Gnostic Rebelliousness

JEWRY, THE FATHER OF THE GNOSTICS

WHAT IS A GNOSTIC?
Testimony of a Gnostic who became a Christian

        
THE STRANGER
 
Brief Survey of Gnosticism

            
Excerpt From, The Gnostics

JEWRY, THE FATHER OF THE GNOSTICS

From The Book on This Website:

THE PLOT AGAINST
THE CHURCH
BY MAURICE PINAY
1962
 

The first false teaching to bring the life of the nascent Church into danger was that of the Gnostics. The latter was formed not by one but by various secret societies, which began to carry out a really destructive work within Christianity. Many Gnostic sects pretended to give a further significance to Christianity because, as they revealed, they linked it with the oldest religious teachings. The idea was transferred from the Jewish “Cabbala” to Christianity that the Holy Scriptures had a double meaning, an exoteric one, i.e. outwardly and literally according to the text visible in the Holy Scripture; and an additional esoteric or concealed meaning, which is only accessible to the high initiates, the experts in the art of deciphering the secret meaning of the text of the Bible. As we have seen, many centuries before the appearance of the Cabbalistic works “Sepher-Yetzirah”, “Sepher-ha-Zohar” and others of lesser importance, the oral “Cabbala” was practised among the Hebrews, above all in the secret sects of the higher initiates, whose false interpretations of the Holy Scripture contributed very greatly to turning the Hebrew people away from the truth revealed by God.

Concerning the real origins of Gnosticism, the renowned historians John Yarker and J. Matter agree that Simon the Magician, a Jew converted to Christianity, was the true founder of Gnosticism. Apart from the fact, that he was a mystic cabbalist, he favoured magic and occultism. With a group of Jews he founded a priesthood of “Mysteries”, in which his own teacher Dositheus and his pupils Menandro and Cerinthus figure, who represented a section of his collaborators.¹¹

Simon the Magician, founder of the false Gnostic doctrine – the first to disrupt early Christianity – was also one of the pioneers of the Jewish “Fifth Column” that penetrated into the bosom of Holy Church. The Holy Bible tells us in the Acts of the Apostles how this Jew obtained admittance to Christianity:

Chapter VIII. “9. But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one. 12. But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. 13. Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptised, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 14. Now when the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16. (For as yet He was fallen upon none of them; only they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the Apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money. 19. Saying, ‘Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.’ 20. But Peter said unto him, ‘Thy money perish with thee, because thou thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.’¹²

And after Peter had blamed Simon, the latter answered: “24. Then answered Simon, and said, ‘Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.’”¹³

This passage of the New Testament reports to us, how the “Fifth Column” of falsely converted Jews arose and what their mode of thought was. Simon the Magician is converted to Christianity and receives the water of baptism; but then, even in the bosom of the Church, he strives to destroy it and attempts nothing more or less than to buy the favour of the Holy Ghost. After the failure of this attempt in the face of the incorruptibility of the apostle Saint Peter, the supreme head of the Church, he pretends repentance in order afterwards to introduce the inner division of Christianity with the heretical schism of the Gnostics. Upon this as also on other occasions the Holy Bible raises its warning cry and shows us what would happen in the future, if the Jews belonging to the “Fifth Column” within the Church and the clergy followed the example of Simon the Magician, by being converted to Christianity in order to attempt to destroy it by means of Simony, to divide it through heretical teachings and then to strive to attain the highest honorary offices of the Church by the most diverse means, including that of buying the favour of the Holy Ghost.

As we will see later, the Councils of Holy Church occupied themselves with energetically suppressing the bishops who wished to buy a place by means of money; and the Holy Inquisition confirmed that the clergy of Jewish origin were the most principal spreaders of simony and of false doctrine. A further classical example is revealed to us by the Holy Evangelists; it is that of the first Christian personage of Jewish origin who betrayed Christ and sells him to the Hebrews for thirty pieces of silver. And the latter was even more than a bishop or a cardinal; for he was one of the twelve Apostles: Judas Iscariot, who had been chosen by Jesus himself to such high dignity. Why did our Divine Redeemer do such a thing? Did He err when He made the choice and Himself invested Judas with the highest dignity of the nascent Church after Jesus Christ Himself? It is clear that Christ, because He is God Himself, could never err. If He did such a thing, then it was only because it was convenient for Him to do it, in order to let His Holy Church clearly recognise whence the greatest danger would come for its existence; in other words, He wished to warn it of the enemies who would appear among its own ranks and especially in the highest hierarchies of the Church, because if a Judas arose amongst those chosen by Christ Himself, then it is obvious, with all the more reason, that they would appear amongst those appointed by Christ’s successors.

The faithful should therefore never vex themselves about this and still less lose their faith in the Church when they learn, through history, of those cardinals and bishops who were heretics and schismatics and brought the life of Holy Church in danger; even less so, when they realise that in the struggle of our days there are still cardinals and bishops who themselves help Freemasonry, Communism and Jewry itself in their work of destroying Christianity and enslaving all peoples on Earth.

If we come back to Gnosticism, which was originated by the newly converted Jew, Simon the Magician, it is necessary to establish that many years later Saint Irenaeus, described Valentinus, a Jew from Alexandria, as the leader of the Gnostics.¹⁴

J. Matter, the renowned historian of Gnosticism reports to us that the leading Jewish personages, the Alexandrian philosophers Philo and Aristobulus, who were completely and utterly true to the religion of their fathers, resolved to deck themselves out with the remains of other systems and make a way clear to Jewry for enormous conquests; both were also leaders of Gnosticism and Cabbalists. The said author explains: “That the Cabbala predates Gnosticism, is a viewpoint that Christian writers little understand, but which the scholars of Judaism profess with true certainty”; they also assert that Gnosticism was not exactly a falling away from Christianity but a combination of systems in which several Christian elements were taken up.¹⁵

After diligent study of the material, the learned English writer Nesta H. Webster comes to the conclusion that “the goal of Gnosticism was not to adapt the Cabbala to Christian practice, but to adapt Christianity to Cabbalist practices, by mixing its pure and simple teaching with theosophy and even with magic.”¹⁶

This attempt to adapt Christianity according to Cabbalist practices, the Jewish Cabbalists have repeated as often as they could. After the Gnostic failure, they introduced it into the Manichaean sects, then into the Albigensians, the Rosicrucians, Freemasonry, theosophical societies, spiritualists and other sects of different eras which are said to have practised Occultism, which is nothing other than the Hebrew Cabbala with all its derivations.

In his confirmation that Cabbalists founded Gnosticism, the famous historian of Freemasonry, Ragon, reports that: “The Cabbala is the key to the secret sciences. The Gnostics emanated from the Cabbalists”.¹⁷

The “Jewish Encyclopaedia” asserts that Gnosticism had a “Jewish character” before it was transformed into a Christian one.”¹⁸

An interesting coincidence is the fact that the principal centre of Gnosticism at the time of its apogee was Alexandria, which at that time was the most important centre of Jewry outside Palestine, until Saint Cyril, the bishop of said city – centuries later – gave this breeding ground of infection for Christianity a deadly blow by expelling the Jews from Alexandria. The evidence of the Church Fathers completes the total picture of proofs, which we have laid before the reader, in order to show that Gnosticism was the work of Jewry; for they name several of the leaders of the Gnostic schools as Jews.¹⁹ On the other hand the “Jewish-Castilian Encyclopaedia” indicates that: “The fact that the original Gnosticism, both the Christian as well as the Jewish, used Hebrew names in its system and that it even based its opposition upon Biblical ideas, points to its Jewish origin.”

It says in addition that it influenced the later development of the Cabbala.²⁰

After it is proved that Gnosticism is of Hebrew origin and was directed by Israelites, of whom some had infiltrated into Christianity through baptism, we will see what its extent has been in the Christian world. The most dangerous thing about Gnosticism is its appearance as a science; for it is necessary to establish that the word “Gnosticism” means science, knowledge.

As one sees, the system of the Jew Karl Marx and other Israelites to attempt to dress its false and destructive teachings with a scientific exterior is not new, in order to set the unsuspecting in astonishment and to capture them; for almost two thousand years ago their predecessors, the Gnostics, did the same with very good results. One thus sees that also in this respect the Jewish tactics are always the same.

In addition they had no kind of scruples about introducing into Gnosticism ideas of Persian dualism; and above all of the Hellenistic culture, in which the Jews of Alexandria who have been the decisive factor in the spreading of Gnosticism, were educated. It is necessary to recall that also in this respect, the Jewish tactics have not altered, for they introduced into the teachings, customs and symbols of Freemasonry – as well as Cabbalist and Jewish elements – elements of Greco-Roman and Egyptian-Oriental origin, in order to deceive Christians concerning the real origin of the brotherhood.

On the other hand, it is evident that only the Jews already dispersed all over the world could work out so easily this highly-coloured mixture of Jewish, Christian, Platonic, Neo-Platonic, Egyptian, Persian and even Hindustani ideas, of which Gnosticism is composed, which, similarly to the Hebrew Cabbala, was founded as an esoteric teaching for chosen people and was spread in the form of secret societies according to Jewish style. These increased in number and deviated each time more among each other in their doctrines. The attempts made like those of the Cabbala to find a concealed meaning in the Holy Scriptures, were so made that each gave different interpretations of the Gospels, just as later happened with the free inquiry of Protestantism, which split it into an infinity of Churches, which were at times even rivals. The principle of the existence of concealed meanings, deviating from the literal text of the Bible, made it possible for the Gnostics to turn away completely from the real Christian doctrine. With their multiplicity of sects they represented a veritable cancer, which threatened to disintegrate the whole of Christianity in its innermost.

The Gnosis proceeded from the basis of the existence of a good God and of matter regarded as the origin of evil. This God, as Highest Being created through emanation of intermediary beings called aeons, who are connected with one another and who, united with the Highest Being, represented the kingdom of light. According to the degree, in which they removed themselves from God, they were less perfect, although even the lowest aeon possessed particles of the divinity and were therefore incapable of creating matter, bad by nature.

