Gnosticism with Richard Smoley

source: New Thinking Allowed     2016年11月27日
Richard Smoley is editor of Quest: The Journal of the Theosophical Society in America. He is also former editor of Gnosis Magazine. His books include Hidden Wisdom: The Guide to the Western Inner Traditions, Inner Christianity: The Guide to the Esoteric Tradition, Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism, The Essential Nostradamus, Conscious Love: Insights from Mystical Christianity, The Dice Game of Shiva: How Consciousness Creates the Universe, The Supernatural: Writings on an Unknown History, The Deal: A Guide to Radical and Complete Forgiveness, and How God Became God: What Scholars Are Really Saying About God and the Bible.
Here he notes that Gnosticism originated among faith communities of Christian believers in the earliest years, suggesting that it was based upon original teachings that Jesus shared with some disciples. Gnostics apparently communicated with other schools of esoteric thought, including hermeticism and astrology. Eventually it was persecuted by the Church and almost entirely eliminated. The teachings of Gnosticism relate to discovering spiritual truths within oneself, rather than from external authorities. In recent centuries there has been a revival of Gnostic thought. One of the most prominent Gnostic thinkers in the modern era is the eighteenth century poet and artist, William Blake.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is a past vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology; and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that Association for his contributions to the field of human consciousness. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.
(Recorded on August 6, 2016)