The Gnostics considered the most essential part of the process of salvation to be this personal knowledge, in contrast to faith as an outlook in their worldview along with faith in the ecclesiastical authority. Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God, and the Demiurge, 'creator' of the material universe. In the formation of Christianity, various sectarian groups, labeled 'gnostics' by their opponents, emphasised spiritual knowledge ( gnosis) of the divine spark within, over faith ( pistis) in the teachings and traditions of the various communities of Christians.

Gnosticism originated in the late 1st century CE in non-rabbinical Jewish and early Christian sects. Gnosticism ДЄ lion-faced, serpentine deity found on a Gnostic gem in Bernard de Montfaucon's L'antiquitГ© expliquГ©e et reprГ©sentГ©e en figures may be a depiction of the Demiurge. Conversion to Christianity is seen as evidence of the deeper knowledge protecting against false doctrine. Lightfoot described as a 'larger and more thorough knowledge'. Other interpretations have suggested that 2 Peter is referring to an 'epignosis of Jesus Christ', what J.B. One proposed distinction is between the abstract or fragmented knowledge ( gnosis) and a clearer or more precise knowledge ( epignosis). The difference and meaning of epignosis ( Greek: ОПЂбј±ОіОЅП‰ПѓО№П‚) contrasted with gnosis is disputed. Irenaeus used the phrase 'knowledge falsely so-called' ( pseudonymos gnosis, from 1 Timothy 6:20) for the title of his book On the Detection and Overthrow of False Knowledge, that contains the adjective gnostikos, which is the source for the 17th-century English term ' Gnosticism'. Mead, the 'motions of gnosis' are also referred to as 'kingly motions'. In the Acts of Thomas, translated by G.R.S. In the Hellenistic era the term became associated with the mystery cults. Younger Socrates: Let us assume that all science is one and that these are its two forms. Stranger: In this way, then, divide all science into two arts, calling the one practical ( praktikos), and the other purely intellectual ( gnostikos). The terms do not appear to indicate any mystic, esoteric or hidden meaning in the works of Plato, but instead expressed a sort of higher intelligence and ability analogous to talent. ДЄ related term is the adjective gnostikos, 'cognitive', a reasonably common adjective in Classical Greek. Gnosis is a feminine Greek noun which means 'knowledge' or 'awareness.' It is often used for personal knowledge compared with intellectual knowledge (ОµбјґОґОµО№ОЅ eГdein), as with the French connaГ®tre compared with savoir, the Spanish conocer compared with saber, the Italian conoscere compared with sapere, the German kennen rather than wissen, or the Modern Greek ОіОЅП‰ПЃОЇО¶П‰ compared with ОѕОПЃП‰.

Deeper synonym