There's been a constant drumbeat throughout history that seems to be reaching its crescendo today. That beat could perhaps go under a thousand different names and variations, but one that seems to stick out to me is Gnosticism.
Civilization today appears to be fully saturated in Gnostic ideology, both inside and outside the Christian church. Gnosticism has actually been referred to as a kind of 'shadow church' that has been following the real church since its beginning. The Gnostics believed that Jesus Christ was actually a messenger that came to teach his followers how to escape the prison cell of physical reality, and reunite with the cosmic one-ness that came before all existence.
Gnostics see any order or distinction in the world as fundamentally evil (as the order of phsyical existence itself is fundamentally evil, created by an evil or ignorant demiurge, or lesser creator god) The Gnostic truth lies in a state of pure enlightenment, the Monad, the unified source of all things where there are no separations.
The true Gnostic "God" is unnameable, as names themselves are distinctions, and thus impure. You will recognize this trend in the rising one-world religion, an interfaith coalition that pays homage to the principle of unity behind the gods of all faiths around the world. American politicians also frequently mention this pluralistic God that represents all the faiths of a secular society. This is the pure state of bliss that lies behind much of eastern religion and mysticism, and the cosmic pure energy of New Age belief systems.
You will see this movement in the rise of transgenderism. Traditional gender roles based on biological sexes are seen as an oppressive force, forcing separation in society and getting in the way of someone's true identity, which is their transcendant self that rises above any kind of labels society wants to put on it. Gnostics venerate androgyny because it represents the dissolution of separate male and female identities into a singular one.
Society seems literally hypnotized as it marches towards this goal, this great dissolving into one shared state with no distinctions between individuals. Technology (human willpower) has played its role in the creation of a worldwide internet and what is increasingly a kind of collective social-media hivemind, where mass thought, opinion, and reaction is continually refined one single socially-acceptable expression, beyond separate distinctions. This also falls under the subject of totalitarianism. Totalitarian regimes arise when the ideological space of the society has become "totalized", and there is only one acceptable way to view reality. (a more scientific term thrown about is "Mass Formation Psychosis")
During the theatrical opening ceremony for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth games in England (which was blessed in person by King Charles, who is now one of the most prominent political figures on the entire world stage and leading "The Great Reset" global movement)...the official Birmingham ceremony announcers/commentators described the set design as a celebration of a new "Tower of Babel".
The Tower of Babel is described in Genesis 11 as a place where all of humanity comes together as one, under one spirit and one name, so that nothing can be withheld from their collective will.
The gnostic sees his own enlightenment as the true pathway back to an Edenic type state of perfection. Gnostics actually see the serpent figure in the Genesis 3 Garden of Eden account as a benevolent messenger that tried to save Adam and Eve from the evil creator god of the Old Testament. The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually the object that would give them "Gnosis", and the knowledge would set them free from a realm of physical separateness.
We hear gnosticism in the popular phrases "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." ... or "become your true self" ... It is the root ideology of modern human psychology and human potential movements, "self-actualization", and the kind of spirituality you see coming from all areas of culture, from Fitness coaches to the Oprah Winfrey show. Popular movies like Star Wars, or The Matrix or The Truman Show, are overt celebrations of the Gnostic belief system, but Gnosticism is now generally the undercurrent to most popular entertainment.
Gnosticism revolves around this idea that the normal, the mundane order of things is an illusion hiding a true reality underneath. The gnostic truth is always found in the inversion of what was considered typical and normal, and progress is always the next stage in what is a permanent revolution against the previous order. Women sharing a workplace with men is considered self-evidently positive because it toppled the old order of the male workplace. the homosexual/transgender movements are considered progress because they topple the old order of traditional sex and gender roles. The erosion of natural boundaries are considered progress because since nations and boundaries only serve to divide different groups of people, their erosion must be a good thing.
America is founded on gnostic ideals which are expressed in the root of Deism and Freemasonry, a metanarrative which has humanity, through self-enlightenment, refining itself into something ever more pure and transcendant, following a mysterious 'god of nature' that lies behind all the religions of the world. The light of human reason and science is followed back towards a kind of universal language of reality behind all things. This is echoed in allegory of Plato's Cave, where the things we see here in the natural world are but rough shadows and copies of the true spiritual objects of illumination.
The agnostic/atheist echoes gnosticism in his metaphysical view of the universe as a constant evolutionary state of becoming, that we are either dissolving into one shared oblivion or evolving into a state of transhumanism. Gnosticism is also expressed in "social justice" movements, which are frequently symbolized by a raised fist, the symbol of permanent revolution against authority.
