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 GNOSTICISM

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GNOSTICISM

disciples, Potitus, Basilicus, and Lucanus, are men- tioned by Eusebius as being true to tiieir master's dualism (H. E., V, xiii), but Apelles, his chief disciple, though he went farther than his master in rejecting the Old-Testament Scriptures, returned to monotheism by considering the Inspirer of Old-Testament prophecies to be not a god, but an evil angel. On the other hand, Syneros and Prepon, also his disciples, postulated three first principles. A somewhat different dualism was taught by Hermogenes in the beginning of the second century at Carthage. The opponent of the good God was not the God of the Jews, but Eternal Matter, the source of all evil. This Gnostic was com- bated by Theophilus of Antioch and Tertullian.

(d) The Antinomian School. — As the moral law was given by the God of the Jews, and opposition to the God of the Jews was a duty, the breaking of the moral law to spite its giver was considered a solemn obli- gation. Such a sect, called the Nicolaites, existed in Apostolic times, their principle, according to Origen, was irapaxpv'rSai. tJ <rapKl. Carpocrates, whom Ter- tullian (De animd, x.x.xv) calls a magician and a forni- cator, was a contemporary of Basilides. One could only escape the cosmic powers through discharging one's obligations to them by infamous conduct. To disre- gard all law and sink oneself into the Monad by re- membering one's pre-existence in the Cosmic Unit — such was the Gnosis of Carpocrates. His son Epiph- anes followed his father's doctrine so closely that he died in consequence of his sins at the age of seventeen. Antinomian views were further maintained by the Prodicians and Antitactse. No more ghastly instance of insane immorality can be found than the one men- tioned in Pistis Sophia itself as practised by some Gnostics. St. Justin (.\pol., I, x.xvi), Irenseus (I, XXV, 3). and Eusebius (H. E., IV, vii) make it clear that " the reputation of these men brought infamy upon the whole race of Christians".

Literature. — The Gnostics developed an astound- ing literary activity, which produced a quantity of writings far surpassing the contemporary output of Catholic literature. They were most prolific in the sphere of fiction, as it is safe to say that three-fourths of the early Christian romances about Christ and His disciples emanated from Cinostic circles. Besides these — often crude and clumsy — romances they pos- sessed what may be called " theosophic " treatises and revelations of a highly mystical character. These are best described as a stupefying roar of bombast occa- sionally interrupted by a few words of real sublimity. Taine remarks with justice: "Anyone who reads the teachings of the Gnostics breathes in an atmosphere of fever and fancies himself in a hospital, amongst deliri- ous patients, who are lost in gazing at their own teem- ing thought and who fi.x their lustrous eyes on empty space" (Essais de crit. et d'histoire, Paris, 1904). Gnostic literature, therefore, possesses little or no in- trinsic value, however great its value for history and psychology. It is of unparalleled importance in the study of the surroundings in which Christianity first arose. The bulk of it is unfortunately no longer ex- tant. With the exception of some Coptic translations and some expurgated or Catholicized Syriac versions, we possess only a number of fragments of what once must have formed a large library. Most of this litera- ture will be found catalogued under the names of Gnostic authors in the articles Basilides; Barde- s.ANES; Cerinthus; Marcion; Simon Magus; Ptol- emy; Valentinus. We shall enumerate in the fol- lowing paragraphs only anonymous Gnostic works and such writings as are not attributed to any of the alcove authors.

