Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: gnostikos, “having knowledge) is a term categorizing a collection of ancient religions whose adherents shunned the material world- which they viewed as created by an evil or clumsy entity they called the Demiurge- and embraced the spiritual world. Gnostic ideas influenced many ancient religions that teach that gnosis (variously interpreted as knowledge, enlightenment, salvation, emancipation or ‘oneness with God’) may be reached by practicing philanthropy to the point of personal poverty, sexual abstinence (as far as possible for hearers, entirely for initiates) and diligently searching for wisdom by helping others. However, practices varied among those who were Gnostic.
In Gnosticism, the world of the demiurge is represented by the underworld, which is associated with flesh, time and more particularly, the imperfect ephemeral world. The world of God is represented by the upper world and is associated with the soul and perfection. This world is eternal and not part of the physical. It is impalpable and timeless.
Gnosticism is primarily defined in a Christian context. In the past, some scholars thought that Gnosticism is predated Christianity and included pre-Christian religious beliefs and spiritual practices argued to be common to early Christianity, Neoplatonism, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions and Zoroastrianism (especially Zurvanism). The discussion of Gnosticism changed radically with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library and led to a revision of older assumptions. To date, no pre-Christian gnostic texts have been found and Gnosticism as a unique and recognizable belief system is considered to be a second century or later development.