Gnostics naturally hold to (but are not limited to) a progressive/marxist style ideology, but as a kind of permanent revolution against all authorities... a march through the institutions... However, the specific issue is never really the issue they care about... the issue is always just a vehicle for revolution. For example, the hyper-focus on 'racial justice' in the BLM movement, is not because its organizers and influencers actually care about the lives and wellbeing of black people, but because the BLM movement is viewed as a powerful weapon to attack a more traditional perceived order of "whiteness" in society. Remember that the reason the gnostic spirit expressed in these movements does not actually care about individual persons is because a flesh and blood person is corrupted by their very material existence. People are only virtuous and beautiful when they are used in a state of revolt against some kind of dominant hierarchy.
I suppose all of this comes down to human pride, which is the original sin, which is why it is so prevalent in the world and one of the most dangerous heresies that has followed the church since the first century. People want to be gods and so are continually following that temptation. The more people collectivize, the more amplified this gnostic trance of progress and transhumanism.
In studying this, I have come to appreciate more and more how Jesus emphasized his physical body so much. How after his resurrection, he wanted to show his followers that he was a real body and could even eat food. How he told his disciples that they would be saved by partaking in communion of his flesh and blood. The real Gospel completely destroys Gnosticism in no equivocating that the whole thing revolves around a very distinct identity of God in the flesh as the man Jesus Christ.... and not the transcendence beyond material reality as the Gnostics believe, but the resurrection and restoration of material reality and the glorified human body that is not touched by sin. We remain God's distinct children with distinct names given to us by Jesus. We live under Jesus' absolute monarchy in his kingdom.
Gnosticism can't tolerate any of this because it keeps the human under God's authority, and Gnostics want to worship themselves and be their own gods.
If society is the fish, then Gnosticism would be the water. It's everywhere today, in all facets of our culture, from the most niche pockets of entertainment to the civil religion practiced in government institutions. The corporate world and Mass-media seem to be obsessed with normalizing the radical, now militantly pushing homosexuality and transgenderism, as is the US Military. The American nation itself was created out of a kind of masonic gnostic rebellion against the old order of monarchy in favor of a government based on the collective minds of men. We tap into the gnostic ideals whenever we pledge allegiance to a flag of revolution in the name of freedom from authority. The Statue of Liberty hold alight the "sacred" torch of freedom and human enlightenment.
The modern age itself is crafted out of human willpower, or the ability for man to use his mind to harness the powers of nature. "Knowledge is Power." Science is on a continual Gnostic quest to find the hidden universal code behind all of reality. The reigning cosmological model of the "Big-Bang" is a familiar Gnostic motif whereby the entire universe exploded in a sudden and violent event from a state of purity that existed before physical nature itself... Christians routinely lean into Gnosticism when they embrace evolutionary models of the universe and creation.
Gnosticism directly manifests in the church when congregants become fixated on a personal spirit that is beyond intelligibility, driving them into a state of ecstasy, or replacing the real Gospel and becoming their own 'personal truth' about their relationship with God that is not or limited by the authority of scripture.
One of my motivations for writing all of this is that the church today seems largely at peace with the Gnosticism seething all around them and through their own congregations. The church almost feels like the moral office of the modern world, making sure we keep feeding the poor and building schools as the culture all around us and our children consolidates more and more into this new world order, where society keeps breaking down boundary after boundary. We are nearing the time where it will be considered a hate crime to not celebrate the transformation of a young boy into a girl... and it feels like the church, instead of standing in the stream of social change, has helped guide it along, and continues to drift along with the increasing hivemind of the world. The church seems defenseless and entangled because it's had its feet in the affairs of the world for so long.
This concern blends into a popular phenomena called "Moral Therapeutic Deism" which was recently found to be one of the most popular religious views among young people who would call themselves a Christian. The heaviest gnostic element is the Deism, in which the God becomes an unknown God that is behind all religions in the world, and as long as you're a good person you go to heaven. Heaven here is not so much the resurrected creation and specific architecture of the New Jerusalem, and the Temple of God with foundations and gates named after the tribes of Israel and the Apostles of Jesus... Instead the gnostic heaven is more like the state of pure energy and spiritual bliss where names and things don't even exist, an immaterial melding back into divine light.
Lost churches seem primed and ready to accept whatever mass delusion comes their away in order to guide them further into this one-world religion system, where they will be encouraged to worship, not the God of Israel, but the god beyond names and beyond codes of morality that might offend someone. The god of "World Peace" ...
