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thinking about gnosticism...how gnostic scholars considered themselves to be catholic/orthodox, but the heads of the church did not want anything to do with them- because the basis of their faith meant that the INSTITUTION of the church (bishops, priests, et cetera) did not have absolute power over them.
"gnosis" is lit. "special knowledge"- for the uninitiated, gnosticism is rooted in the idea that christ came to share knowledge with us- not to "forgive us of our sin". the concept of sin is little to nothing to gnostics, who focus primarily on study and one-on-one, deep, interpersonal relationships with jesus and the pantheon. the demiurge, ialdabaoth/saklas/samael/aariel (the deity who created our world, eden, cast lucifer from heaven) is selfish, egotistical- refuses to accept that he is part of a greater pantheon- similar to not only the bishops of the old orthodox churches, but to the catholic and protestant churches now; relying on the idea that you will fear the label "heretic", take the malleable, manipulable bible as THE stern, immutable WORD OF GOD, and fall in line with their teachings. this is why televangelists, superchurch pastors are so rich, so focused on money: insecurity, inherited from the falsehood they worship, denying the existence of the gnosis because they are corrupted, incapable of opening their hearts to it, recieving the divinity and sharing their divine visions and experiences with others in any genuine forum.
i'm intending to make a site that compiles my thoughts, on religion and spirituality and the way that ialdabaoth's falsehoods permeate so many aspects of society-- but for now, enjoy my word-vomit blog posts!
i love note-comparisons! i'm never, ever looking to convert people- i follow in the footsteps of christ and of my predecessors, the gnostic scholars who came before me, aiming only to share my knowledge. 
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calluseater
Omg this is honestly so real. I've been thinking about this for a really long time.
I have always been something of a pantheist and I've always revered Christ but about a year ago I descended into a slump where I became so desperate that I started dipping my toes into the waters of Anglican Christianity because I felt inherently "filthy" and like I needed to be granted salvation. I received communion and started attending church regularly, trying to give it a second chance, only to find out, once again, that the ideas of equality, wisdom, and enlightenment that ancient/medieval Christianity was founded upon and that the teachings of Christ were based upon were completely absent. Certain "sins" are often based upon keeping you weak so that you are easier to control (promoting ideas like humility, poverty, and chastity, which, while these are not bad qualities, keep you from forming your own individuality which keeps you from questioning morally ambiguous doctrine). Christ wants to enlighten you. The church wants to keep you docile and submissive so that they can keep making money and maintaining their hierarchal power structure. The Gnostics were threats to the establishment, so they needed to be eliminated.
Very powerful insight.