Modern Gnosticism...a Postscript

I've decided it might be useful to make an addition to my comments about modern gnostics and their presence in today’s world. 

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned Erin Voegelin (1901-1985), one of the 20th century’s great political philosophers. Voegelin wrote extensively about the recurrence of gnostic thought and it’s influence on so many current ideologies. In one of his books -- Science, Politics and Gnosticism -- he lists a number of characteristics which, in his words, "reveal the nature of the gnostic attitude". Here's a brief version:

• The gnostic is "dissatisfied with his situation." This is certainly not unique to the gnostic, but the dissatisfaction experienced by the world's faithless can lure many into the gnostic way of thinking.
  
• The gnostic attributes this dissatisfaction to "the fact that the world is intrinsically poorly organized...[and] the fault is to be found in the wickedness of the world" but not in that of human beings. The gnostic, then, rejects the goodness of creation and, therefore, the goodness of the Creator. Any evil in the world is not the fault of man, but the fault of the world as man received it.
• The gnostic also believes that "salvation from the evil of the world is possible." The problem occurs when the gnostic describes the nature and source of this salvation and how it can be brought about.
  
• "The order of being will have to be changed in an historical process." In other words, the evil world will evolve into a good world through a process of historical evolution. This, of course, denies the Christian belief that salvation isn't something we can achieve, but instead comes through the gift of God's grace.
• Based on the above, the gnostic believes that changing the very order of being is possible through human action, "that this salvational act is possible through man's own effort." Of course, this "salvation" is really focused on the ultimate perfection of humanity and does not really involve the eternal salvation of the individual.
  
• Because the gnostic believes humanity can being about this change, the task becomes one of determining the methods to achieve the perfection of this new order of being. The gnostic, then, constructs "a formula for self and world salvation...[and is ready] to come forward as a prophet who will proclaim his knowledge [gnosis] about the salvation of mankind."
  

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, gnosticism takes on many forms, and yet in all of its modern manifestations the above characteristics are present. Voegelin mentions a number of ideologies that embody these characteristics, including: progressivism, positivism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, communism, fascism, and national socialism. Each of these ideologies offers its own formula for human salvation and its own prophets who will lead the way. 

Of course, to buy into any of these ideologies is to deny the very foundational beliefs of Christianity. 

You can access my previous posts on Gnosticism via these links:

Roots of Modern Gnosticism (9/29)

Modern Gnostics (10/3)

Modern Gnostics

(This is the second -- and probably the final -- post on gnosticism and its presence in today's world, a sequel to my earlier post: Roots of Modern Gnosticism)

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When we examine ancient gnosticism's modern successors, we encounter a change, or a progressive movement that renounces God, or really any belief in a vertical, other-worldly transcendence. Gone, then, is the “hidden God” of the ancient gnostics, replaced by a horizontal belief in a closed historical process manipulated by a revolutionary elite. According to these elitists, these modern gnostics, only they can understand the process as history moves inexorably forward, one step after another. 

For the gnostic, the old world -- that is, traditional society and its institutions -- must be destroyed to make way for the new. Change, then, means destruction. This transformation will take place thanks to the knowledge -- the gnosis -- possessed by the elite who will manage the process. We see shades of this gnostic thought among politicians, intellectuals, academics, revolutionaries, media pundits, and others who desire to transform the world through programs run by experts, by those in the know. In other words, the gnostic, rejecting the God who acts in and redeems the world, believes in self-salvation through human knowledge.

Eric Voegelin, one of the more stable and believable 20th-century philosophers, reminds us of the gnostic's "prohibition of questions." Using Karl Marx as an example, Voegelin describes Marx's unwillingness to answer questions as central to his philosophy. To paraphrase Marx: For socialist man, questions become an impossibility. When socialist man speaks, man must be silent. Indeed, for Marx, questioning his thought "becomes a practical impossibility." 

Interestingly, Rudolf Hőss, the commander of the infamous Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, when asked at trial why he did not question or disobey the horrific extermination orders, replied that such a thought would never even occur to him. "Something like that was just completely impossible...I had to carry it out," he said. Yes, indeed, for all socialists questions become "a practical impossibility." It matters little whether they are communists (international socialists) or Nazis (national socialists) or run-of-the-mill socialists (democratic socialists), since they employ identical tactics -- some just more subtle than others -- when it comes to exerting power over others. Too many people have forgotten, or perhaps never knew, that the word, “Nazi,” was shorthand for the full name of the political party founded by Adolph Hitler, the Nationalsozialtische Deutsche Arbeiterpartie, or the National Socialist Workers Party. There is really very little difference between extremists on the left or right. 

