<p>Den här uppsatsen handlar om modern gnosticism, tolkat utifrån fyra nygnostiska rörelser jag fann på Internet. Efter att ha läst dessa valda rörelsers texter slog det mig att en fundamental förändring hade skett, med tanke på texter om antik gnosticism. Framför allt hade den mörka synen på materian förändrats, och därmed synen på de feminina och maskulina aspekterna samt ondskan också. Om man går på linjen att de var materia- och kvinnofientliga samt ville undfly reinkarnation. De här aspekterna, materian, människan och ondska, reflekteras dock fortfarande i ljuset av de antika gnostiska myterna. Myter som bär upp denna andliga filosofis ramverk kring människans existentiella villkor. Grundtemat är på så sätt detsamma, men tolkningarna om universum, livet och människans livsvillkor är modifierad från äldre skrifters beskrivning av och om gnostikernas världsbild.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka några nygnostiska rörelser i det sekulära väst, och hitta likheter och skillnader speglat mot den antika gnosticismen. Sättet att finna dem gick via Internet och synliggörandet av dem, och deras mytiska världsbild, gick via deras myter om materian, människan och ondska.</p>

Katarismen är en gammal religion och livsfilosofi som hade sin storhetstid under medeltiden. Minst 500 år vet man att den existerade. Den hade sitt centrum i Frankrike med en geografisk halvmåne som sträckte sig genom Italien upp mot Flandern, Tyskland och området kring Rhendalen. De hämtade sin livsfilosofi från gnosticismen. De som brukade denna religion och livsåskådning kallades för katarer och kättare av katolska kyrkan. Oliktänkande som de var gentemot katolska kyrkan så skulle de förgöras och detta skedde också på ett mycket grymt sätt, genom att bli brända på bål. Katarerna var och är än i dag kända för sin starka tro på det gudomliga i naturen. De ser en helhet i naturen, att allt har en själ och att det finns en ande i allt. Dessa trodde på att människan hade en fallen ängels själ i sin kropp, och att den kunde återvända till himmelen om man levde efter ett visst sätt. Sättet att leva efter hittade de i sina böner och riter. Deras tro kallades för katarism. Idag finns det olika rörelser som hämtar inspiration från katarismen bland annat Rosenkorsorden och Den urkristliga levnadsskolan. Båda dessa finns verksamma i Sverige i vår tid och de ser sig själva som ett komplement till den kyrka som vi har.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om modern gnosticism, tolkat utifrån fyra nygnostiska rörelser jag fann på Internet. Efter att ha läst dessa valda rörelsers texter slog det mig att en fundamental förändring hade skett, med tanke på texter om antik gnosticism. Framför allt hade den mörka synen på materian förändrats, och därmed synen på de feminina och maskulina aspekterna samt ondskan också. Om man går på linjen att de var materia- och kvinnofientliga samt ville undfly reinkarnation. De här aspekterna, materian, människan och ondska, reflekteras dock fortfarande i ljuset av de antika gnostiska myterna. Myter som bär upp denna andliga filosofis ramverk kring människans existentiella villkor. Grundtemat är på så sätt detsamma, men tolkningarna om universum, livet och människans livsvillkor är modifierad från äldre skrifters beskrivning av och om gnostikernas världsbild. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka några nygnostiska rörelser i det sekulära väst, och hitta likheter och skillnader speglat mot den antika gnosticismen. Sättet att finna dem gick via Internet och synliggörandet av dem, och deras mytiska världsbild, gick via deras myter om materian, människan och ondska.

This dissertation sets out to determine the social function of paraenesis ("moral exhortation") within Valentinian Christianity. In order to explicate this social function, this study places the discussion within the context of ancient rhetorical practices of ethical admonition; i.e., how did paraenetic discursive practices act as rhetorical devices for affecting social formation? In order to establish the function of paraenesis, it is necessary to engage both literary and social aspects of the paraenetic genre. The latter is most challenging, given the methodological difficulties inherent in moving from textual context to socio-historical reconstruction of the situation behind a text. To address this problem, a method is adapted from sociology (interactionism) and social psychology (positioning theory) in order to critically gauge the social idealization of the sources. Special attention is given to the paraenetic contours of the Gospel of Truth (NHC I,3) and the Interpretation of Knowledge (NHC XI,1). / This dissertation is structured into five chapters. The first chapter will frame the discussion within current developments in the study of Gnosticism, where there has been a growing appreciation for social and ethical aspects of the Nag Hammadi tractates. A delimitation of the source base for this study will also be offered. Chapter 2 will offer a comprehensive overview of scholarly discussions of paraenesis over the past century. A functional definition, with an attendant typology of paraenetic material will be offered in closing. Chapter 3 directly engages the literary aspects of paraenesis within Valentinianism, placing the discussion within the context of moral exhortation in the Greco-Roman world, and, more specifically, early Christianity. This chapter will establish the presence of paraenesis within the Valentinian sources. Chapter 4 will then address the social function of paraenesis in two examples of Valentinian paraenesis, highlighting the rhetorical and discursive voice of each text. The final chapter will summarize the findings of the dissertation and raise implications of this study for the field of early Christian studies.

Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante– Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos. / Thesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists attempts to characterize the ethos of late antiquity (100–500 CE) as one that despised matter and the body. It operates within the assumption that there are four criteria which establish this characterization, namely an emphasis on the evil of life, a distrust of the sociopolitical world, asceticism, and an interest in the supernatural. These four criteria are evident in the Platonists, Christians, and Gnostics of the period. As Chapter Two reveals the dissertation understands the concept of ethos in the context of R. C. Trench's discussion of aion: "all the thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, impulses, and aspirations present in the world at any given time." In Chapter Three Plato and the Middle Platonists are viewed as bequeathing to late antiquity its world–denying philosophy which the Gnostics preached more incessantly than the Platonists and the Christians practiced more conscientiously than the Gnostics. The Neoplatonists were the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of such figures as Plotinus and Porphyry the hatred of matter and the body is boldly expressed, and it is only slightly less apparent in later philosophers like Iamblichus and Proclus. In Plotinus we discern a profound distrust of the sociopolitical world and in Proclus a thoroughgoing asceticism paired with an interest in the supernatural. In Chapter Four it is shown that Gnosticism was more unyielding than either Platonism or Christianity in its insistence that matter and the body were evil, and it followed the late antique distrust of the social world both in its elitism and in its view of martyrdom as an act of casting pearls before swine. Gnosticism tended to accept the asceticism of late antiquity though some of its adherents practiced an extreme licentiousness that was the counterpart of asceticism in that it approached the body as worthless. The late antique emphasis on the supernatural is evidenced by such Gnostic figures as Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus. Chapter Five demonstrates that the hatred of matter and the body is also expressed by the Christians albeit with less consistency to their worldview. It can be glimpsed in the ante– Nicene, post–Nicene, and desert fathers as well as in the Arians. It is most notable in the attempts of Justin Martyr, Origen, and Arius to place the Son at a lower ontological level than the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The late antique distrust of the sociopolitical world is manifested in the Christian view of martyrdom as a way of scorning a corrupt world, a view unlike that of the Gnostics. No one possessed this distrust more strongly than the Donatists with whom the later Augustine had some kinship. Many of the Christians tended to practice asceticism and the miraculous, the form in which the supernatural took in their case. The desert fathers can be said to be the most sincere representatives of late antiquity with their intense practice of both of these expressions of the ethos. / Thesis (M.A. (Church and Dogma history))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The thesis describes the relationship between the ancient Gnosticism as we know it from the Nag Hammadi library and as it is described in the works of early church fathers and New Testament. It outlines basic topics similar to all versions of a classical cosmogenic Gnostic myth. The subject of the faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ and its relationship to the establishing a Church structure is discussed. Another topic is the problem of human free will and that of good and evil and its consequences for human morale. The ways of different understanding to it are presented, based on Old Testament story of Adam and Eve as reffered to in the book of Genesis.

