Gnosticism

Gnosticism is a modern form of Egyptian religion that is a group of religious ideas from around the 1st century. "" is the ancient Greek word for "knowledge", but now more closely means "esoteric knowledge".Keller, P. (2021, December 16). Gnostic atheism: The knowledge that there is no god. Fadewblogs. Retrieved December 22, 2021 Gnostic ideas were a main part of early Christianity before being persecuted by other Christians. Gnostic ideas are also found in sects of Judaism and Islam, as well as in alchemy and other kinds of esotericism.

The word "Gnostic" was mostly used by people who were against these ideas. For this reason, some researchers have said that Gnosticism is a  of many separate religious movements. There are many problems for people who research Gnosticism:
 Many Gnostic teachings were esoteric, meaning they were kept secret or hidden
 A lot of what is known about Gnostic beliefs came from attacks written by non-Gnostic Christians
 Almost all Gnostic writings were destroyed by non-Gnostic Christians who wanted to wipe them out

 Beliefs 
Gnosticism says that humans are divine souls trapped in the ordinary physical (or material) world.  They say that the world was made by an imperfect spirit.

The imperfect spirit is thought to be the same as the God of Abraham. The imperfect spirit may be seen as evil, or sometimes just not perfect but doing the best it can.  

The real God who is good, is distant and not easy to know. In order to get free from the material world, a person has to get gnosis.  That is the special secret knowledge given only to a few special people. 

Some Gnostic groups saw Jesus as sent by the supreme being, to bring gnosis to the Earth.

 References 

 Other websites 

 Ancient Gnosticism
 Religious Tolerance  - A survey of Gnosticism
 Sacred Wisdom  - Gnosticism and Christian Esotericism
 Early Christian Writings - primary texts
 The Gnostic Society Library
 Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Gnosticism
 Introduction to Gnosticism 
 Jewish Encyclopedia: Gnosticism
 Proto-Gnostic elements in the Gospel according to John
 Gnostic version of the Bible and more on Gnostics 
 Catholic Encyclopedia: Gnosticism

 Contemporary Gnosticism
 The Alexandrian Gnostic Church 
 Apostolic Johannite Church
 Ecclesia Gnostica (Gnosis Archive)