Pagan roots in earliest Christianity
Posted By Director on August 28, 2026
The following post is pasted from the website Esoteric Theological Seminary.
Pagan Roots in Earliest Christianity
article originally titled: A Short History of Gnosticism
by J H Jensen
(J H, if you’re out there, please contact us so we can properly credit you!)
The roots of Gnosticism reach far into antiquity and, during much of its history, Gnosticism has faced such persecution as to destroy most records about it.
Gnosticism transcends the boundaries of secular religion. Elements of it can be found among Quakers and Old Catholics, the Hebrew Kabbalah, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Baha’i’, in Greek philosophy, and even Polynesian Huna. Kabbalistic Gnosticism (or a predecessor thereof) was probably brought to Palestine from Ur of the Chaldees by Abraham.
Gnosticism even transcends the long-standing war between science and religion. In fact, it was Gnostic philosophers like Pythagoras who were primarily responsible for developing the scientific method. At the other extreme, we can see Hebrew messianic movements (a constant process in Judaism) growing consistently out of Kabbalistic Gnosticism. There is no clear evidence indicating Christianity to be an exception to this rule.
In fact, the earliest recorded schism in Christianity was between the Gnostics and Pistics [believers by faith]. Several of the Gospels are clearly Gnostic in orientation, including the Gospels of John, Thomas, Philip, and Mary. Then, it was the Pistics who were the heretics, and they were often hated at that, because it was (and still is) Pistics who would burn Gnostic writings wherever they could find them.
In AD 38, the Church of Antioch was founded by James, Peter and Thomas in Antioch, Asia Minor. In AD 64, Pistic Christianity began growing by leaps and bounds when Nero began throwing Christians to the lions in the arena. Roman courts offered Christians an out: they could denounce their religion and go free. The Pistics refused and died for it. The Gnostics were horrified. They were faced with a veritable Jonestown horror in their midst. Their friends and neighbors were committing suicide by walking willingly into the mouths of lions. While Gnostics respected honesty, they respected life more, and they knew that the man who would brandish a sword at them was not interested in honesty, but only in their obedience. They became hated and scorned by Pistics for refusing to die with them.
Better advertising could not have been bought. No faith, no commitment, could have been more impressive to the spectators. The arena made converts by the droves, and it was Pistic Christians that they sought out to learn more about this powerful religion.
