everything we know is part of "hell"!

Gnostic Hell

GNOSTIC HELL: The Gnostics (a term meaning "those who know") are members of an early Christian cult that rejected many of Christ's teachings, especially regarding the nature of matter. They believe that material creations are inherently evil and that existence on earth is equivalent to damnation in hell. Humanity therefore dwells in a state of damnation during life and can reach paradise only by ridding itself of all association with matter.

Gnosticism teaches that God is a distant being who has little contact with humankind. He did not make the world: This was done by the child of the fallen angel Sophia (meaning knowledge). Her son was a lower god who created the realm of human existence. People are thus flawed, and their good comes only from Sophia and her attempts at atoning for her sins. She is destined to be continually reborn, as Helen of Troy, Mary Magdalene, and other prominent women, until the end of time.

According to Gnostic belief, Jesus' incarnation was actually a descent into the underworld. He routs the lower god's kingdom, bringing its subjects secret knowledge, or gnosis. This enables people to attain paradise. Hell is thus a denial of the union with the higher God, not a place of corporal punishment. Since on earth we are separated from God, this life is no different from existence in hell. And because the material universe (including human life) was created by a fallen god, it too is evil. Therefore everyone must pass through the "inferno" before being saved.

A manuscript from the third century, the PISTIS-SOPHIA, describes the Gnostic nature of hell. In the text, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene that the underworld is a "huge dragon" that completely surrounds the world. Inside the dragon are "twelve dungeons of horrible torment," each containing its own overlord, a brutal DEMON who administers torture.

Christian leaders immediately condemned this teaching on several grounds. First, they rejected the concept of God as cold and aloof rather than as a loving father. Second, the hypothesis that some "lower god" had so much power over humans and their fate was illogical and baseless. Most important, Gnostic faith rendered the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ irrelevant, since his very incarnation released souls from hell. (o)