Mormon Theological Connections To Gnosticism

[Damien the Leper]

I have been think a lot about this subject as I have been reading Stephan Hoeller's book Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing and by reading some of the Gnostic scriptures found in the Nag Hammadi Library.

I know that it has been mentioned before that Harold Bloom's book The American Religion addresses Gnosticism in contemporary Christianity but I have not yet had time to read it.

My question is this: what connections do we share as a religion with the Gnostics?

I know that Sophia is in some ways referenced as Jesus' wife and somewhat personified as such in the Gnostic book The Sophia of Jesus Christ. What is familiar to me in this idea is that it shares in the tradition of Wisdom (Proverbs , or Hokhma, since Sophia is translated as Wisdom. I suggest this line of thought because of LDS theology of Heavenly Mother and Exalted Celestial Marriage.

Another possible connection that I see is gnosis or knowledge. To some extent it seems that knowledge is a means for salvation in LDS theology and not only faith and reliance in/on Jesus Christ. Knowledge is the means for salvation in Gnosticism and not mere devotion to a salvific figure. Furthermore, gnosis is attained by experiencing and becoming one with the Divine (theosis?).

I find the subject fascinating but I wanted to know what others have found to be a connection.

Thanks.

[juliann]

To speak of "gnostic" beliefs you have to pick one strand and ignore the rest because they weren't any more unified than Christianity was. You would have to ask what the similarities are with a particular group/ideoogy. And bear in mind that the first Nag Hammadi translations were given a "gnostic" vocabulary that gives them a strangeness that wouldn't necessarily be there if they had used the same vocabulary they use for traditional texts.

[Cobalt-70]

Another possible connection that I see is gnosis or knowledge. To some extent it seems that knowledge is a means for salvation in LDS theology and not only faith and reliance in/on Jesus Christ. Knowledge is the means for salvation in Gnosticism and not mere devotion to a salvific figure. Furthermore, gnosis is attained by experiencing and becoming one with the Divine (theosis?).

As I understand it, Smith's exposure to Gnosticism would have been via the gnostic elements of Kabbalism and Hermeticism, so I don't think there is evidence that Smith had direct exposure to writers like Valentinus (the original one). Also, some elements of Mormonism (such as the preeminence of matter over spirit) are an inversion of Gnosticism. Nevertheless, there are remarkable gnostic parallels between Mormonism and Gnosticism.

Bloom makes a number of interesting comparisons. He notes how close Smith's view of "knowledge" (gnosis) is to the Gnostic view. It is knowledge (a.k.a. "intelligence," the "light of Christ," or the "glory of God") that exalts and frees us, and this knowledge must be obtained mystically as emanated ultimately from God. He also notes, as other writers have noted, how similar the Mormon God is to the Demiurge, the craftsman or artisan god, very unlike the ex nihilo God of traditional Christianity, although the Mormon Demiurge does not have the malevolent interpretation found in many types of Gnosticism. Bloom's central point was that in Mormonism, exaltation is a form of solitude (alone, separated and free from the Demiurge as gods and goddesses of one's own heavenly kingdom), unlike in traditional (non-Evangelical) Christianity, where salvation means to be united with God in a communal heavenly bliss.

I would also add a few other rather Gnostic elements of Mormonism. In Mormonism, like Gnosticism, the role of Lucifer was to show Adam and Eve (and us) a path that is ultimately better, and which leads us to exaltation. Lucifer brought us knowledge (gnosis), which allowed us ultimately to progress beyond the telestial or terrestrial world. He did this unwittingly, though, because unlike Gnostics, Mormons consider Lucifer, not the Demiurge, to be the malevolent one.

Another gnostic element is the Mormon dualism between good and evil, darkness and light, and the idea that one cannot exist without the other. This contrasts with traditional Christianity, in which God is perfectly good, and if there were no evil within his creation, he would still be perfectly good.

[The Nehor]

I think it is more accurate to say that we have an interest in some of the same kinds of texts and ideas as the Gnostics. Multiple worlds, gnosis (the secret teachings of Christ not in the Bible), things like that.

The difference is we believe most of it literally while the Gnostics sank into abstraction, numerology, and spirtualizing everything.

I think that is the extent of our connection. Joseph restored a lot of the stuff the rest of Christianity dropped because it was too Gnostic. We use it but not in the same way as the Gnostics did. Most of the "gnostic" concepts we have were those the early Church kicked out as not being in conformity with Greek logic and Greek reasoning about God. The Gnostics were heretics and justly judged to be such.

[Kevin Christensen]

Read Margaret Barker's The Great Angel: A Study of Israel's Second God, which has a chapter on Gnosticism in terms of where it came from. What look like connections and what are obvious differences both find straight forward explanation in the temple roots that cause the similarities, and the historical processes that produced the important differences. Nibley's chapter in The World and the Prophets is also helpful.

FWIW,

Kevin Christensen

Bethel Park, PA