A lot more could be said but I'll stop here... thanks for reading.
Civilization today appears to be fully saturated in Gnostic ideology, both inside and outside the Christian church. Gnosticism has actually been referred to as a kind of 'shadow church' that has been following the real church since its beginning. The Gnostics believed that Jesus Christ was actually a messenger that came to teach his followers how to escape the prison cell of physical reality, and reunite with the cosmic one-ness that came before all existence.
Gnostics see any order or distinction in the world as fundamentally evil (as the order of phsyical existence itself is fundamentally evil, created by an evil or ignorant demiurge, or lesser creator god) The Gnostic truth lies in a state of pure enlightenment, the Monad, the unified source of all things where there are no separations.
The true Gnostic "God" is unnameable, as names themselves are distinctions, and thus impure. You will recognize this trend in the rising one-world religion, an interfaith coalition that pays homage to the principle of unity behind the gods of all faiths around the world. American politicians also frequently mention this pluralistic God that represents all the faiths of a secular society. This is the pure state of bliss that lies behind much of eastern religion and mysticism, and the cosmic pure energy of New Age belief systems.
You will see this movement in the rise of transgenderism. Traditional gender roles based on biological sexes are seen as an oppressive force, forcing separation in society and getting in the way of someone's true identity, which is their transcendant self that rises above any kind of labels society wants to put on it. Gnostics venerate androgyny because it represents the dissolution of separate male and female identities into a singular one.
Society seems literally hypnotized as it marches towards this goal, this great dissolving into one shared state with no distinctions between individuals. Technology (human willpower) has played its role in the creation of a worldwide internet and what is increasingly a kind of collective social-media hivemind, where mass thought, opinion, and reaction is continually refined one single socially-acceptable expression, beyond separate distinctions. This also falls under the subject of totalitarianism. Totalitarian regimes arise when the ideological space of the society has become "totalized", and there is only one acceptable way to view reality. (a more scientific term thrown about is "Mass Formation Psychosis")
During the theatrical opening ceremony for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth games in England (which was blessed in person by King Charles, who is now one of the most prominent political figures on the entire world stage and leading "The Great Reset" global movement)...the official Birmingham ceremony announcers/commentators described the set design as a celebration of a new "Tower of Babel".
The Tower of Babel is described in Genesis 11 as a place where all of humanity comes together as one, under one spirit and one name, so that nothing can be withheld from their collective will.
The gnostic sees his own enlightenment as the true pathway back to an Edenic type state of perfection. Gnostics actually see the serpent figure in the Genesis 3 Garden of Eden account as a benevolent messenger that tried to save Adam and Eve from the evil creator god of the Old Testament. The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was actually the object that would give them "Gnosis", and the knowledge would set them free from a realm of physical separateness.
We hear gnosticism in the popular phrases "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." ... or "become your true self" ... It is the root ideology of modern human psychology and human potential movements, "self-actualization", and the kind of spirituality you see coming from all areas of culture, from Fitness coaches to the Oprah Winfrey show. Popular movies like Star Wars, or The Matrix or The Truman Show, are overt celebrations of the Gnostic belief system, but Gnosticism is now generally the undercurrent to most popular entertainment.
Gnosticism revolves around this idea that the normal, the mundane order of things is an illusion hiding a true reality underneath. The gnostic truth is always found in the inversion of what was considered typical and normal, and progress is always the next stage in what is a permanent revolution against the previous order. Women sharing a workplace with men is considered self-evidently positive because it toppled the old order of the male workplace. the homosexual/transgender movements are considered progress because they topple the old order of traditional sex and gender roles. The erosion of natural boundaries are considered progress because since nations and boundaries only serve to divide different groups of people, their erosion must be a good thing.
America is founded on gnostic ideals which are expressed in the root of Deism and Freemasonry, a metanarrative which has humanity, through self-enlightenment, refining itself into something ever more pure and transcendant, following a mysterious 'god of nature' that lies behind all the religions of the world. The light of human reason and science is followed back towards a kind of universal language of reality behind all things. This is echoed in allegory of Plato's Cave, where the things we see here in the natural world are but rough shadows and copies of the true spiritual objects of illumination.
The agnostic/atheist echoes gnosticism in his metaphysical view of the universe as a constant evolutionary state of becoming, that we are either dissolving into one shared oblivion or evolving into a state of transhumanism. Gnosticism is also expressed in "social justice" movements, which are frequently symbolized by a raised fist, the symbol of permanent revolution against authority.
