Behind | Workbook: Gnosticism

Grab your Workbook Journal!

[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]

Gnosticism is a general term describing religious beliefs and groups that share a number of common features. Gnosticism is grounded in the belief that the physical and spiritual realms are at odds with each other and that human salvation is found in rejection and transcendence of the physical world. The word Gnosticism is Greek for “having knowledge,” and the concept of “knowing” has a central place in Gnostic religion and spirituality. The key to salvation from the material world was believed to be the acquisition of secret knowledge curated and shared by communities who had established reliable means of transcendence.

2. Read the passages below from John’s Gospel and identify what about them might resonate with a Gnostic audience, or might be confused with Gnostic ideas. 

3. The language of “knowledge” or “knowing” appears more in this Gospel than in any other New Testament book. The frequency of this language would have caught the attention of early Gnostics. With that in mind, how would a Gnostic view of secret or divine knowledge differ from the knowledge referenced in the passages above?