Este estudo trata sobre os cristãos, de ontem e de hoje, ante a tentação de se acomodarem ao mundo. Ele toma como ponto de apoio o Ap 2-3. Na primeira parte, a pesquisa estabelece um paralelo entre o Apocalipse de São João, a Apocalíptica judaica e o movimento profético que precedeu o movimento apocalíptico, em Israel. Embora aproximem-se mais da literatura profética, devido ao otimismo demonstrado com relação à história presente, as cartas dirigidas às Igrejas da Ásia Menor, segundo Ap 2-3, são marcadas por uma linguagem simbólica associada a momentos de crise, uma vez que o contexto dessas Igrejas, no final do primeiro século, é marcado pelo conflito com o Império Romano e com o Judaísmo. Assim, na segunda parte, a pesquisa nos mostra que a pressão exercida sobre as populações dominadas pelo Império Romano era muito forte, e a tentação de adaptar-se ao sistema imperial era muito grande. Jogava a favor do Império o movimento gnóstico, cujas teorias penetravam nas Igrejas com o apoio de lideranças e de membros das próprias comunidades cristãs. Ao dirigir-se então às sete Igrejas da Ásia Menor, o autor de Ap 2-3 pretende despertar as comunidades para uma ameaça que não era só externa, mas também interna, a saber: a penetração da heresia gnóstica, que favorecia a adaptação do cristianismo ao ambiente do Império Romano. Na terceira parte, constatamos que essa tentação de adaptar-se ao mundo continua muito presente em nossos dias. Continua muito atual, portanto, a mensagem contida nas cartas dirigidas às comunidades da Ásia Menor, que têm como primeira finalidade despertar os cristãos de sua acomodação e de seus compromissos com a ordem presente. Aos cristãos de hoje, seduzidos pela cultura atual e tão bem adaptados à sociedade, que já não percebem as contradições presentes nelas, o apelo é para que voltem a Jesus Cristo e retomem a conduta de outrora (cf. Ap 2,5), o que significa, muitas vezes, colocar-se na contramão da história, para testemunhar, no seio de uma comunidade cristã, que um outro mundo é possível. / This study deals with Christians from the beginning to today in the presence of the temptation to accommodate themselves to the world. It takes as point of support Revelation, chapter 2 and 3. In the first part, the research establishes a parallel between Apocalypse of John and the Jewish apocalyptic and the prophetic movement that preceded the apocalyptic movement in Israel. Although the letters written to the churches of Asia Minor, according to The Rev. 2-3, due to the optimism shown with respect to the present history, they are marked by a symbolic language associated with a crisis, since the context of these churches, at the end of the first century, is marked by conflict with the Roman Empire and Judaism. Thus, in the second part, the research shows that the pressure on the populations dominated by the Roman Empire was very strong, and the temptation to adapt them to the imperial system was too great. The Gnostic movement was in favour of the Empire, whose theories penetrated the churches with the support of leaders and members of their communities. In addressing the then seven Churches of Asia Minor, the author of Revelation 2-3 intended to arouse interest the communities to a "threat" that was not only external but also internal, namely the penetration of the Gnostic heresy, which favored adaptation of Christianity to the environment of the Roman Empire. In the third part, we found that the temptation to adapt to the world is still very present today. It's still very current, so the message contained in the letters addressed to the communities of Asia Minor, whose first purpose awaken Christians of their accommodation and their commitment to the present order. For today Christians, "seduced" by the current culture and so well adapted to society, they no longer perceive the contradictions in them, the appeal is to come back to Jesus Christ and "resume the conduct of old" (cf. Rev. 2,5), which means often put in the "opposite" of history, to witness, within a Christian community, that another world is possible.

Cette étude se propose de rendre compte du conflit qui opposa Plotin aux Gnostiques. Uneintroduction met en scène les protagonistes et décrit les circonstances de leur l’affrontement.Une première partie étudie la forme de cette polémique exceptionnelle dans les traités dePlotin, la rapproche de celle des hérésiologues chrétiens à l’encontre de ces mêmesGnostiques et fait l’hypothèse qu’elle ne fut pas ignorée de Plotin. Les parties suivantesprésentent la philosophie de Plotin pour l’opposer à la doctrine gnostique dans les domainescosmologique, théologique et anthropologique. Elles présentent et étudient, en chacun de cesdomaines, les critiques de fond que Plotin adresse aux thèses de l’adversaire, lui reprochant deméconnaître la nature des réalités dont il traite, de tenir des discours dépourvus de logique, dene proposer aucune méthode pour réaliser ses objectifs (le salut). Les critiques de Plotin àl’encontre des Gnostiques constituent une défense du platonisme et de la philosophie elle-même,ainsi que de toutes les valeurs sur lesquelles se fonde toute la pensée de Plotin. / This study accounts for the conflict between Plotinus and the Gnostics. The introductionportrays the protagonists, and describes the circumstances of their confrontation. The first partstudies the form of this exceptional controversy in the treaties of Plotinus, draws a parallelwith the controversy between the Christian Heresiologists and the Gnostics, and hypothesizesthat the later was not unknown to Plotinus. The subsequent parts explain the philosophy ofPlotinus and contrast it with the Gnostic doctrine in the cosmological, theological andanthropological domains. They present and analyse, in each of these areas, the fundamentalcritiques that Plotinus addresses to his opponents, accusing them of misunderstanding thenature of the realities that they deal with, of making speeches devoid of logic, and ofproposing no method to achieve their aims (salvation). The critiques of Plotinus against theGnostics constitute a defense of Platonism and of philosophy itself, and also of all the valuesthat underlie the thought of Plotinus.

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