Gnostics naturally hold to (but are not limited to) a progressive/marxist style ideology, but as a kind of permanent revolution against all authorities... a march through the institutions... However, the specific issue is never really the issue they care about... the issue is always just a vehicle for revolution. For example, the hyper-focus on 'racial justice' in the BLM movement, is not because its organizers and influencers actually care about the lives and wellbeing of black people, but because the BLM movement is viewed as a powerful weapon to attack a more traditional perceived order of "whiteness" in society. Remember that the reason the gnostic spirit expressed in these movements does not actually care about individual persons is because a flesh and blood person is corrupted by their very material existence. People are only virtuous and beautiful when they are used in a state of revolt against some kind of dominant hierarchy.
I suppose all of this comes down to human pride, which is the original sin, which is why it is so prevalent in the world and one of the most dangerous heresies that has followed the church since the first century. People want to be gods and so are continually following that temptation. The more people collectivize, the more amplified this gnostic trance of progress and transhumanism.
In studying this, I have come to appreciate more and more how Jesus emphasized his physical body so much. How after his resurrection, he wanted to show his followers that he was a real body and could even eat food. How he told his disciples that they would be saved by partaking in communion of his flesh and blood. The real Gospel completely destroys Gnosticism in no equivocating that the whole thing revolves around a very distinct identity of God in the flesh as the man Jesus Christ.... and not the transcendence beyond material reality as the Gnostics believe, but the resurrection and restoration of material reality and the glorified human body that is not touched by sin. We remain God's distinct children with distinct names given to us by Jesus. We live under Jesus' absolute monarchy in his kingdom.
Gnosticism can't tolerate any of this because it keeps the human under God's authority, and Gnostics want to worship themselves and be their own gods.
If society is the fish, then Gnosticism would be the water. It's everywhere today, in all facets of our culture, from the most niche pockets of entertainment to the civil religion practiced in government institutions. The corporate world and Mass-media seem to be obsessed with normalizing the radical, now militantly pushing homosexuality and transgenderism, as is the US Military. The American nation itself was created out of a kind of masonic gnostic rebellion against the old order of monarchy in favor of a government based on the collective minds of men. We tap into the gnostic ideals whenever we pledge allegiance to a flag of revolution in the name of freedom from authority. The Statue of Liberty hold alight the "sacred" torch of freedom and human enlightenment.
The modern age itself is crafted out of human willpower, or the ability for man to use his mind to harness the powers of nature. "Knowledge is Power." Science is on a continual Gnostic quest to find the hidden universal code behind all of reality. The reigning cosmological model of the "Big-Bang" is a familiar Gnostic motif whereby the entire universe exploded in a sudden and violent event from a state of purity that existed before physical nature itself... Christians routinely lean into Gnosticism when they embrace evolutionary models of the universe and creation.
Gnosticism directly manifests in the church when congregants become fixated on a personal spirit that is beyond intelligibility, driving them into a state of ecstasy, or replacing the real Gospel and becoming their own 'personal truth' about their relationship with God that is not or limited by the authority of scripture.
One of my motivations for writing all of this is that the church today seems largely at peace with the Gnosticism seething all around them and through their own congregations. The church almost feels like the moral office of the modern world, making sure we keep feeding the poor and building schools as the culture all around us and our children consolidates more and more into this new world order, where society keeps breaking down boundary after boundary. We are nearing the time where it will be considered a hate crime to not celebrate the transformation of a young boy into a girl... and it feels like the church, instead of standing in the stream of social change, has helped guide it along, and continues to drift along with the increasing hivemind of the world. The church seems defenseless and entangled because it's had its feet in the affairs of the world for so long.
This concern blends into a popular phenomena called "Moral Therapeutic Deism" which was recently found to be one of the most popular religious views among young people who would call themselves a Christian. The heaviest gnostic element is the Deism, in which the God becomes an unknown God that is behind all religions in the world, and as long as you're a good person you go to heaven. Heaven here is not so much the resurrected creation and specific architecture of the New Jerusalem, and the Temple of God with foundations and gates named after the tribes of Israel and the Apostles of Jesus... Instead the gnostic heaven is more like the state of pure energy and spiritual bliss where names and things don't even exist, an immaterial melding back into divine light.
Lost churches seem primed and ready to accept whatever mass delusion comes their away in order to guide them further into this one-world religion system, where they will be encouraged to worship, not the God of Israel, but the god beyond names and beyond codes of morality that might offend someone. The god of "World Peace" ...
A lot more could be said but I'll stop here... thanks for reading.
