from which much of our present civilization springs forth.
"The same applies to all scriptures. The Hebrew Bible, the Gnostic Gospels, the Christian and Apocryphal Gospels, the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita—we use them and others from more recent sources. We never take them literally. We do not consider any of them to be "the word of God" or a final authority. We do not see them as "God's laws," but as men's laws. They are many voices with varying degrees of consciousness expressing, with whatever they could, their vision of the universe and its source. Each the voice of its culture and times. Each colored by its political and social condition—often tainted with fear and the effort to demonize enemies or to justify actions and the establishment of new beliefs. Each a cry for hope. All longing for God. Much in them is of great beauty and wisdom. We recognize and acknowledge the value of these ancient mythologies. By mythology, we mean something that while not necessarily factual, is nevertheless true. They point not to one time and event in history but to the ever-recurrent realities of the soul. As we discover more about evolution and the universe, new meanings arise. The old mysteries, as they unravel, eternally disclose new ones to be unveiled. Therefore we can hold no beliefs—only hypotheses; open to be discarded or changed at all times.
"We acknowledge and celebrate ritual—so deeply ingrained within our own primitive natures. Since primitive times and against all rationality we continue to search for the Unknown and Unknowable within and beyond perceived reality, the Great Mystery beyond birth and death. The rituals that we celebrate in our Sanctuary, with their flow of poetry, music and rich metaphor often lead us beyond ordinary reality. When consciously celebrating their mystery, a paean of joy often bursts from our souls that connects us to the root and totality of our beings—as well as with that which has been, is, and is yet to come.
"We are not dualists and do not follow any one school of Gnostic "thought," ancient or modern, such as Valentinian, Basilidian or Marcionite, among others. We today, as did our early Gnostic ancestors, maintain our freedom to inquire and explore all levels of existence, unfettered by the consensus beliefs of our society and times. We do not follow "Gnostic doctrines," the term amounting to an oxymoron, any more than any other belief handed down through the centuries. Gnosis is a matter of experience, not belief.
"Gnostics are a paradox. We do not embrace beliefs or form concepts, but are deeply committed to that which moves us. We hesitate to call it God because of all the dogma and theology the word implies. That Which Is defies explanations.
"We hold ourselves open for that Supreme Mystery to manifest in all its life and splendor in each blinding, eternal moment. This is not a goal—something to reach and obtain, like a degree—so that we may call ourselves "enlightened." We strive to be intensely aware at all times, free from conditioning and expectations, for Gnosis cannot be coerced, only invited, so it may move and dwell in us.
"We reject all prejudices. We stand for the dignity of all sentient beings and their freedom to choose and inquire deeply within; to question all formulas; to explore without assumptions or taking anything for granted. We stand for our right to find our way out from all conditioning; to make our own choices and decisions, be them of faith, of lifestyle or of anything pertaining to us as individuals. We stand for our right to face life without fear and to look at the unknown with courage and joy. These Gnostics are not pessimistic, but see life as a great adventure."
© 2000, Rosamonde Miller
Endquote.
Does the Watchtower use Gnostic principles to control its slaves?
by Gill 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
BabaYaga
-
Narkissos
To paraphrase the WT dictum based on John 17:3, the Gnostic idea would be something like: "This means everlasting life, taking in knowledge of us, the only true mystics, and the mysticism we gradually unfold".
I find this very unfair. Gnosticism (in almost all of its diverse forms) was definitely not about "taking in knowledge of anybody," but relating to the divine (or supra-divine) in oneself. Its suppression of mediation -- whether that of Christ as anything more than a "revealer," and especially church authority was its very danger from the standpoint of the emerging "great church" hierarchy.
At once a speculative, suble, and elaborate series of theosophic ideas, it endeavoured to introduce into the historic Church, in its infancy, when its theological muscle was still undeveloped, a so-called "higher knowledge" which attempted to displace the centrality of Christ with mystical idealism. Indeed various aspects of Gnostic thought appealed to many of the early church apologists, while at the same time others repelled them.
I disagree with the idea that Gnosticism was "introduced" into Christianity. Rather, I hold that it was incipient in many of the earliest brands of Christianity (Pauline, Johannine, etc.). Ironically enough, that's where the "higher Christology" originally came from, although orthodoxy later severed it from its Gnostic meaning, making "Christ" an independent study case (and then discussing where he stood exactly between "God" and "man"), instead of the revealer of the "spirituals"' true nature.
Probably another aspect of Gnosticism that resembles WT theology was the early Gnostic penchant for allegorizing or extensively spiritualizing the OT and its historicity. A reading of several Wt magazines in which wildly speculative fantasies are spun out - Noah's ark = the Org, for example, captures at least to a provident level, this Gnostic principle. This kind of inferential theology was stretched to levels of total absurdity under the reign of JFR, his book "Enemies" being a prime example.
Similar hermeneutical methods were widespread at the time (from the Qumran pesharim to the moral allegories of the Hellenistic Jew Philo, and the New Testament of course) and are neither specific nor characteristic of Gnosticism. The only particularity of some brands of later Gnosticism is, sometimes, reversing the common typologies: offering positive interpretation of traditionally "bad characters" such as the serpent, Eve, or Judas, and negative interpretation of the OT's best character, the "ruler of the world" who postures as "God". But even this does not characterise Gnosticism as a whole.
For a firsthand experience with Gnostic texts see http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html
-
LongHairGal
I heard recently that there was a (sp. needs?) talk discouraging people from "renewing their wedding vows" and how the original wedding ceremony was sufficient, etc.
What I got from this is that they don't want to see people spending money on THEMSELVES!
LHG -
daystar
What willyloman said.
The JWs merely share the same doctrinal distaste for anything material that Christianity as a whole does, to one degree or another. It comes from the basic assumption that the material world, the flesh, is sinful (or some comparable phrasing).
In other words, it's not a JW/Gnostic thing, it's a Christian thing.