They explained the creation of the world through one of these aeons, whom they called Demiurge. The latter claimed to be like God and rose against him, for which reason he was cast out of the kingdom of light and thrown into the abyss. There he created our universe, gave form to material and created man, whose soul, as a particle of light, remained enchained in matter. Then God, in order to redeem the souls of the ruined world, sent another aeon, named Christ, upon earth, who was truly devoted to the Highest Being, and who never had a real body, for matter is intrinsically evil. The various Gnostic sects gave diverse interpretations to this complete mechanism, sometimes going so far as to identify Jehovah with the evil Demiurge. For some Jehovah was the Supreme Being and for others he was only an aeon faithful to the latter. Manichaean Dualism took over from Gnosticism the form of a struggle between the world of the spirit and that of matter.

The redemption of the souls incorporated in matter took place, according to this host of sects, through the Gnosis, i.e. the knowledge of the truth, without need of morality or good works. This had the disastrous consequence, in many sects, of calling forth the most repellent immorality and dissoluteness of morals and practices.

The most dangerous of all these secret sects for Christianity was directed by the crypto-Jew Valentinus, a classic “Fifth Columnist.” For he was outwardly active as a true Christian and sowed disintegration in Holy Church by extending his disastrous sect. At first he had the city of Alexandria as his principal bastion, but towards the middle of the second century he went to Rome with the intention of undermining Christianity in the capital of the Empire itself. The Valentinians seriously threatened to disintegrate Holy Church from within, which finally, in order to nullify the disastrous work of this false Christian, a true Jew of the “Fifth Column,” cast him out of its bosom.

Gnosticism spread doctrines, which are now fundamental in many subversive Jewish movements of modern times. For example, the sect of the Carpocratians attacked all then existing religions and only recognised the Gnosis – knowledge of which was provided by the great men of every nation, such as Plato, Pythagoras, Moses and Christ – which “frees one from all that the vulgar call religion” and “makes man equal to God.” Gnosticism in its purest forms strove to give Christianity the widest possible meaning by linking it with the oldest religious doctrines. The learned historical writer, Matter, assures us in connection with the Gnosis, that “the belief that the divinity has revealed itself in the religious institutions of all nations” leads to the idea of a kind of universal religion, which contains the elements of all.²¹ Many of these concepts we find at present in the secret doctrine of the Freemasons and the theosophical societies.

N. H. Webster in her diligent study of the material finds that the Gnostic sect of the Carpocratians of the second century “arrived at much the same conclusions as modern Communists with regard to the ideal social system. Thus Epiphanus held that, since Nature herself reveals the principle of the community and the unity of all things, human laws which are contrary to this law of Nature are so many culpable infractions of the legitimate order of things. Before these laws were imposed on humanity, everything was in common – lands, goods, and women. According to certain contemporaries, the Carpocratians returned to this primitive system by instituting the community of women and indulging in every kind of licence.”²²

As one can see from this, the subversive movements of modern Jewry are to the greater part a repetition of the doctrines of the great Gnostic revolution, although they emanate from a contrary philosophic foundation. For modern Communism is materialistic, while the Gnosis itself regarded matter as bad and objectionable. However, the facts prove to us that the Jews have been very skilled in using the opposing philosophical system to attain similar political results.

The Gnostics possessed mysteries and initiations. “Tertullian, a Father of the Church, assures us that the sects of the Valentinians perverted the mysteries of Eleusis and made a ‘sanctuary of prostitution’ out of them.”²³ And we must not forget, that Valentine – the false Christ and crypto-Jew from Alexandria – was revealed by Saint Irenaeus to be the leader of the Gnostics, whose sects, according to some, were directed by one and the same power. It is thus evident that the Hebrews are the same as eighteen hundred years ago and spread immorality and prostitution in Christian society in order to ruin it and to make easier its destruction.

Some Gnostic sects reached the highest degree of perversion in their doctrines. Thus Eliphas Levi assures us that certain Gnostics introduced into their rites the profanation of the Christian Mysteries, which were made to serve Black Magic,²⁴ whose principal propagators have also been the Hebrews. Dean Milman says in his “History of the Jews” that the Ophites worshipped the serpent because the latter had rebelled against Jehovah, “to whom they referred using the Cabbalist expression of the Demiurge.”²⁵

It is thus evident that this glorification of evil, which is so important to modern revolutionary movements secretly controlled by the Synagogue of Satan, is likewise nothing new. It was already unleashed as poison by the Gnostic Jews into the nascent Christian society of more than eighteen centuries ago.

E. de Faye in his work “Gnostics and Gnosticism,” as well as Matter in his already mentioned work “History of Gnosticism”, both assure us that another secret Gnostic sect, called Cainites on account of the cult in which they worshipped Cain, represented the latter, Dathan and Abiram, the homosexual inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah and Judas Iscariot himself as noble victims of the Demiurge, i.e. of the malicious creator of our universe according to their perverse teachings.²⁶

Apparently, these Gnostic sects were the forerunners of the Bogomils, of the Luciferians, of Black Magic and of certain small satanic masonic circles, which all, apart from rendering homage to Lucifer, regarded as good everything that Christianity holds to be evil and vice versa. Voltaire himself regards the Jews during the Middle Ages as the spreaders of Black Magic and satanism. The Marquis De Luchet reports in his famous work “Essai sur la Secte des Illuminés” that the Cainites, incited by their hatred towards all social and moral order, “called upon all men to destroy the work of God and to commit every kind of infamy.”²⁷

The great leader, who appeared in the Church in order to combat Gnosticism and to triumph over it, was in fact Saint Irenaeus, who thoroughly studied its disastrous sects and their dark teachings and mercilessly fought them in word and deed. Simultaneously he attacked the Jews, whom he described as the leaders of this disintegrating subversive movement,²⁸ whose strongest and most dangerous sect for Christianity was that of the Valentinians, which was led by Valentinus, behind whose false Christianity Saint Irenaeus discovered the Jewish identity.

Thanks to the virile and ceaseless labour of Saint Irenaeus, Holy Church was successful in triumphing over the Gnosis, which for nascent Christianity was a more threatening internal danger than the grave external snares then represented by the frontal attacks of the Synagogue and its intrigues, which managed, as we have already observed, to unleash the whole power of the Roman Empire and its terrible persecutions against the nascent Church, resulting in so many martyrs for Christianity. These facts prove that, from its first beginnings onwards, the activity of the Jewish “Fifth Column” which had penetrated into its interior, was far more dangerous for Holy Church than that of its external foes. Naturally, the existence of a devout and very combative clergy, to whom indulgence disguised with the cloak of peaceful coexistence, dialogue or diplomacy was unknown, had the effect that Holy Church emerged victorious from this terrible struggle, in which it completely overcame its foes: Jewry, Jewish Gnosticism and Roman paganism.

Never has the situation been so grave for the Church as in that time; for Christianity then was much weaker than in the present and the difference in strength between the Church and its enemies was immeasurably greater in favour of the adversary. If Holy Church was able then to triumph over its enemies who were relatively stronger than they are now, it should now be able to do so even more; always presupposing that it is successful in fighting and eliminating the destructive and perfidious activity of the crypto-Jewish “Fifth Column” which has infiltrated the clergy; and with the presupposition that within the religious hierarchies leaders appear who imitate Saint Irenaeus and sacrifice everything in order to defend the faith of Christ and the cause of mankind, which is threatened by a cruel servitude; leaders who are likewise able to overcome the resistance presented by cowards and conformists who, however sincere in their beliefs, think more about not compromising the ecclesiastical preferments they hanker after and of living a peaceful and financially safe life than in defending Holy Church and humanity in these times of mortal danger.

Finally, let us examine another of the teachings of the gnostic revolutionary movement. The Jews who sowed poison in Christian society were careful to ensure that said poison did not end up poisoning the poisoners themselves. The Synagogue had to face up to this grave danger for the first time. It is very difficult to disseminate poisonous ideas without running the risk of being infected by them. It is true that the Gnosis, which the Hebrews at first spread in the Synagogue, was in the main a collection of mystic interpretations of Holy Scripture, which stood in close connection with the Cabbala. But the accumulation of stupidities, contradictions and perverse actions which the Hebrews smuggled into the Christian Gnosis, formed a serious danger for the synagogue itself, but which the latter certainly guarded against by energetically combating every possibility of infection among the Jews.

Eighteen hundred years later the same phenomenon appears; the Hebrews as spreaders of atheism and of Communist materialism among the Christians, Mohammedans and the other Gentiles, take every kind of precautionary measure to prevent the materialistic cancer from infecting the Israelite communities, which they have been better able to achieve at present than in the times of Gnosticism; for the experience of eighteen centuries in this kind of service has made these destroyers into true masters in the art of handling poisons and of spreading them throughout the world without the poison infecting the Jews themselves. At all events even still in our days the Rabbis must be constantly on guard, in order to prevent materialism, with which they have immersed half the surrounding world, from causing damage in the Hebrew families. They constantly seize upon measures of different kind, in order to present this. The atheistic and materialistic poison is only destined for the Christians and Gentiles, in order to render their domination easier; for Jewry must preserve itself with its mystique purer than ever. They know that it is mysticism which makes men who fight for an ideal invincible. Just as the Hebrews had no scruples at other times when they spread teachings against Jehovah himself and advocated the cult of Satan, which is so common in Black Magic, so they now have no scruples in spreading the atheistic materialism of the Jew Marx, although the latter denies the existence of God of Israel himself. The end justifies the means. This maxim the Hebrews observe down to its most unbelievable consequences.

With the conversion of Constantine, the victory of Holy Church over Paganism, Gnosticism and Jewry was complete.

When once Holy Church was controller of the enormous power of the Roman Empire, the Jews lacked any possibility of persecuting it further and attacking it directly or inciting persecution through pagan emperors against Christianity, as they had done previously. However, the “Synagogue of Satan” did not give way before such a bleak picture. It clearly understood that, in order to destroy the Church, only one aid remained of the three which we have studied. It directed its special attention to its “Fifth Column” of false new converts who were smuggled into Christianity, in order through Church divisions and internal underground movements to be able to attain the desired goal, the destruction of the Church of Christ. The fact that in some points the Christian doctrine was not well defined made the task far easier for them.

