Gnosticism: inner spirituality that elicits response, like music

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

The following excerpts are brilliant!:

 

" Gnosticism was more than a tendency, more even than a party or a movement: I

think it is best to call it a spirituality... " .

 

" There is a quality of unprecedentedness about Gnosticism, an atmosphere of

originality that disconcerts the orthodox of any faith. Creativity and

imagination, irrelevant and even dangerous to dogmatic religion, are essential

to Gnosticism. "

 

" When I encounter this quality, I recognize it instantly, and an answering,

cognitive music responds in me. "

 

regards,

 

violet

 

 

Historical Gnosticism, so far as I can surmise, was invented by the Jews of the

first century of the Common Era as a protest against just such a mystery of

faith which, as Emily Dickinson wrote, " bleats to understand. " Yet " Gnosticism "

is an ambiguous term; even " the Gnostic religion, " Hans Jonas's suggestion,

creates difficulties, as he acknowledged. There were, so far as we can

ascertain, few, perhaps no Gnostic churches or temples in the ancient world. And

yet Gnosticism was more than a tendency, more even than a party or a movement: I

think it is best to call it a spirituality, one that was and is a deliberate,

strong revision of Judaism and Christianity, and of Islam later. There is a

quality of unprecedentedness about Gnosticism, an atmosphere of originality that

disconcerts the orthodox of any faith. Creativity and imagination, irrelevant

and even dangerous to dogmatic religion, are essential to Gnosticism. When I

encounter this quality, I recognize it instantly, and an answering, cognitive

music responds in me. "

 

Harold Bloom, Omens of the Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams,

and Resurrection, pages 1-24

Paperback: 255 pages

Publisher: Riverhead Books (October 1, 1997)

ISBN-10: 1573226297

ISBN-13: 978-1573226295

 

http://www.adishakti.org/_/gnostic_gospels_self-knowledge_is_knowledge_of_god.ht\

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