[Note: If you have about 22 minutes to watch a homily that addresses the role of Divine Mercy in the conversion of Rudolf Hőss before his execution, watch the video I've embedded below. As my eighth-grade teacher, Sister Francis Jane, often said, "You might be surprised whom you meet in heaven...assuming you get there."]

We see this prohibition of questions, too, in the response of today's leftists to serious questions, a response that inevitably centers on attacking the questioner. The gnostic mob -- regardless of what it calls itself -- silences its questioners with personal attacks, both verbal and physical, and with noise. It screams it’s irrational chants as it tries to destroy the symbols and ultimately the foundation of the existing society.

The gnostic "spirit", however, is largely a revolt against God. Marx, in his doctoral dissertation, provides us with the perfect example of this. Like Prometheus, Marx writes:  

In a word, “I hate all the gods” is its own confession, its own verdict against all the gods heavenly and earthly who do not acknowledge human self-consciousness as the supreme deity. There shall be none beside it.

The Marxist, a true modern gnostic, rebels against the cosmic order created by God and, therefore, rebels against God Himself. But today's gnostic knows that such a revelation might well undermine his legitimacy in a world that still largely accepts a transcendent God who cares for His creation. And so, the gnostic must deceive, knowingly deceive, and perpetuate an ideological shell game. It's a game that cannot  succeed in the long run; but in the short-run some very nasty things can happen, as they have in the past and are happening in the present.

Fascism and communism are both manifestations of the modernist and socialist ideology that rejects God. In a sense they embrace the first sin in Eden — “you, too, shall be like gods” — and like all evils attempt to imitate good but ultimately embrace the culture of death. From the beginning of recorded history to 1900, governments murdered an estimated 133 million of their own citizens. Between 1901 and 1987, governments killed nearly 170 million of their own citizens. Stalin slaughtered 41 million, Mao 35 million, and Hitler 21 million. Another 38,5 million died in state-sponsored wars during the same period. 

If you can make your way through such modern philosophers as Heidegger, Hegel, Nietzsche, and Marx you will encounter the core of modern gnostic thought. Marx was probably the most influential, although Nietzsche was certainly the most readable. Yes, they were all intellectuals, but those who took their ideology into the streets — Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and all the rest — were really just thugs. In fact, once the thugs gained control, the intellectuals and the academics were usually the first to go. During the so-called “Cultural Revolution” in Communist China (1962-1976), Mao first adopted the slogan, “Never Forget Class Struggle.” Under this slogan Mao encouraged the students to rise up against their teachers who were labeled bourgeois intellectuals. The students, who evolved into the infamous and brutal Red Guards, beat and imprisoned their teachers. Mao even attacked the party itself because he believed too many of its functionaries were insufficiently revolutionary. This phase was spurred on by the slogan, “Sweep Away All Monsters and Demons.” Mao later demanded the Red Guards erase all vestiges of the old culture, which led these young thugs to attack virtually everyone. Destruction was universal — churches, temples, shops, libraries, cemeteries, museums, monuments, statues, even pets were destroyed — and countless people were slaughtered. The entire process was orchestrated by Mao as a form of directed anarchy, violence from below but with approval from above.

Under Marxism — and, folks, socialism, even Bernie’s and AOC's so-called “democratic socialism,” is founded on Marxist principles — human beings are seen as socially determined by their historical and material circumstances; they are not defined by their infinite worth before a transcendent God. According to Marx himself, Marxist revolution implies “the replacement of religion by politics as the source of man’s liberation, since evil is a consequence of society...and not of an original sin,” and it ultimately leads to an ennoblement of violence and the extinction of ethics. 

Revolutionary ethics sees its own version of violence as liberating, unlike what it claims is the repressive violence of the established order. Marxism approves of the former as the means to overcome the latter. We will continue to encounter this "liberating" violence so long as those who should know better continue to support and bankroll violent revolutionaries.

Barack Obama called for the "fundamental transformation of America" but to the far left these words simply mean total revolution. And in total revolution violence becomes just fine, a necessary tool to achieve the complete alteration of the society. Ethics, too, at least ethics as we know it, becomes meaningless, since such concepts as justice, freedom, and morality are incompatible with revolution because they represent and legitimize the existing order which must be destroyed. Oh, these words and others like them will be parroted to recruit those who believe society is oppressing them, but to the revolutionary they mean little. 