CHAPTER FIVE

THE JEW ARIUS AND HIS HERESY

Arianism, the great heresy, which split Christianity over three and a half centuries, was the work of a concealed Jew, who outwardly practised Christianity; a striking and infamous example of the descendants of Judas Iscariot, like all those priests who, as members of the “Jewish Fifth Column”, have infiltrated into the Catholic Church.

The well-known American writer, William Thomas Walsh, who is outstanding for his zealous Catholicism and has well documented works, says to us, referring to the mode of action of the Jews who infiltrated into Christianity, the following: “Arius, the Catholic Jew (Father of the heresy) treacherously attacked the divinity of Christ, and he was successful in dividing the Christian world for centuries.”²⁹

From the trials by the Inquisition against the crypto-Jews, who were called the Judaising heretics, one can conclude that the Trinity is one of the Catholic dogmas which the Jews reject most violently; for what repels them most of all in their deadly hatred towards Christ, is the fact that Jesus Christ is regarded as the second person within the Holy Trinity; this means that God is One in essence and Three in person. It is therefore illuminating that the Jews, after they had infiltrated into the Church through their pretended conversion to Christianity, afterwards strove to alter the dogma of the Church in such a way as to regard God as one in person and hence to deny the divinity of Christ.

Arius was born in Libya, which at this time was under Roman rule. Already as a youth he joined himself to the schism of Melesius, who usurped the office of the Bishop of Alexandria; however, after the cause of Melesius had suffered severe setbacks, Arius was reconciled with the Church. It is well known how the Jews make use of such reconciliations with the Church, of which they say themselves that such were performed as true comedies, exactly as suits them.

The always universally kind Holy Church, which is fundamentally ready to pardon the repentant sinner, sanctioned the reconciliation with Arius, by taking him anew into its holy bosom, while this secret Jew merely made use of this kindness, like all who belong to his race, in order to later cause it inconceivable harm which could easily have caused such misfortune as that which threatens us today.

After Arius had consoled himself, he had himself consecrated as Catholic priest and presbyter of the Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, by whom he was entrusted with the church of Baucalis. Various outstanding Church historians attribute to Arius an extraordinary and impressive asceticism as well as a remarkable mysticism; to which are added his great talents as a preacher and a convincing dialectic skill, which allowed him to convince the great mass of believers and even the hierarchies of Holy Church.

The basic principle of the Arian doctrine was the Jewish thesis of the absolute unity of God, denying the Trinity and representing Christ solely as the most exalted of all creatures, but in no way as possessing divine nature. This was one of the first serious attempts to provide Christianity with a Jewish stamp.

He neither attacked Christ nor criticised Him, as the professing Jews did; for then his mission would have failed, because no Christian would have supported him. In order to arouse no suspicion, he rather praised Jesus beyond all measure. So he gained the sympathy and interest of the faithful and then in the midst of all these speeches of praise he allowed his poison to seep in with the cunning denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ, since it is the point which encounters the most stiff-necked rejection by the Jews.

It is curious that, fourteen hundred years later, the Jews strike the same note when they deny the divinity of Christ and simultaneously praise Him in their doctrines and instructions in order to provoke no strong reactions amongst Christians introduced into the sect.

A further innovation which the Arian heresy brought with it, was the attempt to alter the doctrine and policy of the Church in relation to the Jews. While Christ damned them and upon various occasions attacked them in the sharpest possible way, and the Apostles did the same, as did the Church in general in its beginnings, Arius and his heresy strove to effect a true reform in this respect, in that they carried out a pro-Jewish policy and strove for an accommodation to the “Synagogue of Satan.”

Like John Huss, Calvin, Karl Marx, and other Jewish revolutionary leaders, Arius was a man of strong dynamism, of extraordinary perseverance as well as an artist of words and with the pen, who wrote pamphlets and even books,³⁰ in order to convince the Church hierarchies, the civil governors and other outstanding personalities within the Roman Empire. The first important assistance was given to him on the part of Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, who on grounds of his great friendship with the Emperor possessed the boldness of wishing to win the latter for the Arian heresy. Even if he was not successful in this, he nevertheless succeeded unfortunately in leading Constantine astray, by making him believe that it was simply a question of discussions between different orthodox viewpoints. Under this assumption the Emperor sought in vain to introduce a settlement between Arius and the Bishop of Alexandria. He sent his advisor, Hosius, the Bishop of Cordova, so that the latter might bring about an understanding between the two parties. No result was attained. As if it had merely been a personal dispute between Bishop Alexander and Arius!

In the course of these negotiations Hosius and the Church reached the conviction that here it was not a simple dispute between different schools or persons, but rather a conflagration which threatened to scorch the whole of Christianity.

This is worthy of being remarked, since it is the classical technique with which the Jews begin a revolutionary movement. Upon many occasions they give themselves out to be harmless, good-willed, of small influence and without any kind of danger, so that the institutions threatened by the revolutionary germ do not allot to the latter its true importance and therefore look away from applying their whole force against it, which is imperative if it is to be rapidly and effectively destroyed.

Lulled through this outward conduct, the Christian or Gentile leading personages are accustomed to avoid such measures, by reacting in a modest way. This is utilised by Jewry, in order to treacherously kindle the conflagration, so that, when combative measures are finally resolved upon, it already possesses such an overwhelming force that it is impossible to halt it.

It is interesting to remark that, after Arius had finally been excommunicated by the Synod called in the year 321 by the Prelate of Alexandria and attended by over a hundred bishops, the heretic at first went to Palestine, in order to win disciples. And it is further worthy of note that the first Synod to support Arius by betraying Catholicism was precisely that of Palestine, as well as that of Nicomedia, where Eusebius, Arius’ right-hand man, was Bishop. It is illuminating that it was Palestine where, in spite of the repressive measures of Titus and Hadrian, the most compact Jewish population was found, and where the “Jewish Fifth Column”, which had infiltrated into the Church, was very powerful. It is therefore not strange that Arius, declared outlawed through excommunication and in a desperate position, sought his salvation in flight, in order to seek support with his brothers in Palestine. He was so successful in this intention that an entire Synod of Bishops and high-ranking clergy, as was the Synod of Palestine, decided upon support of him and gave new power and prestige to his cause, which, after its condemnation by the Synod of Alexandria, seemed condemned to failure.

In the same manner another Synod, which was assembled in Nicomedia, supported Arius and imparted to him, like that of Palestine, its approval to return to Egypt. In such a way did Arius and his fellow travellers set one Synod against the other and thus divide the episcopate of the Catholic world.

The study of this giant struggle which lasted for centuries, is extremely valuable, since it allows us to clearly recognise that the “Jewish Fifth Column” which has seeped into the clergy of Holy Church, was then already effective with the same methods as centuries later, when it was successful by means of a crypto-Jew, Cardinal Pierleoni, in usurping the dignity of Pope. These are likewise the same methods which, a thousand years later, were combated by the Holy Inquisition, and the same of which we are witnessing in our days.

Arius and the Arianist Bishops intrigued against the clergy who defended Holy Church. They persecuted and feuded against them and even attacked the venerable Bishops and all priests, without regard for their rank, who had appeared to the fore through their zeal in the defence of Catholicism. They persecuted and fought them by means of secret and poisonous intrigues and by means of false accusations, until they were rendered harmless or destroyed.

By means of a well-organised action the Arians on their side strove to bring under their control the Bishops’ offices when they fell vacant, and they were successful in occupying them with clergy of their own way of thinking and of preventing true Catholics from finding admittance to this office.

These infamous manoeuvres were set in motion above all after the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. At this council Arius and his heresy were condemned in spite of the opposition of a minority of heretical bishops, who participated with them in the Council and who vainly attempted to bring about the victory of their viewpoints which were just as novel and contrary to the traditional Catholic doctrine as those which some bishops wish to make prevail at the present Ecumenical Council of Vatican II.

In the campaign instigated by the heretical bishops against the Catholics, the uproar that they set in motion against Eustasius, the Bishop of Antioch, is particularly notable. The latter was accused by them of pretending to observe the agreement of the Council of Nicaea, but in reality sowing the Sabellian heresy and discord. With these and other accusations the traitorous clergy were so successful that he was deposed and an Arianist bishop named in his stead. In addition, they were successful in deceiving Constantine, who, in the belief that he was offering the Church a service, exiled the devout bishop of the land and allowed the hypocritical heretics to enjoy his support, since he regarded them as the true defenders of the Church. ³¹

But more important still is the conspiracy that they instigated in order to destroy Saint Athanasius, who had succeeded Alexander, after the latter’s death, in the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Already at the Council of Nicaea he had demonstrated that he was one of the bulwarks in the defence of Holy Church. This had cost him the hatred of the Arian clergy, who recognised the necessity of making him harmless. In order to gain the Emperor to their side, they accused Saint Athanasius of cultivating relations with certain rebels of the Empire. This is the classical manoeuvre of Jewry in all times; if it is wished to remove any kind of leading personage from the sphere of the head of State, then at the suitable moment a conspiracy is instigated, in order to make the latter believe that the former conspires against him and is secretly allied with his enemies. In this manner they succeed in getting the head of State to remove leading personage who hinders the Jewish plans. In such a manner they accused Saint Athanasius of having humiliated the clergy by laying upon them a linen tax, as well as sowing discord in the ranks of the Church.

This slander is also a classical method of the “Fifth Column,” which, when it is seen that a conspiracy is instigated against Holy Church and someone denounces it or rushes to the defence of the institution, sends its crypto-Jewish clergy into the field to accuse the defenders of the Church of undermining the unity of the Church and of sowing discord among Christianity. In reality it is they, the enemies of Christ who have infiltrated into the clergy, who with their conspiracies and dark machinations provoke those schisms and divisions, and not the true Christians upon whom lies the duty of defending Catholicism and preventing the former from winning ground.

So it occurred in the case of Saint Athanasius; the heretical clergy were in reality those, who through their mode of action conjured up the schism. But they possessed the insolence to accuse Saint Athanasius of sowing discord, because he attempted to defend Holy Church in the face of the machinations of heresy.

The blow was additionally directed higher up; for Arius and his followers knew very well that the unity of the Church lay before the eyes of Constantine as the highest goal, and thus they hoped to bring down Saint Athanasius with a typical accusation of provoking discord.

Later, the Melesian heretics, working together with the Arians, accused Saint Athanasius of having murdered one of the collaborators of their leader; however, Athanasius was successful in discovering the whereabouts of the man whom he was falsely alleged to have murdered, so that the slanders were exposed.

