Understanding Gnostic Salvation in Christian Gnosticism

Before delving into the world of Gnostic salvation, it is imperative to understand the historical context of the term “Gnosticism” and how it came to be.

Many modern scholars have come to agree that the gnōstikoi, or Christian heretics, were most active during the second and third centuries CE. However, “gnosis” and “Gnosticism” are present in many different religions and schools of thought that were once active across the Middle East and Asia, characterized by esoteric and mystical practices.

For the purpose of this article, our focus will be on Christian Gnosticism specifically, and how this belief system differed (and opposed) early Orthodox Christian views of salvation.

The theologian Valentinus was instrumental in developing Christian Gnosticism. He established his own school of thought in Alexandria, though scholars now view this as an early Church.

Valentinus and his teachers were interested in providing their own interpretations and philosophical views of early Christian texts. Early fathers of the church despised such schools of thought and ordered the burning of many gnostic texts, which spurred the extinction of Gnosticism as a practice.

Scholars had to resort to speculation as to what these texts might hold, until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in 1945. This discovery shed light on early Gnostic communities and their beliefs and created a Gnostic revival that resulted in the erection of many new “Gnostic” churches.

Key Tenets of Christian Gnosticism

Before looking at the path to salvation, it is important to understand the key tenets of Gnosticism. The whole universe originates from the highest being (the One/the Father), and the rest of the cosmos is made up of various emanations of this divinity, even humanity.

The “lower” emanations of the divinity are made up of lesser gods, as well as humanity. Gnostics believed that the world was not created by the Supreme Being (God), but by a lesser, malevolent being called the demiurge. Some Gnostics conflated the demiurge with what they called the “Jewish god.”

Since the world was created by a malevolent being through error, the world itself is bad and evil. This means that everything physical, including our human bodies, is evil as well. However, as the emanation furthest from the Supreme Being, humanity still retains the Divine Spark that can lead us back to the pure divinity which is the “One.”

The only way to obtain pure divinity is by returning to the Source, or “Home” — becoming one with the Supreme Being. Like many world religions and philosophies of the time, a savior is needed in this narrative. In the case of Christian Gnosticism, this savior is Jesus, but not in the way that mainstream Christianity views him.

Gnostics view Jesus as a figure who is a direct emanation of the Supreme Being, bypassing the demiurge, and coming to Earth to show mankind back to their own divinity. There was some disagreement among Gnostics about whether Jesus had a physical body or not since our flesh is seen as inherently impure because of the demiurge.

Some Gnostics believed he did not have a physical form, and instead only appeared to have one, which means that he could not have died. Other Gnostics believed that Jesus was truly only human and that he obtained gnosis and taught his followers to do the same.

Gnostics did not view salvation in terms of sins and virtues, but rather enlightenment (knowledge) and ignorance. Morality and virtue were still highly valued, and if sin was mentioned it was the sin of willful ignorance. Therefore, Gnostics did not seek salvation from sin, but rather from ignorance and incomprehension, which traps a person in the material world. Gnosis, and consequently salvation, happens in the spiritual which cannot be corrupted by the evil of materiality.

Gnostics believed that the only path to salvation was through enlightenment and gnosis. Gnosis is defined as direct, secret knowledge of the divine. This knowledge, or more specifically self-knowledge, can only be found within and can be attained through esoteric practices and rituals. Most Gnostics did not believe that Jesus was sent to earth to die for our sins or to offer a path to salvation through him. Instead, it was believed that Jesus was sent to earth to remind mankind of their own divinity and that salvation can be found within.

Many gnostic texts still highlight the importance of morality and the avoidance of sin as being integrated into this search for knowledge. At the end of this path of salvation is not heaven, as in mainstream Christianity, but reintegration with the divinity.

The Gnostic idea of hell is also not congruent with traditional interpretations, but rather “hell” is never escaping materiality and never rejoining the Source. The biggest punishment in this case is never returning Home and being trapped in ignorance, like being in limbo. Thus, Jesus’s martyrdom was not to relieve us from sin but to release us from cosmic suffering. Rituals and practices that could aid a Gnostic in their pursuit of Gnosis are explored below.

Salvation Through Ritual

All denominations of Christianity believe that Jesus Christ was sent to Earth to save humanity from sin and that this happened through the Crucifixion. The way to obtain this salvation is through faith and grace, and (depending on the denomination) the sacraments of the Church.

Rituals and practices that might help this along are baptism, reading the Bible, prayer, and following the teachings of Christ. Many of Christ’s teachings have been immortalized in the Bible in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These teachings were imparted to various audiences during the travels of Jesus, as well as through the specific teachings directed to his disciples.

Gnostics of the early centuries CE were labeled as heretics, as their interpretation of scripture and the life of Jesus Christ was contradictory to the teachings of the early church. Gnostic scriptures directly and consciously go against mainstream church interpretations. For example, some gnostic gospels state that Jesus revealed secret knowledge to a select few disciples, as well as to Mary Magdalene.

Other gnostic gospels completely retell the nativity of Jesus, as in the Infancy Gospel of James, which reports Jesus appearing fully formed in Mary’s arms, instead of a traditional birth, reinforcing the perpetual virginity of Mary. It goes without saying, then, that salvation is also obtained differently.

A few different rituals are discussed in gnostic texts that are designed to bring the practitioner closer to a heavenly, divine counterpart that never fell to the material world. One such practice was called the “Bridal Chamber,” which involved the celebration of a person’s soul reuniting with its counterpart, but it is unknown whether any actual marriages took place. It invokes the New Testament image of the “marriage” between Christ and the Church.

Another mainstream Christian ritual that also held significance in Gnosticism is baptism. A fragment of a Valentinian prayer suggests that anyone who is baptized will grow closer to their divine counterpart, just as Jesus became one with the Spirit after being baptized in the River Jordan.

Other rituals that are mentioned include post-mortem ascension through heavenly realms, with each realm requiring a spiritual baptism to proceed, along with a death ritual that will enable a soul’s spiritual transformation, although this ritual is never expounded upon.

Mystical vision was another ritual practice. In Corinthians, Paul recounts a vision of ascending through at least three heavens, although the details are sparse. A later Gnostic text, The Apocalypse of Paul, expands on the mystical vision in Corinthians and Paul eventually arrives in the tenth heaven, where Gnostic spirits dwell.

Various Gnostic groups placed heavy emphasis on rituals such as last rites and sacred meals. Practices such as fasting and celibacy were also encouraged because abstaining from worldly things could bring one closer to knowledge.

Pretending to know when one was ignorant was unforgivable — sincerity and humility in the journey to enlightenment were imperative. This meant that constant self-reflection, along with a mind free of material interests and passions was instrumental in the pursuit of Gnosis. Gnostics also followed in the footsteps of Christ and held his teachings in high regard. So, while Jesus was not seen as the way to salvation, he was seen as a guide to help Gnostics get there.

These rituals and practices show that even though Gnostics viewed salvation differently from mainstream Christian theology at the time, they still retained a lot of the core teachings such as living a moral life, abstaining from vices that might corrupt the mind, and following the teachings of Christ. However, salvation is seen as an individual pursuit, and every person has the power to save themselves from this corrupt material world.