“I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” – Revelation 22:16

The subject of who Christ was has a myriad of viewpoints, from the Christian tradition, to the Islamic and Bahá’í Faith, and to a lesser extent even a Jewish perspective. Even within Christianity, the largest faith that claims to represent the legacy of Christ, there are differing views on who exactly Christ was and his nature. Naturally, there also exists a Gnostic view on the character of Christ.

The religious and anti-religious people quarrel amongst each other about the historical existence of Christ, but the wise are above such petty arguments. The Gnostic realizes that it being a myth, the story of Christ represents an archetype for a messianic figure that very well could have existed at any point in history. What I’m saying is anyone, including you, could be a Christ. The importance of the myth is not whether a man named “Jesus Christ” ever existed or not (which we know his name obviously would not have been Jesus), but the importance of the myth deals with the life lessons and morals it teaches. We take his example and teachings and apply them to our lives in order to draw closer to the true God….for Christ did come in the name of the True God. Allow me to explain…

Do you remember the Serpent within the garden? As addressed in the previous post, the Gnostic looks at the Serpent as a messianic figure who taught Adam and Eve knowledge of themselves. This knowledge, “gnosis”, made them aware of their Divinity from the spark of light within them that connected them to the Source of all things. The Gnostic identifies Christ as being one and the same as the Serpent from the Garden myth who appeared at a later time in order to teach the people knowledge of themselves and free them from the religious authorities’ (i.e. the Pharisees) laws that had been forced on the people. This is where the Gnostic tradition of Christ differs from the rest; where Christian and Islamic views claim that Christ was the son of or the messenger of the god of Abraham Yahweh/Allah, the Gnostic claims that Christ was sent from the Monad, the Source of all life, in the same way the Serpent was sent to Adam & Eve and opposed the god of the Garden and the Pharisees, Yahweh.

When one reads the Old Testament of the Bible, they learn that a group of people called the Hebrews who later became known as Israel were subjected to a large number of religious laws and commands given to them by the priest and rabbis who were the servants of Yahweh. When you broke or did not follow these laws and commands you were punished severely, many even resulting in you being stoned and killed. It was believed by these people that by following these man-made religious laws they would be in god’s grace and closer to him. They had no knowledge of the spark of Divinity within them, and were in fact far away from their Divine Source. Like the ancestors Adam and Eve before them, the Tribes of Israel were slaves to the religion of Yahweh and unaware of their true selves and origin. Christ was then sent to them in order to teach them about the God within.

“For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” – Luke 17:21

While this may seem like a new radical idea to someone who has never researched the topic of Christ from the Gnostic point of view, there is actually plenty of Gnostic literature to support such a view including gospels that did not make it into the Bible when it was compiled and created by the Catholic Church. In part two of this subject I will go in-depth and show what exactly these scriptures say pertaining to Christ. For now, I will show you how some of the Gnostic elements have survived within the biblical text itself.

The Gospel of John often refers to Light, the concept of Light being important within Gnostic thought symbolizing knowledge, and even refers to Christ as being the “Light of the world” (John 8:12). The following are some more examples of the Gospel mentioning Light when speaking of Christ:

“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” – John 3:19

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” – John 8:12

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” – John 9:5

“Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.” – John 12:35-36

“I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness” – John 12:46

The Gnostics interpreted these verses as Christ being the wise teacher of gnosis, or self-knowledge, sent to the world to free man from his bondage of ignorance, religious superstition, and carnal desires. By listening to the words of Christ, one could become aware of their inner Divinity and be a “child of light”, that Light being the spark within man that connects him to the ALL.

Christ’s harsh and direct criticisms of the Pharisees along with what they saw as his radical new theology (See the “Sermon on the Mount”) also made the Gnostics determine that Christ was not sent by who the religious authorities called god, Yahweh, with his list of commands and vengeful retaliations for disobedience, but was sent from the upper realms of Light called the Pleroma where the Source of all life the Monad existed. Christ was a man who at his baptism by John obtained a word from above, or rather he was the Word, and showed his followers how they could obtain salvation through finding the Kingdom of God within. At his alleged crucifixion, the Gnostics held that only the body was hung, but Christ’s spirit was raised up back into the Pleroma, and therefore he was not truly killed or crucified. This set their theology that it was not Christ’s sacrifice on the cross that offered people any sort of salvation, for he did not actually suffer death, but rather it was his life, teachings, and example that offered the gnosis necessary for salvation, connecting back and becoming one with your Source.

Does the Gnostic believe that Christ will return one day? Yes and no. Be reminded that in Gnostic thought these myths are not taken as being historical or literal, but rather are taken as stories explaining universal principles, cosmic cycles, and life lessons. So while they do not believe in the literal return of a man named “Jesus Christ”, they do believe that messianic figures have appeared and will always continue to appear to bring word and awareness of the Divine within man and free him from the bondage of ignorance and the material world. This messianic figure could be anyone, including you, for we all have a spark within us that connects us to the Divine. Through self-realization, you can tap into your Divine faculties and live a life of peace, love and balance…

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