A new force in popular cultureFor more on the Matrix angle on Gnosticism, see here.
Movies are fuelling a renewed fascination with Gnosticism today, but does it really offer satisfying answers?
[Skipping over the discussion of Dan Brown and Elaine Pagels, which you can read by following the link.
Still, despite the renewed fascination with Gnosticism today, does it really offer satisfying answers?
Although it appeals to many, Gnosticism has a harsh and depressing side.
In addition to politics, there may have also been strong metaphysical reasons for the early church rejecting it. Gnosticism teaches that the earthly realm is a meaningless illusion, a place full of suffering and pain. Developed in response to the cruel reign of the Roman Empire, Gnostics believed the world was a dismal place and the body was evil.
This bitter world, they thought, was like a bad dream, ruled by second-rate deities known as demiurges. Only the distant true God, existing in a completely different dimension, was good.
In many ways, this is the theme of The Matrix series, which paints our "normal" world as governed by malevolent forces. In The Matrix, the hero, Neo, is "saved" only after he "frees his mind" and obtains esoteric knowledge.
Despite the appeal of the Matrix movies, Gnostic theology's dualistic view of a bad world, good God, doesn't fit with western culture's current emphasis on spirituality as a way to integrate health, wholeness and gratitude for all that is.
It also contradicts mainstream Christianity's emphasis on Creation being good, an incarnation of God. Perhaps it is no surprise the only followers of Gnosticism today are about 20,000 so-called "Marsh Arabs" in Iran and southern Iraq (who were persecuted by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.)
But it's not necessary to entirely throw out Gnosticism. As Richard Smoley concludes in the new book, Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism, it's ultimately best to de-emphasize the ancient sect and focus more on the process of gnosis itself, on inner spiritual knowledge.
Authentic understanding, Smoley suggests, can be obtained by liberating oneself from false beliefs. Gnosis, Smoley astutely suggests, is as important as faith and reason as a way to comprehend the sacred.
Without some direct, intuitive experience of the sacred, spirituality always runs the danger of feeling second-hand.
On that note I'm going to go enjoy the material world at the drinks reception, which starts in a few minutes.