Since up to then all intrigues had failed, they now took refuge in one last manoeuvre. In Tyre they summoned a Synod of Bishops, at which they accused Saint Athanasius of having seduced a woman; however, he was also successful in refuting this slander.

However, the Arian Bishops were successful in bringing under their control the Synod of Tyre and resolved upon the deposition of Saint Athanasius as Patriarch of Alexandria. Concerning this, an inflammatory note was despatched to bishops all over the world, so that the latter should break off all relations with Saint Athanasius, who was accused of various crimes. Constantine, who highly respected the decisions of the Synods of Bishops, was highly impressed. This together with another skilfully launched slander campaign, which accused Saint Athanasius of selling grain to the Egyptians in order to prevent it reaching Constantinople and in this manner to create a food shortage in the capital of the Roman Empire, made the Emperor furious. He banished the unfortunate Saint, whom at this time he regarded as the most dangerous disturber of public order and the unity of Holy Church.

While the Arian bishops first gained the sister of the Emperor, Constance, who exercised a strong influence upon him, and other confidants, to their side, they continually gave the hypocritical appearance of watching with zeal over the unity of the Church and of the Empire, which was so strongly desired by Constantine, and they accused the Catholics of endangering this unity with their exaggerations and eccentricities. They thus attained that Constantine, who had supported orthodoxy at the Council of Nicaea, carried out a deviation towards Arians and approved the solemn reacceptance of the latter into the bosom of the Church. This would have been without doubt the apotheosis and the highest triumph of the Jew Arius, who already played with the idea of demanding the Papal dignity of the Holy Catholic Church, which, regarded by modest human understanding, did not seem impossible; for he could already count upon the friendly approval of the Emperor and on the support of a daily growing number of bishops within Christianity. However, in the face of the support which God allows his Holy Church to enjoy, all human calculations must fail. The Church, will certainly be persecuted, but never conquered; and Arius died on the threshold of his victory in such a mysteriously tragic manner, as Saint Athanasius himself has recorded for posterity. It is very interesting to quote what the “Castilian Jewish Encyclopedia”, an official Jewish document, asserts about this great Church Father and Saint, Athanasius:

“Athanasius (Saint), Church Father (293-373), Patriarch of Alexandria, resolute opponent of the Arian teachings which approach a pure Monotheism and hence the Jewish doctrines. Athanasius polemicised against the Jews from dogmatic grounds, but the situation of the Jews worsened everywhere so that the teachings of Athanasius triumphed over the Arian doctrines, as was the case with the Visigoths in Spain.”

Like other Church Fathers, Saint Athanasius fought bitterly not only against the Arians, but also against the Jews. As one sees, the latter attribute such an importance to his teachings that the Jewish Encyclopaedia categorically admits, that “the situation of the Jews worsened where the teachings of Saint Athanasius triumphed.” It is therefore understandable that the powers of evil unleashed a satanic hatred against the Patriarch of Alexandria.

If Saint Athanasius and other great Church Fathers had lived in our time, the “Jewish Fifth Column”, which has infiltrated into the clergy, would certainly have done all in its power so that the Church condemned them on account of Anti-Semitism.

As far as the Bishop of Cordova, Hosius, is concerned, he had been another Paladin of the Church in the struggle against Arianism and was the soul of the Council of Nicaea, and was an active fighter against Jewry. After he had distinguished himself at the Council of Elvira, which under the name Illiberian Council was held in the years 300 to 303, he exercised a decisive influence upon the approbation of canons tending to effect a separation between Christians and Jews, in order to counter the nefast influence of the latter over the former. Since at that time the harmful fraternising of the Catholic clergy with the Jews was the order of the day, the Illiberian Council accordingly strove to counter this evil state with drastic measures. In this respect the following rules are interesting:

Canon L (50). “Should a priest or one of the faithful sit at table with Jews, then for his amendment he shall be excluded from Communion.”

Canon XLIX (49). “It has been found good to thoroughly admonish teachers that they should not suffer their fruits received from God to be blessed by Jews, so that our distribution of blessings does not become weak or valueless. Should anyone be presumptuous enough to do this, after it has been forbidden, then he should be excluded from the Church.”

Canon XVI (16). “It is determined among other things that the Jews, and likewise heretics, must not be permitted Catholic wives. So that there may be no communion between the faithful and unfaithful.”

This last Canon is clear and sharp. Any communion between Christians and Jews is regarded as dangerous.

The Illiberian Council had a great importance, since its disciplinary measures were to a great part incorporated in the general legislation of the Church.

After Constantine’s death, his three sons took over the government of the Empire: Constantine II and Constans in the west, and Constantius in the East. The first two were passionate Catholics, while Constantius was admittedly a good Christian, but was very influenced through friendship with his father’s friend, the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia. After the death of Constantine, however, both Constantius as well as his two brothers approved of the return of Saint Athanasius and other orthodox bishops from banishment, who had been expelled from the land through the intrigues of the Arians. In addition, after the death of Eusebius of Nicomedia, in the year 342, this bad influence upon Constantius vanished, who, under the influence of his brother Constans and of Pope Julius, finally supported Catholic orthodoxy.

Extremely alarmed over the progress of Jewry, Constantius applied against the latter the measures that the Jews call the first great persecution on the part of the Christians.

For the course of twelve years, up to the death of Constans and of Pope Julius, the Catholics were successful in almost overcoming Arianism. Under the imprint of the sermons and the great regard for Saint Athanasius as well as Bishop Hosius of Cordova, it seemed destined to perish. Constantius had a long and extremely heartfelt conversation with Saint Athanasius in Antioch, during which the Emperor of the Orient showed him the greatest deference. And finally the illustrious Father of the Church made his entrance into Alexandria in a kind of veritable apotheosis.

When Ursacius and Valente, the leaders of Arianism, recognised imminent defeat and were alarmed by the firm conduct of Constantius in favour of orthodoxy, they bowed to the situation and went so far as to beg from the Pope their reconciliation with the Catholic Church.

This was one further example of the classical tactics of the foe, which the Jew Stalin called “strategic withdrawal.” This consists in yielding in the moment of defeat, in abandoning the struggle outwardly, in order to avoid defeat, and in conspiring in the background until one is sufficiently strong to risk a new attack as soon as the possibility of triumph appears.

If things went badly with Arianism, then it was worse still for Jewry; for when Constantius had convinced himself of the danger that it represented for the Empire and Christianity, he began, as the great Jewish historian Graetz proves, to expel the Jewish doctors of laws from the land. In consequence of this decree, many of them had to emigrate to Babylonia. The persecutions worsened to such a degree that the leading Jews were threatened with death, which resulted in an even greater flow of emigration, particularly from Judaea. This development caused the decline of the Jewish Academy of Tiberiades. The very frequent marriages between Jews and Christians were punished by Constantius with death, whereby he went beyond what was laid down in this respect by Canon 16 of the Illiberian Council.

As shown by the Israelite Graetz, the Jews were called “the murderers of God” by Catholics in that time. In answer to this, the Jews instigated isolated rebellions against the Empire, which, however, were nipped in the bud.

But all these setbacks did not discourage me enemy, who lurked in the background and awaited the first favourable opportunity to assert themselves again. This favourable opportunity began to show itself when first Constans and then Pope Julius died, whose beneficial influence had caused Constantius to hold firm to Catholicism.

The Arian leaders Valente and Ursacius, who had hypocritically implored their reconciliation with orthodoxy, took up their intrigues anew, while they sought at all costs to estrange Constantius from orthodoxy. For this purpose they flattered his selfishness and made use of his utterly violent reactions towards everything which might lessen his authority or his prestige. In the background the Arians instigated a true conspiracy, in order to distance Constantius from Saint Athanasius and thus obtain his withdrawal with them from orthodoxy. Among other slanders they accused him of disseminating defamatory rumours against the Emperor, by which he was alleged to represent the Emperor as a heretic and as excommunicated. In this manner they attempted to cause the people to withdraw their support from Saint Athanasius and at the same time to lyingly present him as an enemy of the Emperor. The Arians represented themselves as his most loyal subjects.

These sinister machinations against Athanasius and the Catholics infuriated Constantius. More and more he inclined to the side of the Arians, until finally in common with them he attempted to persuade Liberius, the new Pope, to divest the illustrious Church Father of his dignity.

It is incredible, how Jewry frequently manages to transform its sworn opponents into unconscious allies, whereby, as in this case, it makes use of the most subtle means in order to attain its goal. In history there have been several examples like that of Constantius.

The Holy Father, pressed by the Emperor, pointed out the necessity of calling a new Council to attempt to put an end to this dispute. With the agreement of the Emperor the Council of Arles was called, which took place in the year 353 in the presence of two Papal Legates. Great were the expectancies which the good placed upon the Council for the obtaining of Christian unity; but the bishops, led by Valente and Ursacius in the service of the “Fifth Column”, were able to instigate such intrigues and such pressures that the Council finally yielded to the demands of the Arians, who were granted support through the implacable pressure of Imperial power. Even the two Papal Legates yielded and, as a disastrous consequence, the unjust condemnation of Saint Athanasius was resolved upon.

The sole Bishop, who voted against the resolution, was Paulinus of Trier, who for this reason was expelled from the land. But when Pope Liberius received the knowledge of its disastrous outcome, he raised objectives and proposed summoning another Synod, which was held in Milan in the year 355. But this Synod also was the target of countless conspiracies and exposed to the pressure of the heretical bishops who enjoyed the support of the Emperor. Finally they were successful. This new Synod composed of 300 Bishops condemned Saint Athanasius once again. Thus Arianism gained a complete triumph and was able to again ban the highly regarded Saint. Since the Pontifex Maximus refused to yield to the demands of the Arians and of Constantius, the Emperor banished the Pope as well, a banishment which lasted quite some time.

However, the efforts of Athanasius, that Saint and Father of the Church, that iron and dynamic man, who revealed so much courage and tenacity in the face of the enemy, finally bore fruit. After three centuries of struggle Holy Church finally triumphed over Jewry and its heresy. What the Church and men of today urgently need are men who possess the hardness, the courage and the energy of such as Saint Athanasius, to counter the Jewish-Communist threat, which, exactly as in the case of the Jewish-Arian heresy, has brought Catholicism to the edge of the abyss.

