Popular opinion often comes from obscure sources. Many
conceptions about Jesus now current and credible in New Age
circles are rooted in a movement of spiritual protest which,
until recently, was the concern only of the specialized scholar
or the occultist. This ancient movement -- Gnosticism -- provides
much of the form and color for the New Age portrait of Jesus as
the illumined Illuminator: one who serves as a cosmic catalyst
for others' awakening.
Many essentially Gnostic notions received wide attention
through the sagacious persona of the recently deceased Joseph
Campbell in the television series and best-selling book, _The
Power of Myth._ For example, in discussing the idea that "God was
in Christ," Campbell affirmed that "the basic Gnostic and
Buddhist idea is that that is true of you and me as well." Jesus
is an enlightened example who "realized in himself that he and
what he called the Father were one, and he lived out of that
knowledge of the Christhood of his nature." According to
Campbell, anyone can likewise live out his or her Christ
nature.[1]
Gnosticism has come to mean just about anything. Calling
someone a Gnostic can make the person either blush, beam, or
fume. Whether used as an epithet for heresy or spiritual
snobbery, or as a compliment for spiritual knowledge and
esotericism, Gnosticism remains a cornucopia of controversy.
This is doubly so when Gnosticism is brought into a
discussion of Jesus of Nazareth. Begin to speak of "Christian
Gnostics" and some will exclaim, "No way! That is a contradiction
in terms. Heresy is not orthodoxy." Others will affirm, "No
contradiction. Orthodoxy is the heresy. The Gnostics were edged
out of mainstream Christianity for political purposes by the end
of the third century." Speak of the Gnostic Christ or the Gnostic
gospels, and an ancient debate is moved to the theological front
burner.
Gnosticism as a philosophy refers to a related body of
teachings that stress the acquisition of "gnosis," or inner
knowledge. The knowledge sought is not strictly intellectual, but
mystical; not merely a detached knowledge of or about something,
but a knowing by acquaintance or participation. This gnosis is
the inner and esoteric mystical knowledge of ultimate reality. It
discloses the spark of divinity within, thought to be obscured by
ignorance, convention, and mere exoteric religiosity....
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