Gnosticism

High school (ages 12+)
Philosophy & Big Questions

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/gnosticism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary source revelation?The Nag Hammadi library, discovered in 1945, provided extensive primary Gnostic texts
2. What is the enduring influence?Ideas have resurfaced in various medieval and modern spiritual and philosophical movements
3. Why did Gnostics think the material world is bad?Gnostics believed the material world was made by a lesser god called the Demiurge and was a prison or illusion, so they wanted to escape it.
4. Who are some groups that were part of Gnosticism?Groups like the Sethians, Valentinians, and Marcionites were different Gnostic groups that had their own stories and ideas.

Gnosis: Esoteric spiritual knowledge, often mystical or intuitive, central to Gnostic salvation and liberation.
Demiurge: A subordinate creator deity, distinct from the supreme God, responsible for the flawed material universe.
Divine Spark: A fragment of the supreme God believed to be trapped within human beings, seeking reunification.
Aeons: Emanations or divine beings from the supreme God in Gnostic cosmology, forming the Pleroma (fullness).