We are certain that in this situation, as also in similar situations, the Lord God shows us His mercy so that among the hierarchies of Holy Church new Athanasiuses will appear, which the Church needs for its salvation. This is the maxim of our time in which the modern instruments of Jewry within the Church, such as false apostles, play into the hands of Communism and the “Synagogue of Satan.” They cripple the defensive powers of the Church, in order to mislead the truly faithful and to make possible the triumph of the worldly foe, just as they intend to do at the present Ecumenical Council Vatican II, called by John XXIII.³²

Finally we must point out that the inconstancy of Constantius is also revealed in his conduct towards Jewry. In contrast to his hostile policy, he decreed measures which favoured it; thus the law that equated the Jewish patriarchs and officials working in the service of the synagogue with the Christian clergy, exempted them from the severity of the law, as the Israelite historian Graetz himself reports to us.
 

THE WICKED ARE HELPED AND THE GOOD EXCOMMUNICATED

What occurred to Saint Athanasius more than sixteen hundred years ago, occurs in the 20th century in greater or larger measure with many excellent defenders both of Holy Church as also of the Free World, be they clergy or laymen. Some cardinals and bishops who in a suspicious manner favour the principal enemies of Christ and his Church, namely the Jews, take them under their protection or favour the development and the triumph of the political or social movements controlled by Freemasonry and Communism, and, while they show the forces of Antichrist so much favour and support, are at the same time enraged concerning the cardinals, prelates or priests who fight with more resolution and efficacy against the beast. The activity of the “Fifth Column” of the descendants of Judas Iscariot has altered little since the time of Arius up to our days. If any Catholic regent or political leader fights so effectively against the forces of Jewry, Freemasonry or Communism that he defeats them, then these Prelates and even Cardinals appear upon the scene, in order once more to play into the hands of the hellish forces and make possible their victory which normally is beyond their reach. If the Jewish-Freemasonic or Jewish-Communist forces see themselves conquered in practice by direct action through the Catholic leaders or regents, then the “Fifth Column”, which has infiltrated into the highest honorary offices of Holy Church, hits upon the plan of unleashing a wild campaign of intrigues and Church censures, to set the entire clergy against those leaders or regents, who represent a serious hindrance for the Freemasonic or Communist triumph. And if this campaign of slander and defamation alone does not suffice to destroy the support of the said leaders or regents with the Catholic masses, then those false Apostles, of whom Saint Paul speaks, send forth a fulminant excommunication as their sharpest weapon. Thus, by undermining the prestige of such regents or leaders, they gain the support of the mass of the people in their favour to make possible as a result the triumph of Freemasonic or Communist forces. This is the secret of many victories of the forces of evil.

CHAPTER SIX

THE JEWS AS ALLIES OF JULIAN THE APOSTATE

In the year 360, Julian, a cousin of Constantius, was proclaimed Roman Emperor by the army. Constantius, who had prepared for battle against him, died on the way; this made easier the final victory for Julian and his proclamation as Emperor of the Orient and Occident.

The policy of Julian had three principal aims: 1. To renew paganism and to again declare it a state religion of the Empire, so that Rome, which according to his view had declined through Christianity, might return to its old glory. 2. To destroy Christianity. 3. To concede to Jewry its old positions, from which it had been expelled by Constantine and his sons; even the rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon was to be arranged.

From the beginning the Jews were his unconditional allies, which once again proves that, when it suits them, they are capable of fighting for paganism and the cult of idols, even indeed against monotheism, whenever this allows them to work for the destruction of the Church, even though they are inwardly monotheists and enemies of the cult of idolatry.

While the Jews allied themselves with Julian and allowed him to enjoy their help, they supported the restoration of idolatry, although they say that they are so greatly repelled by it. However, in order to obtain their goal, namely the destruction of Christianity, they prove that they are capable of everything, even of utilisation of the atheistic and materialistic teachings of modern Communism, although they remain deeply religious and spiritual.

The famous Jewish historian Graetz says of Julian:

“The Emperor Julian was one of those strong characters who imprint their names indelibly on the memory of men. Only his early death and the hatred of the ruling Church were responsible for his not being provided with the tide ‘Julian the Great’” He adds that Julian paid great admiration to the Jewish religion, and confirms that “the period of government by Julian, which lasted just two years (November 361 to June 363), was a time of extreme felicity for the Jews of the Roman Empire.”

Graetz likewise establishes that the leader of Jewry in the Empire, the Patriarch Hillel, was expressly called by Julian “his respected friend”, and that he promised him in an autographed letter to make an end of the misdeeds committed by the Christian Emperors against the Jews.

Further, Julian made all necessary preparations in order to begin the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem. He addressed a letter to all Jewish congregations of the Empire, in which he spoke in friendly way of the leader of Jewry in the Empire, the Patriarch Julos (Hillel), as his brother. He promised the abolition of the high taxes laid upon the Israelites by the Christians, guaranteed that in future none should accuse them of blasphemy, promised freedom and security, and promised to have Jerusalem rebuilt at his expense, as soon as he returned victorious from the Persian war.

For the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem Julian commissioned his best friend, Alypius of Antioch, to whom he gave instructions to spare no expense, and commanded the governors of Palestine and Syria to assist with everything necessary.

In his zeal to restore paganism, Julian also prepared all means for the reconstruction of the pagan temples. He reorganised the worship of idols and gave them a hierarchy similar to that of the Church. He renewed the pagan cult with great splendour and celebrated the pagan feasts in ancient pompous manner.

Labriolle and Koch provide us with information concerning the zeal of Julian to provide paganism with new strength by means of the creation of welfare institutions which were similar to the Christian ones. Hospitals, hostels for children and old men, charitable institutions and others of the like were erected; at the same time he made efforts to add to paganism a kind of religious order, which resembled that of the Christian monks.

It was not only a question of the re-establishment of the idolatrous cult, but of the creation of a reformed and strengthened paganism with methods copied from the Christians.

The threat, which drew over Holy Church, could thus scarcely be graver. The Emperor, paganism and Jewry joined themselves together closely, in order to face Christianity with a struggle for life or death.

Although in principle Julian gave the assurance of maintaining religious tolerance, since he recalled the bad results which the violent persecutions through the Roman Emperors had produced, he nevertheless applied all means in order to achieve the annihilation of Christianity. As Saint Gregory Nazianzen reports to us, who describes the period of Julian’s government “as the cruellest of all persecutions”, martyrdoms unleashed through the fury of the unbelievers were the order of the day.

Among the measures decreed by Julian against Catholicism, the following stand out: the renewed expulsion of Saint Athanasius, who was regarded as the bulwark of orthodoxy; the removal of all Christian symbols on coinage and the cancelling of rights accorded to the clergy through the Catholic Emperors; as well as the elimination of Christians from public offices, unless they recanted. And with all this it was pretended that these were measures necessary for the maintenance of religious freedom and of equality for believers of all confessions in the Roman State. His Jewish allies had thus in Julian a good master, just as in our own time they applied the same methods with identical hypocrisy in order to cause their Freemasonic Liberal revolutions to triumph, through which, under the pretence of introducing freedom of conscience, they robbed the Church of all her rights.

But the true intentions of the Emperor were revealed when he announced that the Galileans (disciples of Christ) must vanish, because they were enemies of Hellenism; the books he personally wrote to combat Christianity also prove what hatred the Emperor felt for the Church.

The fact that the rebuilding of the Jewish temple among other things failed as a result of mysterious flames shooting up out of the earth and burning those that worked there, has all the elements of a confirmed historical event; Christian historians also confirm the latter, and it is also accepted by such prestigious Hebrew historians as Graetz. Only that the latter, instead of attributing the occurrence to a miracle, as Catholics do, assumes a natural cause. According to his explanation, the cause was gases compressed in subterranean passages, to which an outlet was blocked, and which, becoming free and making contact with the air, unleashed those fires, which among other reasons caused Alypius to stop the works.

As the Catholic historians report in that time it was not only pagan hordes who martyred and slaughtered the Christians. The Jews, enjoying the protection and friendship of the Emperor, likewise attacked and began to destroy the churches in Judea and the neighbouring regions as well as to cause Christians every conceivable harm. The Jew Graetz naturally calls these versions malicious slanders.

For those who have experienced what deeds the Jews are capable of against Christianity if they are allowed a free hand, it cannot be remarkable that in the time of Julian they used all their power in order to destroy Catholic churches. They did this in the same manner in the Middle Ages, when they were supported by some heretical sects; and so have they acted in our days, in order to secure the triumph of their Freemasonic and Communist revolutions.

Much of that which they perform in the present is a repetition of what they learned in the times of Julian the Apostate, whose period of rule, if it had lasted longer, would have taken a catastrophic course for Christianity.

Fortunately, Julian died before he could cause Christianity greater harm, struck by a deadly arrow in a decisive battle against the Persians. It is said that, before he died, he addressed our Lord Jesus Christ, calling out: “Thou hast conquered, Galilean!”

Through the death of Julian the Apostate, Holy Church was spared from the threatening destruction which had faced it since the last pagan persecutions.

As far as the Israelites are concerned, then the following commentary of the Jewish historian Graetz, speaks for itself:

“The death of Julian close to the Tigris (June 363) robbed the Jews of their last ray of hope for a peaceful and untroubled life.”

And the Jewish-Castilian Encyclopaedia remarks under the word “Julian” the following:

“He particularly valued the Jews. He had extensive knowledge of the Jewish cause and refers in his writings to various religious institutions of the Jews. It appears that he wished to found among the Jews of Palestine a Patrician Order (called “Aristoi” in the Talmud), which was to exercise judicial functions. He attributed a higher value to Judaism than to Christianity, although he regarded it as inferior to the pagan philosophy. With his death, the short period of tolerance was at an end, which the Jewish community enjoyed between the setting-in of Christian persecutions.”³³

                
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WHAT IS A GNOSTIC?

