Gnosis is understood as internal knowledge that brings us closer to God.
The Greek word gnosis , which translates as “knowledge,” came into our language as gnosis . This is the name given to the intuitive and absolute knowledge that is usually associated with a deity .
The lighting
The Gnostics , followers of the doctrine known as Gnosticism , aspired to achieve gnosis. The concept can also be associated with illumination : inner clarification, which can be reached through mystical means, through experience or through reason , depending on the position considered.
The doctrine of Gnosticism, developed from the combination of elements of Christianity , Judaism and Eastern philosophies , held the possibility of a mysterious access to the divine . Such knowledge was gnosis.
Access to the supreme god
For Gnosticism, gnosis allows us to know the divine condition of human nature . This knowledge is linked to the spiritual, transcending the traditional teachings of the church .
Continuing with this reasoning, the Gnostics affirmed that gnosis favored direct access to the supreme god . According to their beliefs, that was the path to salvation .
Slopes
There were different aspects of Gnosticism, some of which were considered heretical by Christianity, while others were integrated into said religion . For Christian Gnosticism , people were saved thanks to gnosis and not through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ . This means that Christian Gnosticism attributed to the individual himself the capacity for salvation based on the knowledge that gnosis implied.
Finally, neognosticism or modern gnosticism is known as the set of movements that, from the 18th century onwards, took up the idea of gnosis and the study of primitive Gnostic texts.
From paganism to Christianity
It is important to note that this term does not always have a positive connotation from the point of view of Christians. The group of priests, writers and theologians known in the ecclesiastical field as the Fathers of the Church always used the word gnosis to refer to the knowledge of the spiritual plane, of everything related to God. In this way, they managed to contrast its meaning with that given to it by the Gnostic sectarians , which had roots in paganism.
It came to the Greek Orthodox Church in the form of a crucial feature of the spiritual purification practices achieved by denying material pleasures, known as asceticism . Those responsible for transmitting these principles of Hellenic philosophy were, among others, Origen of Alexandria , Saint Hegesippus of Jerusalem , Irenaeus of Lyons , Saint Clement of Alexandria and Hippolytus of Rome .
Orthodox Christianity, especially that of the East, considers that gnosis is the knowledge possessed by a saint or a person who has been mystically enlightened . In almost all its meanings, its reach is repeated beyond the natural, the world that we can see and touch, to reach infinity.
Gnosis is also the spiritual purification of asceticism.
Cardiognosis
This term, which can be understood as knowledge of the heart , belongs to Christian theology and is defined as a very particular charisma that certain saints receive from God. In asceticism, mentioned above, it can be understood as the methods and techniques that seek a mystical state from within.
We can find references to this divine gift in the Bible, in the book of Saint Matthew, when the speech on the mountain is described. Matthew says that the “pure in heart” are “blessed” since they are able to see God “for themselves.” This can occur thanks to the internal work of purification that we mentioned before, through which the spirit is cleansed of all material and carnal influences that could interfere with communication with God.