Gnosticism is from the Greek gnosis meaning knowledge or the act of knowing. Gnostic knowledge concerns sapere aude or the courage to know, the adventurousness to inquire, and an openness to gain new insight. Knowledge can lead to wisdom. I conceive of gnosticism as the an end result of the CACK Model —> useable knowledge. Gnosticism became a 2nd Century major Christianity division. On the one side were those who sought knowledge (Gnostic Christians), and on the other side were those who focused on faith (Orthodox Christians). The Patristic Orthodox hersiologists will lambast the Gnostic Christian Community.
I keep in mind that in early Christianity there were several competing branches proclaiming to know the word of Jesus —> more than just the Orthodox and Gnostic branches. The Bible was put together by a committee of men proclaiming to know the Word of God. Many books in the Bible were chosen for political reasons and many were autocratically rejected for political reasons. Major rejections were the Books of the Apocrypha (Tobit, Judith, First Maccabee, Judith), and Books of the Pseudpigrapha (Gospel of Judas, Gospel of Thomas, Acts of David). I already indicated that the concept of God is man-made. I now point out that the various early scriptures were also man-made creations that were the interpreted version of their God’s voice.