 Revised Testimony of a Gnostic who became a Christian

 May 12, 2007
                                   

The soaring eagle -- Symbol of The Gnostic -- Men and women Above Time -- Loners, Outsiders, Dreamers, Idealists, Revolutionaries and Spiritual Pioneers -- Independent Thinkers, Inventors and Reformers -- Leaders, Conspirators, Always Politically Incorrect by the very nature of their Independence and Awareness -- Avatars and Messiahs -- Troublemakers to the Establishment and Liberators to Others -- Single-minded in the Pursuit of Their Purpose in This Life -- Maligned, Imprisoned, Tortured and often Killed -- Some Lost in Their Dreams and Others Succeeding in Their Mission -- Often Misunderstood or Falsely Accused by the Masses and their "Authorities" -- Some Straying Into the Left Handed Path becoming Jaded and Disillusioned and Eventually Destroying Themselves and Their Followers Recklessly -- Others After Many Defeats and Ridicule Surrendering Their Calling to the Powers and Principalities of This Material World -- But ALL ARE GNOSTICS, CHILDREN OF A DIFFERENT GOD!

              Here is a gallery of mostly modern day Gnostics. Most of them were never associated with any form of religious Gnosticism, but were, in our opinion, born Gnostics nevertheless. All were people with an enormous, almost super-human, inner drive to correct the injustices and failures of the established order. Some were successful, others failed miserably. Some heroically overcoming the limitations and restrictions of their birth and others succumbing to the same limited circumstances to become egotistical exploiters of their fellow man. Some choosing to uplift mankind and others choosing the path of evil to attain power and prestige. Some builders and others destroyers...-But all born Gnostics, idealists, visionaries and heretics...driven by an inner fire, a divine spark, to take on the whole world if needed without concern for their personal safety and prosperity....Walking fearlessly their vision's path where even "angels fear to tread"... innocently taunting the powers and principalities of this world...Like dancing children on the edge of an ever present abyss....

 And it is these Gnostics, these heretics and idealists who have changed the course of mankind's physical, mental and spiritual evolution. Whether considered by the rest of mankind as "good" or "evil" matters nothing to the overall picture as viewed beyond the constrains of three dimensional time and space perception. They did the only thing they really could do...which is to follow the guidance of their inner spark...projecting their vision upon the material universe. If they exploited people and even unleashed the negative, destructive force of war and death upon this dense planet, so be it, as they will have to pay the price on a cosmic scale. 

 This leads us to say that Gnostics are like a race apart, above and beyond all other human races, who like silent watchers, in tune with another dimension, perceive, interpret and relate in their own unique way drastic solutions to the dilemma of human existence. And this is the point where we Gnostics must also face our own vulnerability....And we are truly vulnerable to exploitation from many sources, be they spiritual, mental or physical. We can fall prey to ideas, concepts and beliefs which would not only physically endanger us but also spiritually. Being idealists, we can easily be manipulated by political or religious parties or cults...by ideologies promising "heaven on earth" and spiritual beliefs which promise instant salvation. Do you think that Communists, Nazis, Zionists and religious cultists are evil, and that's why they became involved with those idealistic movements? No, the true believers, the idealists found within these groups, parties, movements and cults, were born Gnostics driven by their inner fire to create a new and better world. Gnostics who saw in either political or spiritual movements the solution to the worlds problems. And, of course, they were the ones who paid the ultimate price. They were the ones who at the Nuremberg trials and at Stalinist show-trials were condemned to death....or who invested their whole life's resources into a charismatic cult leader's bank account...who lost everything, reputation, health and even their sanity through the cunning manipulations of evil humans and spiritual beings. The Gnostic Liberation Front is not some "revolutionary" movement to advance Gnostic concepts but is really meant to Liberate Gnostics from themselves and show them how futile all "revolutionary" concepts and "isms" really are on this planet which they mistakenly see as "evil".

 No matter how idealistic and noble the cause is, when set into practice, as we have seen in National Socialism and Communism as well as in Fascism and extreme Capitalism, it becomes just another oppressive political system of human exploitation and manipulation. There is just NO solution to the human dilemma upon this earth. Except that we clearly understand that "evil rules this world"! When we truly comprehend this and make our peace with this understanding, we will be able to find our true calling and destiny. When we clearly understand that this earth is not our destiny nor our ultimate home but just a temporary stop on a long journey. We are "passers-by" here, visitors....And we should not become entranced with what goes on here beyond the things that we have to "give to Caesar" in order to survive.

 We are here to learn and observe and learn more...We are here to grasp what life is and to honor and respect ALL life, not just our own, or our families' and friends'....And that life is the expression of God's love eternally. We are here to learn that our liberation from the injustices of this evil planet can not, and does not, come from changing things through "isms", religions, dogmas and manifestos or revolutions, but through life lived nobly, righteously, compassionately and peacefully with awareness of a spiritual dimension as revealed by Jesus Christ, our Lord, Liberator and SAVIOR. The four Gospels of the New Testament as well as the Gospel of Thomas should be all that is needed for us to find our inner and outer connection to The ONLY Savior and Son of God, Jesus Christ. Why Jesus? Because it should be clear to anyone with some degree of awareness and insight that Jesus is indeed the Eternal ONE, the human "prototype" without sin, who truly Loves all of us, born Gnostics, or just "plain folk".  He literally bought our Salvation with his sacrifice on the cross of Golgatha, because, despite our sinful nature, He Loved mankind and wanted nothing more than to teach us the Truth and Save us from the wrath of God. Now, Gnostics despise Jehovah for many reasons, but since God Jehovah, is unfathomable and far beyond our understanding, Gnostics condemn their creator God on the dubious belief system presented by people with tribal motivations and reasoning, forgetting somehow to consider that Jesus Christ came into the world to "set the record straight", as God himself, in the form and shape of man to save all who would believe in Him and follow Him as disciples, living life according to His teachings and commandments.

 I, as a "born Gnostic" with a heretical nature, have wrestled for the last sixty years of my life with Gnosticism as a "religion" and with many of the Gnostic "offspring's" and heresies. You, dear reader, name it, and I have probably either been "in them", or "flirted" with them. But, after a long time of inner battles and struggles with my Gnostic "nature", I have come to the conclusion that I was WRONG, deadly wrong. Perhaps it was Jesus Christ who in his infinite Love, reached out to me and into my life, bringing me from selfish pride down to my knees crying out to Him in utter despair, to come into my heart, soul and spirit, because, after the death of my wife, I suffered so much pain, guilt and utter poverty. Since her income was gone, I had to declare chapter 8 bankruptcy, which in itself is about as low as one can get. Having my car "repossessed" and barely being able to keep our little house in Savannah, I suddenly found myself having to live on the brink of utter poverty... My "conversion", after my desperate surrender and prayer to Jesus Christ, hasn't brought me any sudden "miraculous" financial relief, BUT it DID work a miracle, as He in His incomprehensible Love, did indeed come into my heart and filled me with a freedom which I had never experienced before. He took me, shook me, humbled me, cleansed my sinful heart and Saved me. And this is my testimony which I have written here on May 12, 2007. I am deeply sorry if I mislead anyone and am praying for all those, who have read my Gnostic writings and been affected by them, to be set free also. Since I have been baptized a Roman Catholic in 1964 and having read lately many works on the betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church from within and without, I have felt lead into the "remnant" of Roman Catholic traditionalist teachings and shall do my utmost to demonstrate through this web site the spiritual, satanic dangers of Gnosticism, Theosophy and other Gnostic cults now manifesting themselves in the Satanic New World Order. So, perhaps, I am a "Voegelinian" after all, as many "Gnostics" have accused me and Jesus Christ has worked through me before I even became aware of it. Strange as it might seem, I have never read anything by this man but my understanding, coming from the depth of my being, seems to have been similar to his....

 After much deliberation, I have decided to leave the web site as it is. The Gnostic material as well as everything else, instead of promoting a belief, can also serve as research material if read with discretion. The Satanic New World Order is here now, and thus all the "conspiracy" material is more valid than ever. Of course I have added much material on the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church from WITHIN and WITHOUT. And I urge all of my friends and readers to study it carefully with the understanding that the Roman Catholic Church, with all her faults, is (was?) the last bastion of Hope for Mankind, as a bulwark against the Satanic Conspirators of the New World Order. The Church might already be lost and rotten to the core, but with Father Malachi Martin, Compton and so many others, I believe with all my heart and soul that the "Traditionalist Remnant" of clerics and lay people inside and outside the "Church", with the grace of Jesus Christ and the blessed virgin shall, one day, be able to "clean house' and thus resurrect this dead body into the "Church of Jesus Christ" it was meant to be.

               THE STRANGER

But the great black anti-suns, wells of truth in the essential conspiracy, in the gray veil of the hump-backed sky, come and go and suck one another in, and men call them ABSENCES.

Today when we read the catalogue of the various forms of human exploitation and alienation, as presented in the most politically committed publications, one fact immediately becomes apparent: such are the limitations of ideology (the new mythology of our age) that this necessary denunciation, this indispensable catalogue of human injustice is solely concerned with its social and political aspects. In spite of what half a century of socialist experimentation has shown us, we persist in believing that a change limited exclusively to the politico-economic domain and to the means of production can resolve the problems that confront us.

It seems a simple, obvious, and irrefutable fact that today, as in the time of the Gnostics, the alienation of man is global; it is also true that the economic, social, and political causes of alienation should be removed first. But far from ending there, the problem begins precisely at the moment when this first hurdle has been cleared. If I try to imagine people like Basilides, Valentinus or Carpocrates (Gnostics of whom we shall speak in detail later) living today, I see them as either totally detached from all political considerations, or, on the contrary, totally involved in the revolutionary struggle of our times (these two postures being, for these men, two identical forms of the same asceticism). I see them on the streets, handing out pamphlets signed The Proletariat of the Stars, but also taking the struggle further, to limits almost inconceivable nowadays (since for them a truly revolutionary combat could be nothing less than total), waging war against the very nature of our presence here on earth. Modifying the means of production, trans- forming the nature of economic exchanges and the distribution of wealth, without tying these changes in with an asceticism operating conjointly on man's mental structures, could achieve nothing more in their eyes than changing one master for another, and therefore one alienating factor for another, all the more dangerous in that people would believe they had abolished the causes of alienation.

