What Do I Believe?

I realized that while I have written on parts of my belief, I have never outlined to myself nor others what I believe religiously/philosophically in a concise manner. I hope this journal entry will do this. This is just a summary of my core beliefs. If I were to cover every single thing I believe, this text would be larger than the entire site.

The most general label I use to describe myself is Gnostic, a follower of Gnosticism. The issue with this is it isn't very informative. "Gnostic" is a very broad range of beliefs, to the point where it can't really even be considered a single religion. This is mostly due to the fact that "Gnostic" was not used by early Gnostics themselves. It was an exonym applied to nearly all heretical Christian movements by Proto-Orthodox Christians. So, to be clear about the whole of my beliefs, I must specify the core tenets of what I believe in.

  • I believe that the material universe was created by a flawed, ignorant, semi-divine being known as the Demiurge, or Yaldabaoth.
  • I believe that the material universe and the human body are prisons built by Yaldabaoth for one's Spirit.
  • I believe that humans have a piece of the Pleroma, known as the Spirit, or Divine Spark, within themselves.
  • I believe that "above" (not physically) the realm of Yaldabaoth, there exists a greater divinity known as the Pleroma that lacks Yaldabaoth's flaws.
  • I believe that the Jewish deity YHWH (aka Adonai, El/Elohim, Jehovah, Yahweh, etc.) in the Hebrew Bible represents Yaldabaoth.
  • I believe that the Pleroma is not a god or deity in the traditional sense. In this sense, I am non-theistic, semi-theistic, or trans-theistic.
  • I believe that the Pleroma is defined by several aspects called Aeons.
  • I believe that the Pleroma is omnibenevolent and omniscient, but not omnipotent.
  • I believe that the Pleroma and its Aeons were emanated from the Monad. The Monad is the highest reality, a self-created causal force, and an eternal constant.
  • I believe that the Aeon Sophia birthed Yaldabaoth in an accidental cosmic catastrophe.
  • I believe that the Aeon Christ took the form of Jesus of Nazareth and taught humanity valuable wisdom and truth about the Pleroma, the material world, and more. The Aeon Christ may have incarnated in many forms throughout history.
  • I believe that many of the historical and cosmological myths presented in Gnostic/Christian cosmology and scripture are not literal records of history, but rather profound symbolic allegories for the workings and interactions between aspects of the higher cosmos and Pleroma.
  • I believe that through a spiritual state of awareness called Gnosis, or Knowledge, one's Spirit can reunite with the Pleroma after death.
  • I believe that Christ's crucifixion and resurrection was a symbolic act by Christ. Christ willed himself to be crucified and resurrected in the material world, to demonstrate to us that we may be resurrected in the spiritual world (Pleroma) after our death in the material world.
  • I believe that if Gnosis is not achieved, the Spirit will inhabit another body after death, and be reincarnated.
  • I believe that every soul will eventually obtain Gnosis, and be saved.
  • I believe that personal experience with the spiritual aspects of life often holds greater weight than teachings found in religious scripture.
  • Due to the independent development and prevalance of common themes throughout many religious/philosophical traditions and beliefs, it can be inferred that a universal truth exists, which many religious/philosophies orbit.
  • I believe that by following a path of study, reason, contemplation, questioning, and other practices, one can align one's beliefs closer to the universal truth.

What don't I believe

  • I do not believe in the full established canon of the Christian Bible.
  • I do not believe in any bigoted beliefs found or interpreted in the Christian Bible.
  • I do not believe in the laws and teachings of the Hebrew Biblical canon.
  • I do not believe that large organized religious institutions can be trusted to act for the spiritual or personal benefit of their followers.
  • I do not believe in Hell.
  • I do not believe in a "God." However, in order to simplify explanations, I sometimes use the term God interchangeably to refer to the Monad or the Pleroma.

To summarize these beliefs into a coherent label, I would identify myself religiously/philosophically as a "transtheistic, perennial, universalist, Gnostic." Perhaps more labels can fit, but I'd have to think more deeply about how I label myself, which isn't really a priority of mine.

18 january 2025