The Nicolaites possessed "some books under the name of Jaldabaoth", a book called "Noria" (the mythical wife of Noe), a prophecy of Barcabbas, who was a soothsayer among the Basilidians, a " Gospel of the Consummation ", and a kind of apocalypse called

"the Gospel of Eva" (Epiph., Adv. H;rr., xxv, xxvi; Philastr., 33). The Ophites possessed "thousands" of apocrypha, as Epiphanius tells us; among these he specially mentions: "Questions of Mary, great and small" (some of these questions are perhaps e.xtant in the Pistis Sophia) ; also many books imder the name of " Seth ", " Revelations of .\dam ", Apocrj-phal Gospels attributed to .\postles; an Apocalypse of Elias, and a book called " Genua Marias". Of these writings some revelations of Adam and Seth, eight in number, are probably extant in an Armenian translation, pub- lished in the Mechitarist collection of Old-Testament apocrypha (Venice, 1806). See Preuschen, " Die apo- crj^ph. Gnost. Adamschr." (Giessen, 1900). The Cainites possessed a " Gospel of Judas ", an " Ascension of Paul" {dyajJaTiKov Ilav\ov), and some other book, of which we do not know the title, but which, according to Epiphanius, was full of wickedness. The Prodi- cians, according to Clem. Alex., possessed apocrypha vmder the name of Zoroaster (Strom., I, xv, 69). 'The Antinomians had an apocryphon " full of audacity and wickedness" (Strom., Ill, iv, 29; Origen, "InMatth.", xxviii). The Naassenes had a book out of which Hip- polj-tus largely quotes, but of which we do not know the title. It contained a commentary on Bible texts, hymns, and psalms. The Peratie possessed a similar book. The Sethians possessed a " Paraphrasis Seth ", consisting of seven books, explanatory of their sys- tem, a book called 'AXXovo'eis, or "Foreigners", an "Apocalypse of Adam", a book attributed to Moses, and others. The .\rchontians possessed a large and small book entitled "Symphonia"; this is possibly extant in Pitra's "Analecta Sacra" (Paris, 1888). The Gnostics attacked by Plotinus possessed apocrypha attributed to Zoroaster, Zostrian, Nicotheus, .\llo- genes (the Sethian Book " Allogeneis''?), and others. In addition to these writings the following apocry- pha are evidently of Gnostic authorship: (1) "The Gospel of the Twelve". — This is first referred to by Origen (Hom. i, in Luc), is identical with the Gospel of the Ebionites, and is also called the " Gospel according to Matthew ", because in it Christ refers to St. Matthew in the second person, and the author speaks of the other Apostles and himself as "we". This Gospel was written before A. D. 200. and has no connexion with the so-called Hebrew St. Matthew or the Gospel ac- cording to the Hebrews. (2) "The Gospel according to the Egyptians", i. e. Christian countrj'folk of Egypt, not .Alexandrians. It was written about A. D. 150 and referred to by Clem. .\lex. (Strom., Ill, ix, 63; xiii, 93) and Origen (Hom. i, in Luc), and was largely used in non-Catholic circles. Only small fragments are extant in Clem. .\lex. (Strom, and Excerp. ex Theod.). Some people have referred the O.xyrhynchus "Logia" and the Strasburg Coptic papyri to this Gospel, but this is a mere guess. (3) "The Gospel of Peter", written about a. d. 140 in Antioch (.see Docet.e). .\bout another Petrine Gospel, see description of the .\hmin Codex. (4) .A. " Gospel of Matthias " writ- ten about A. D. 125, used in Basilidian circles (see B.\- siLiDEs). (5) A "Gospel of Philip" and a "Gospel of Thomas". .According to the Pistis Sophia, the three .\postles Matthew [read Matthias], Thomas, and Philip received a Divine commission to report all Christ's revelations after His Resurrection. The Gospel of Thomas must have been of considerable length (1300 lines) ; part of it, in an expurgated recen- sion, is possibly extant in the once popular, but vulgar and foolish, "Stories of the Infancy of Our Lord by Thomas, an Israelite philosopher", of which two Greek, a Latin, a SjTiac, and a Slavonic version exist. (6) "Acts of Peter" {Upa^a U^rpov), written about A. D. 165. Large fragments of this Gnostic produc- tion have been preserved to us in the original Greek and also in a Latin translation under the title of " Mar- tyrdom of the Holy .Apostle Peter", to which the Latin adds, "a Lino episcopo conscriptum ". Greater