The Gnostics were no less aware of social injustices than other people, and I am convinced that they fully recognized how infuriating their stance must have been to a mind sensitive to the material miseries of the world. But, despite their detachment from society, they were, after all, the only ones who had any inkling of the political implications of their position. For what were the* Christians doing during these centuries? As soon as the Church was accepted and recognized, and the Roman Empire itself had become Christian, they began to wield their power through repressive measures (they who had once been martyred themselves now made martyrs of their old enemies), thus giving still further credence to the Gnostic contention that all power - whatever kind it might be - is a source of alienation. Moreover, the Christians were to 'capitalize' - to use our contemporary jargon - on the ferment of revolt against human misery, by persuading the poor and the exploited that they would take first place in heaven, so that from the perspective of Christian eschatology heaven appears to be a sort of azure field in which there will be an almost unimaginable settling of accounts, beside which the prophetic images of the Apocalypse arc but pale shadows.

The Christians, with their mythology of punishment and reward, have totally evaded the daily problems of their times, and, right down to our own age, have perpetuated acceptance of social injustices and submission to established authority (with good reason, since this authority was vested in them). The Gnostics, how- ever, never ceased to preach opposition to the powers-that-be, whether Christian or pagan, since for them there was no difference between the two. Christianity postponed the solution of immediate problems sine die - and here the expression is particularly apt, as it conforms to eschatological hopes of abolishing time. The Gnostics, on the contrary, were the only ones to adopt a logical attitude - a radical and onerous one, but nevertheless consistent with their deepest feeling: the conviction that as thinking hominids they were totally alienated creatures, right down to their very encephalic cells, and condemned to lifelong enslavement, from which only a full awareness; of man's inert and slumbering condition could save them.

So, to have done with this problem and give an exact definition of Gnostic thought - as I understand it, at least - all institutions, laws, religions, churches and powers are nothing but a sham and a trap, the perpetuation of an age-old deception.

Let us sum up: we are exploited on a cosmic scale, we are the proletariat of the demiurge-executioner, slaves exiled into a world that is viscerally subjected to violence; we are the dregs and sediment of a lost heaven, strangers on our own planet.

To be a stranger is, in its basic meaning, to appear as strange to others. I am not making puns here, for it is the innate strangeness of man which led the Gnostics to reflect on his origin, and on his terrestrial status. They used this term to express the disparity between the nature of the true man of the hyper-world and the abortive creature, the imitation man, that the demiurge managed to fashion and throw down into this circle of dark fire. The stranger's condition is inherently false. One cannot be a stranger except in relation to a non-stranger. Now in ancient times, he who was the opposite of a stranger - in political, civic and human terms-was the autochthon. The autochthon is the Athenian born in Athens, the Alexandrian born in Alexandria, in short, the citizen, but he is more than that: he is the man born of the very soil, bound to his native land by unbreakable biological bonds. Every stranger is, in some sense, the autochthon of another land. The fundamental difference that separates the Gnostics from their contemporaries is that, for them, their native 'soil' is not the earth, but that lost heaven which they keep vividly alive in their memories: they are the autochthons of another world. Hence their feeling of having fallen onto our earth like inhabitants from a distant planet, of having strayed into the wrong galaxy, and their longing to regain their true cosmic homeland, the luminous hyper-world that shimmers beyond the great nocturnal barrier. Their uprooting is not merely geographical but planetary. And to treat them as aliens in the political or civic sense - which is what happened - could be nothing but an absurd misunderstanding, like giving a Martian a temporary residence visa. For the Gnostics, all men were in the same condition, although they were the only ones who knew it, and the human community as a whole is implicated in this universal exile, this galactic diversion that has caused us to be dumped on the mud of planet earth. The Gnostics must have felt this exile even more acutely in that they themselves constituted marginal communities, strangers or 'foreigner in the narrow sense of the term, in the heart of a whole humanity of foreigners. The idea of calling oneself Egyptian, Greek, Roman or Syrian must have seemed ridiculous to them. Moreover, it is no mere chance that the Gnostic communities developed in the only cities of that period which were cosmopolitan in character: Alexandria, Antioch and Rome. One cannot imagine Gnostics in Gaul or Germania. Their own alien condition could freely nourish itself in these towns where the most diverse ethnic groups intermingled, and where the most essential transformations of the Mediterranean world took place between the first and the fourth centuries AD. Here there was an historical humus which justified the Gnostic feeling of exile, of being a planetary foreigner: 'I am in the world but not of the world' is the most basic Gnostic formula. It summarizes perfectly the feeling of being relegated to the lower depths of the cosmos, of living on a planet, and in a fleshly body, made of molecules that have agglomerated in the most dubious combinations, in complex and inextricable amalgams which, in some fashion, constitute the material support of our spiritual reclusion. The sadistic and perverse demiurge responsible for this world and our existence in it must have racked his brains to find these incredible combinations of molecules, these indissoluble aggregates of matter, which make any escape from the carnal and planetary prison impossible or, at the least, very aleatory. So the problem is simple, and one begins to understand how the Gnostics saw it: man, then, is a lifelong exile on a planet which is a prison for all mankind; he lives in a body which is a prison for the soul; he is the autochthon of a lost and invisible world.

These images or definitions seem to be constant repetitions. In the texts describing man's condition, the Gnostics repeat themselves endlessly, as if here again they are battering at the walls of a prison of words. The terms they use to describe the world here below resolve themselves into a few formulae which reappear over and over again: a 'hermetically sealed fortress,' 'prison,' 'cloak,' 'slough,' 'desert.' It is the same for the human body: it is a 'tomb,' a 'gross garment,' a 'chain,' a 'trespasser,' a 'suffocating sea,' a 'vampire.' The point is that the history of man reproduces very closely the initial drama - and the farce - of the cosmos. Man, like the universe, is a failed creation, a lamentable imitation, the mere semblance of a man, a counterfeit man, or, in anthropological terms, a pseudanthrope. In man, the forgery is more immediately apparent than it is in the universe, for the human body is better known, and more accessible to us, than the light of the distant stars. Let us therefore summarize, as simply as possible, the precise reason for our being what we are, that is to say, trespassers in a body which is ill-suited to us.

In the beginning, in the world of possibilities and virtualities, an image of man was born in the intelligible brain of the true God of the highest circle: a potential man, the mental matrix of he whom the true God might one day have made real. This image was perceived by the demiurges, the archons or angels of the lower circles. How? Why? A mystery. But perceive it they did and were dazzled, as if by the light, the force, the beauty, the coherence which emanated from this mentally conceived Anthropos. They therefore decided to imitate and reproduce him.

From: The Gnostics, by Jacques Lacarriere. Pages 27 - 31.

INTRODUCTION

Eighteen centuries separate us from the Gnostics. Eighteen centuries during the course of which wars, persecutions and massacres, causing the deaths of thousands, have amply justified the total suspicion in which they held this world and the creatures that inhabit it. In everything that contemporary history sets before our eyes - the ever more blatant contempt for the individual man, the fallacy of ideologies, the wars or military interventions openly carried on for the profit of the combined interests of capitalism and socialism, the daily erosion of liberty and the fascination of violence - in all this, a Gnostic of today would see nothing more than the magnified image of the dramas which were familiar to him, and the inevitable outcome of that everlasting outrage, the very existence of the world and of humanity as they are.

Who then were these people, lucid enough to look at creation with eyes stripped of all consoling self-deceptions, sensitive enough to feel, in all its unbearable extremity, the anguish of an eternity forever promised and forever denied, sincere enough to accept in their own lives all the implications of this total rejection of the world, and to behave, everywhere and at all times, as un-subjugated outsiders?

The term Gnostic is vague, encompassing several distinctly different meanings. But, historically speaking, it acquired a particular meaning during the early centuries of our era. On the Eastern shores of the Mediterranean, in Syria, Samaria and Egypt, at the moment when Christianity was feeling its way, and when so many prophets and messiahs were travelling the high roads of the Orient, founding short-lived communities here and there, certain men called Gnostics, that is to say 'men who know,' were also setting up important communities, grouped around various masters and female initiates of a teaching that was radically different from all the others. 

For the moment, I can do no more than sketch in the broad out- lines of this complex, fascinating message, which will be drawn in greater detail throughout the text of the book. Gnosis is knowledge. And it is on knowledge - not on faith or belief - that the Gnostics rely in order to construct their image of the universe and the inferences they drew from it: a knowledge of the origin of things, of the real nature of matter and flesh, of the destiny of a world to which man belongs as ineluctably as does the matter from which he is constituted. Now this knowledge, born out of their own meditations or from the secret teachings which they claim to have had from Jesus or from mythical ancestors, leads them to see the whole of material creation as the product of a god who is the enemy of man. Viscerally, imperiously, irremissibly, the Gnostic feels life, thought, human and planetary destiny to be a failed work, limited and vitiated in its most fundamental structures. Everything, from the distant stars to the nuclei of our body-cells, carries the materially demonstrable trace of an original imperfection which only Gnosticism and the means it proposes can combat.

But this radical censure of all creation is accompanied by an equally radical certainty which presupposes and upholds it: the conviction that there exists in man something which escapes the curse of this world, a fire, a spark, a light issuing from the true God - that distant, inaccessible stranger to the perverse order of the real universe; and that man's task is to regain his lost homeland by wrenching himself free of the snares and illusions of the real, to rediscover the original unity, to find again the kingdom of this God who was unknown, or imperfectly known, to all preceding religions.

These convictions were expressed through a radical teaching which held almost all the systems and religions of former times to be null and void. In spite of its links with some philosophies of the time, and apart from minor reservations -since they borrowed certain beliefs indiscriminately from various systems, prophets or sacred books - one can say that Gnosticism is a profoundly original thought, a mutant thought.

This rejection of all systems, and of a world governed not by men but by shadows or semblances of men - whom I will call pseudanthropes - forced them to live on the fringes of all established society, and to preach a refusal to compromise with false institutions, a refusal to procreate, to marry, to live in fan-Lilies, or to obey temporal powers, whether pagan or Christian.

To sum up the essential position of the Gnostics in still simpler terms, let us say that in their eyes the evil which taints the whole of creation and alienates man in body, mind, and soul, deprives him of the awareness necessary for his own salvation. Man, the shadow of man, possesses only a shadow of consciousness. And it is to this one task that the Gnostics of the first centuries AD deliberately devoted themselves, choosing paths which were not only unorthodox but which, moreover, greatly scandalized their contemporaries: to create in man a true consciousness, which would permit him to impart to his thoughts and deeds the permanence and the rigour necessary to cast off the shackles of this world.