Because the modern gnostic elites believe they know better than the masses, they really can’t stand the thought of the uninitiated being free to use the gifts God has given them. For the same reason, elitists, whether of the liberal or revolutionary variety, always crave power. For the revolutionary, the only acceptable form of democracy is mob rule, the democracy of violence which for them is the pathway to power. Liberal elites are more subtle and strive to convince the masses to trust them because they know better, all the while working within “the system” to undermine the people’s freedom. Publicly they minimize the violence of the revolutionaries, although they fear it could get out of hand and threaten their personal power. And yet this same fear leads them to continue their quiet support of the revolutionaries.

A recent Rugters University study found that the social media profiles of some anarchists gained hundreds of thousands of followers since May. According to Pamela Paresky, one of the study's co-authors:  

"The systematic, online mobilization of violence was well-planned, coordinated (in real tme), and celebrated by explicitly violent anarchy-socilaist networks that rode on the coattails of peaceful protest...The ability to continue to spread and to eventually bring more violence, including a violent insurgency, relies on the ability to hide in plain sight -- to be confused with legitimate protest, and for the media and the public to minimize the threat."

As I mentioned in a recent post -- Madness Rising -- the similarities with the early years of the Russian Revolution are striking. 

What’s behind it all? For the true believers, it”s driven by their ideology and their quest for power. For the followers, Lenin’s “useful idiots”, I really believe that too many today simply refuse to recognize that which is good, that which is beautiful. Modern education has taught them that the world of man lacks goodness, and the wonders and beauty of God’s creation escapes them. Lacking moral imagination, the concept of sin and disorder in the human soul means nothing to them. How can it, since they reject the very idea of the goodness of creation by a transcendent, loving God who acts in the world? One gets the impression they’re just bored with it all.

There is much evil in the world today, but that’s nothing new. The evil — and that means Satan and all his followers — are unable to fathom the motives of the good. We see evidence of this in the way so many haters simply cannot understand religious values, particularly Christian values. One need olny read the mainstream media's coverage of things Christian, and especially that related to the Catholic CHurch.

We who believe, though, live on in trust and in hope; and hope is knowledge, the firm knowledge that "all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose" [Rom 8:28]. God will indeed bring all things to good because the good is far more powerful than any evil and will emerge the victor.

Roots of Modern Gnosticism

Okay, folks, I'm going to get a bit philosophical in this post and perhaps in a few that follow. If you'd rather not join me as I try to delve into the whys and wherefores of what's happening in our country and the world, I suggest you check out some of those cute animal videos on YouTube. They'll be far less disturbing.

A week or so ago, a parishioner sent me an email and remarked, "I can hardly believe how much the world has changed in just a past few months." I wanted to respond, "No, you're wrong. It's hardly changed at all. The symptoms of the world’s evils are simply more evident. Most folks just don't pay attention and have no real sense of history." But that wouldn't be kind. Anyway, I tire more easily these days, and to have explained it all would have taken far too much time and energy, so I just gave him a virtual nod and wrote nothing in response. Once again, my inherent laziness won out. Guilt, however, occasionally conquers even laziness, so today I thought I'd better address the issue.

What is actually happening in our nation and our world today? I believe most sane, intelligent human beings would agree that the violence, hatred, destruction, looting, riots, defacement, dissembling, and all the rest are not good things. Below, for example, is a video of a hardly peaceful Black Lives Matter "protest" in Trenton, New Jersey. It's actually hard to watch the entire video, and please note that it also contains some rather graphic language. You can watch it if you like, or simply believe me when I say it’s both violent and very disturbing.

The video shows one of the more benign violent episodes plaguing our nation today, and here we encounter violence, presumably just for the sake of violence. But not really, for the organizers of these events are motivated by a desire to destroy the visible symbols of the existing culture. If, however, you disagree and believe the activities depicted in the video are good, then once again, I suggest you visit YouTube and allow your heart to be softened by the cute critter videos. The rest of us will begin by looking first at what Sacred Scripture tells us and then delve into human history to better recognize the symptoms and the illness that afflict us.

But first, let's recall St. Paul's words:

"Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" [Rom 5:10].

Understanding this, we pray that God's grace fill the hearts of those who encourage and commit this violence. I'd rather they experience a spiritual conversion than an earthly punishment. As we pray for them, let's also ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in our response. He always responds to prayer, although not always in ways we expect or desire.

Remarkably, when I began to think and pray about these things a few days ago, the Spirit led me to the prophet Isaiah, a man with whom I seem to spend a lot of time these days. Anyhow, I opened my Bible and there it was. I didn't even have to turn the page.

