Lecture 9: Extreme Christianity in the 2nd
and 3rd Centuries
the body, where it forgets its origins and destiny and falls
into ignorance.o Jesus is the revealer who comes from the light and announces
to the soul its origin and identity. “Saving knowledge” (gnosis)
is a form of self-realization: where one is from, who one truly
is, and where one is destined to return.o The way back to the light is through a liberation from the
body and its physical entanglements, especially through
sexual abstinence and fasting; marriage and children simply
perpetuate the tragedy of somatic existence.• The Gnostics divided humans into three categories: the hylic (lost
in materiality), the pneumatic (self-aware), and the psychic (who
can choose either way).
o The “spiritual people” saw themselves as superior to the
members of the “catholic” community, who were hylic because
of their enmeshment in matter. Gnosticism privileged the
destiny of the individual over the survival of the community.o The literature also reveals hostility toward the institutions of
the “great church” and the “apostolic men” who cultivate a
community that is lost in ignorance and materiality.o Those drawn to Gnosticism tended to find their way into
Manichaeism—founded by the Persian Mani (216–276)—
which had both Christian and non-Christian forms, but versions
of Gnosticism also endured into the medieval period, as among
the 13th-century Albigensians.• It is difficult to determine how many were attracted to these rigorous
forms of Christianity. In some parts of the empire, Marcionites seem
to have formed a majority. They were popular enough to generate a
vigorous response from the “orthodox.”