Let us, then, open the first dossier on this monumental undertaking, launched against the entire universe, against the immensity of the firmament, against man's original alienation and the falsity of systems and institutions, and let us begin at the beginning ... with the sky.

From the book - The Gnostics - by Jaques Lacarriere.

This book is, to us, the best book on Gnosticism available. And this is not so much for its extensive detail of the various groups, philosophies and of its charismatic leaders, but because it approaches the Gnostic "heresy" in an almost poetic style which not only inspires the mind, but also the heart, soul and spirit of the reader. Gnostic Liberation Front

Nag Hammadi Library Codex VII

Here are two short descriptions of Gnosticism. 

The first is more scholarly. (It comes from _The Gnostic Religion_, by Hans Jonas.) 

The second is more intuitive. (It comes from _The Gnostics_, by Jacques Lacarriere.)

Excerpt From, The Gnostics

 "The cardinal feature of Gnostic thought is the radical dualism that governs the relation of God and the world, and correspondingly that of man and the world. The deity is absolutely trans-mundane, its nature alien to that of the universe, which it neither created nor governs and to which it is the complete antithesis: to the divine realm of light, self-contained and remote, the cosmos is opposed as the realm of darkness.

 The world is the work of lowly powers which though they may immediately be descended from Him do not know the true God and obstruct the knowledge of Him in the cosmos over which they rule. ... "The universe, the domain of the Archons, is like a vast prison whose innermost dungeon is the earth, the scene of man's life. ... The Archons collectively rule over the world, and each individually in his sphere is a warder of the cosmic prison.

 Their tyrannical world-view is called _heimarmene_, universal fate, a concept taken over from astrology but now tinged with the Gnostic anti-cosmic spirit. In its physical aspect this rule is the law of nature; in its psychical aspect, which includes for instance the institution and enforcement of Mosaic Law, it aims at the enslavement of man.

 As guardian of his sphere, each Archon bars the passage of souls that seek to ascend after death, in order to prevent their escape from the world and their return to God. The Archons are also the creators of the world, except where this role is reserved for their leader, who then has the name of _demiurge_ (the world-artificer in Plato's _Timaeus_) and is often painted with the distorted features of the Old Testament God.

 "Man ... is composed of flesh, soul, and spirit. But reduced to ultimate principles, his origin is two-fold: mundane and extra-mundane. Not only the body but also the 'soul' is a product of the cosmic powers... Through his body and his soul man is a part of the world and subjected to the _heimarmene_.

 Enclosed in the soul is the spirit, or 'pneuma' (called also the 'spark'), a portion of the divine substance from beyond which has fallen into the world; and the Archons created man for the express purpose of keeping it captive there. ... In its unredeemed state the pneuma thus immersed in soul and flesh is unconscious of itself, benumbed, asleep, or intoxicated by the poison of the world: in brief, it is 'ignorant.

' Its awakening and liberation is effected through 'knowledge.' [_Gnosis_.] "The radical nature of the dualism determines that of the doctrine of salvation. As alien as the transcendent God is to 'this world' is the pneumatic self in the midst of it. The goal of gnostic striving is the release of the 'inner man' from the bonds of the world and his return to his native realm of light. 

The necessary condition for this is that he _knows_ about the trans-mundane God and about himself, that is, about his divine origin as well as his present situation, and accordingly also about the nature of the world which determines this situation. As a famous Valentinian formula puts it, What liberates is the knowledge of who we were, what we became; where we were, where-into we have been thrown, where-to we speed, where-from we are redeemed; what birth is, and what rebirth.

 "This knowledge, however, is withheld from him by his very situation, since 'ignorance' is the essence of mundane existence, just as it was the principle of the world's coming into existence. In particular, the transcendent God is unknown in the world and cannot be discovered from it; therefore revelation is needed. The necessity for it is grounded in the nature of the cosmic situation; and its occurrence alters this situation in its decisive aspect, that of 'ignorance,' and is thus itself already a part of salvation. Its bearer is a messenger from the world of light who penetrates the barriers of the spheres, outwits the Archons, awakens the spirit from its earthly slumber, and imparts to it the saving knowledge 'from without.' ... " (Hans Jonas, _The Gnostic Religion_ 42-45).

Gnostics "hold this world and the creatures that inhabit it in total suspicion. ... Viscerally, imperiously, irremissibly, the Gnostic feels life, thought, human and planetary destiny to be a failed work, limited and vitiated in its most fundamental structures.

 Everything, from the distant stars to the nuclei of our body-cells, carries the materially demonstrable trace of an original imperfection..." 

Gnosticism delivers "a radical censure of all creation...accompanied by an equally radical certainty... that there exists...a light issuing from the true God -- that distant, inaccessible stranger to the perverse order of the real universe; and that man's task is to regain his lost homeland by wrenching himself free of the snares and illusions of the real, to rediscover the original unity, to find again the kingdom of this God who was unknown, or imperfectly known, to all preceding religions." 

"These convictions were expressed through a radical teaching which held almost all of the systems and religions of former times to be null and void. In spite of its links with some philosophies of the times, and apart from minor reservations -- since they borrowed certain beliefs indiscriminately from various systems, prophets or sacred books -- one can say that Gnosticism is a profoundly original thought, a _mutant thought_. "...in their eyes the evil which taints the whole of creation and alienates man in body, mind, and soul, deprives him of the awareness necessary for his own salvation. 

Man ... possesses only a shadow of consciousness. And it is to this one task that the Gnostics deliberately devoted themselves, choosing paths that were not only unorthodox but which, moreover, greatly scandalized their contemporaries: to create in man a true consciousness, which would permit him to impart to his thoughts and deeds the permanence and the rigour necessary to cast off the shackles of this world."

 (Jacques Lacarriere, The Gnostics)

Brief Survey of Gnosticism

 by Jeffrey S. Johnson, Fr. IDWAB Thien Tao Oasis 

 Gnosticism was a unique spiritual and religious system and movement whose heyday was during the first two centuries of the common era. During this period many different schools of Gnostic thought flourished. However, there has been considerable scholarly debate over where and when Gnosticism proper actually began.

 If we were to accept the words of the early church fathers, such as Irenaeus or Hippolytus, we would conclude that Gnosticism was nothing more than a heretical offshoot of Christianity. However, knowing that the early Catholic church would do just about anything to clear the way for their new and wondrous institution, including, but not limited to, twisting the truth or ignoring the plain facts if it did not favour their position, we can overlook their speculations on this matter as more polemical than historical and proceed to a brief investigation of the prevalent social, cultural, and religious trends of the time period. 

This should furnish us with a clearer idea about the beginnings of Gnosticism. To more thoroughly achieve this end it is necessary to backtrack to the Conquest of the East by Alexander the Great (334-323 BCE) and the emergence of the culture within which the many and wonderful threads of Eastern and Western thought and feeling were to merge.

 As suggested above, the conquest of the East by Alexander would lead to a unification of the Eastern (being, in this context, roughly Egypt to the borders of India) and the Western (mainly the Greek, or Hellenic, world centered around the Aegean Sea) cultures into a common "Hellenistic" culture. 

Alexander's success in this venture was not all due to his valour and military prowess: the cultures and the consciousness of the people in both the East and the West were prepared, although in radically different ways, for such a merging to occur. The pre-Alexander "Hellenic" world, as opposed to the post-Alexander "Hellenistic" world, was a culture and society that was very much reserved for those who were Hellenes by birth. That is, the culture's moral and political ideas, as well as ideas about knowledge and life in general, were bound up with definite social conditions.

 Gradually, however, Hellenic culture would open up. This opening was made possible primarily by the philosophical reflections of various schools of thought that appeared on the Greek landscape prior to Alexander, such as the Cynics, the Sophists and the philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The main elements contributed by these schools were the concepts of rationality, and logic and with these came greater awareness that society's laws and customs are conventions. 

This led to different reactions, some, such as the Cynics, suggested that because of this humans should move away from social conventions and others, such as Socrates, suggested that societal conventions should be upheld in the interests of law and order.

 Regardless of what the conflicting opinions on this matter were, the Age of Reason had dawned and thus Hellenic culture was heading away from particularism towards a more universal consciousness. To further this, the Stoics later advanced the notion that freedom is a purely inner-quality, not dependent on external conditions. This would suggest that any man, or woman for that matter, could be free if only they were wise and would then open up Hellenic culture to every rational being, i.e., every man.

 It was at this point that the people of the Hellenic world began to conceive of themselves as citizens of the cosmos rather than solely as citizens of the "Polis" or the state --- thus the term "cosmopolitan". 

This radical shift in a positive, expansive direction on the part of the Western world coincided with many changes of a passive, receptive nature in the Eastern regions of the world. In the centuries preceding Alexander's conquest, national and local beliefs (traditional religions) were gradually being transformed into theological systems which later evolved into rational doctrines.

 These changes would fit them for becoming elements of an international exchange of ideas. These changes were made possible by the uprooting of local cultures. For example, as far back as 597 BCE the Jews were exiled to Babylon. This event, while being an extreme hardship on the people, actually liberated Judaism from their lot as a Palestinian cult of Yaweh and allowed them to forward the concept of monotheism as a world cause, thus expanding their scope tremendously.

 A similar situation would arise for the religion of the Babylonians in their due season. Once the state of Babylon was overthrown by Cyrus II of Persia (539 BCE) the old-religion was no longer a state cult attached to the political center. This would force the Babylonian religion to rest on its spiritual contents alone and would lead to its eventual transformation into the reasoned system of Astrology.

 One other such incident I'll mention affected, in due course, the Persians. Rather than being exiled as the Jews or conquered as the Babylonians, the old Persian religion of Mazdaism (commonly known as Zoroastrianism) willingly detached itself from its native Iranian soil to be carried throughout the East, from Syria to India, by the ruling nation. After the fall of the Persian empire to Alexander, Mazdaism would be faced with the same advantages and disadvantages of Diaspora which was the lot of both the Jews and the Bab