The Path of Knowledge

We find the birthplace of what is now known as Christian Gnosticism in the region of the Mediterranean. Most of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea were consolidated by the Roman Empire by 30 BC. Vast highways and shipping routes provided the peoples of the region the means to freely intermingle and exchange ideas, while Rome’s system of law unified the divergent populations under its rule. Though Rome was unbending in its demand for obedience to the state, it allowed a remarkably free expression of religious and philosophical thought. The Romans had a very practical attitude to religion, as they did with most things. The Romans’ own religion was not based on any central belief, but on a mixture of fragmented rituals, taboos, superstitions, and traditions, which they collected over the years from numerous sources.

Alexandria was the most eclectic and tolerant city in the Roman Empire in the early centuries. As an important crossroads of the Mediterranean trade routes it was a repository not only of diverse goods, but of diverse ideas as well. A plethora of religious sects from Palestine, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia existed side by side with Greek, Hellenistic, and Pythagorean thought. Zoroastrian and Mithraic schools mingled harmoniously with pockets of Hindu and Buddhist offshoots. The library of Alexandra was the most comprehensive in the world until the orthodox Christians burned it down in 411 AD.

By the second century many different Christian-Gnostic sects existed, but came under increasing persecution as orthodox Christianity grew in power. Many Gnostics valued the necessity of individual freedom in finding salvation, though there was considerable variation in their beliefs and levels of tolerance. They generally refused to bow to any authority other than their own, and for this reason began to be viewed as renegades, a danger to the growing power base of Constantine’s Church. Consequently they were ‘disdained and persecuted’ by the very community to which they once belonged.

In the fifth century Rome was still attempting to impose its authority over heterodox Egypt who refused to accept Rome’s authority. The greatest contribution from Egyptian Christianity was its development of the monastic system for housing and transmitting Gnostic thought. Egyptian Christians prided themselves on maintaining a ‘purer, more accurate record of Jesus and his teachings’ and functioned as a ‘loosely connected brotherhood’ that emphasized the pursuit of knowledge in contrast to hierarchical and authoritarian Rome. From Syria and Egypt Gnostic tradition spread. It was a small leap into Spain considering that the Syrians controlled most of the trade going into Gaul and Spain. Ships sailed daily from Alexandria to the Atlantic coast of Europe. By the time orthodox Christianity reached Spain, Gnosticism had already rooted itself.

In the late fourth century a teacher and lay-preacher, Priscillian of Avila, defied Roman authority and actively sought to acquire material outside the established Roman Church. One of his leading disciples journeyed to the Middle East in quest of uncanonical texts. The teachings of Priscillian were Gnostic in character and drew heavily of Judaic literature, including forms of early Qabalism. Priscillian propagated the Gnostic belief that the soul pre-existed the body, a view that was formally condemned by the Church in the sixth century. As a shadow of things to come, Priscillian and six of his followers were tortured and beheaded at the behest of Roman Bishop Ithicas in 386 AD. Augustine supported the order. They were the first heretics to be executed.

Ultimately, however, Gnosticism survived and continued to spread throughout Europe until it found its fullest expression in the Celtic Church of Ireland in the mid fifth to mid-seventh centuries. The Celtic people were never inclined towards system and structure, and the Christian churches they established reflected their spirit of independence all the way up until its official ending with the Synod of Kells in 1152 following the Norman invasion of Ireland. Ireland was fairly isolated from the arm of Rome. Separated by a sea and a continent at war, Ireland became a safehaven for scholars seeking refuge from the upheavals occurring elsewhere in the world. Vast quantities of literature were transported there for safekeeping and copying. Irish monks are known to have visited Egypt, and Egyptian motifs as well as Syrian and Mesopotamian thoughts, heavily influence Celtic Christianity. The Celtic Church had its own liturgy and Mass, both of which incorporated distinctly non-Roman elements. There was never a uniform liturgy and the natural Celtic love for art and poetry colored their masses. They often added their own special touches unafraid to "sometimes add a formula here and a rite there."

It even had its own translation of the Bible, and followed St Patrick (who was possibly "polluted" with the Arian heresy) in refuting the Virgin Birth. The Celtic Church also noticeably omits mention of the Trinity and the Nicene Creed.