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" [Is 5:20].

Like Isaiah, we're called to discernment, to the discernment of spirits. We must sort out the evil from the good and the good from the evil. The evil we encounter today is certainly very evil, but really no different from the evils that have plagued humanity from its beginnings. It was first manifested in Eden when the serpent tempted our first parents to reject the one, true, living God that they might become gods themselves. As Satan, speaking of the forbidden fruit, put it: 

"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" [Gn 3:5].

Satan was, of course, lying, because he always lies. Whenever we encounter the words of Satan, we must remember what Jesus, the Incarnate Word, says of him:

"He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" [Jn 8:44].

Because Satan has "no truth in him," everything he says is a lie. Disobedience and sin do not open our eyes; just the opposite: they close our eyes, our minds, and our hearts to the extent that we confuse both good and evil.

Seemingly oblivious to the precious gift of their creation in God's "image and likeness" [Gn 1:26], Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation to "be like God." Through their fall, we are all infected by the same spiritual virus. From Eden the presence of evil continued to spread throughout human history, leaving in its wake death, destruction, sinfulness, and so many damaged souls.

But God's love for us knows no bounds and He promised redemption [Gn 3:15]. Through Abraham He chose a people from which a Savior would arise to free the world from its enslavement by sin. Out of this chosen people God gave the world His Son, Jesus, who became one of us, taught us, healed us, and died for us as the sacrificial "Lamb of God." Rising from the dead, He opened the gates of heaven to us, offering us eternal life. 

Jesus, then, is the Way, for no one can come to the Father except through Him [Jn 14:6]. He is the Truth, the truth that will set us free [Jn 8:32]. And He is the Life, for the Father gives us eternal life through Jesus, His Son, and the Son's redemptive act. [1 Jn 5:11]. All of this God communicated to us through His Revealed Word, Sacred Scripture, and His Church, the custodian of Apostolic Tradition.

But man being man, many rejected not only the Redeemer, but also the Truth of Revelation. Instead of turning to his Creator, the creature preferred to turn inward, believing that man himself is the measure of all things. This is not some recent, 21st-century phenomenon. It's plagued humanity for centuries. And it was particularly evident among the ancient Gnostics, who declared themselves to be the "people who know."

Gnosticism, often considered an early Christian heresy, likely had far more ancient origins. Most early pagan religions, not unlike Judaism and Christianity, believed in varying ways that man's "salvation" came about, if not through faith, then through obedience to the will of God, however that supreme power might be envisioned. But Gnosticism viewed being through a very different lens. It held that Gnostics possessed special knowledge, knowledge that made them superior to those who did not know; i.e., the rest of humanity.

Where did this come from? Quite likely it was a response to the societal, indeed, the civilizational, changes that swept through the ancient world beginning around the 7th century B.C. Empires rose, conquered, and collapsed, while entire populations were exiled and enslaved. Efforts to establish independent city states, nation states, and ethnic states failed, the result of internal disorder and external pressures. In the midst of this turmoil and chaos, societies and their institutions crumbled leaving humanity disoriented without any sense of meaning. If this sounds vaguely familiar, realize that human nature and human history really haven't changed all that much.

Our ancient ancestors, at least some of them, strove to understand it all, to find meaning amidst the rubble. And so we find stoicism, epicureanism, Eastern mystery religions, Manichaeism, and other, largely short-lived attempts to help humanity deal with itself. Judaism and Christianity were the obvious survivors, but so too was another attempt to define the meaning of our existence: Gnosticism.

Because ancient Gnosticism appeared in many different forms, and was embraced by a number of different sects, one hesitates to suggest an all-encompassing definition. Generally, however, the ancient Gnostics saw the world as an alien place from which man must escape to his true home. As one early gnostic text demanded: "Deliver us from the darkness of the world into which we are flung." Gnostics did not see the world as the well-ordered cosmic creation that God declared as "good." For them it was a prison created by the evil God of this world, whether it be the Zeus of the Greeks, or the Jewish Yahweh. The good, but "hidden God" would provide them with the means of escape and deliver them. This would come about through hidden knowledge -- the gnosis -- revealed only to the elite, those who know.

I believe we can safely say that gnosis, in both its ancient and its modern variations, desires dominion over being. In other words, it replaces God with man. As you might imagine, it strives to achieve this dominion by exerting power over others.

In my next post, we'll look more closely at ancient Gnosticism's modern successors.