Editing Gnosticism (section)

===Jewish Christian origins===
{{See also|Origins of Christianity|Split of Christianity and Judaism}}
A common position is that Gnosticism has [[Jewish Christian]] origins, originating in the late first century AD in nonrabbinical Jewish sects and early Christian sects.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3533}}{{sfn|Magris|2005|pp=3515–3516}}{{sfn|Cohen|Mendes-Flohr|2010|p=286}}{{refn|group=note|name="Cohen"}} [[E. S. Drower|Ethel S. Drower]] adds, "heterodox Judaism in [[Galilee]] and [[Samaria]] appears to have taken shape in the form we now call Gnostic, and it may well have existed some time before the Christian era."<ref name=Drower1960/>{{rp|xv}}

Many heads of Gnostic schools were identified as Jewish Christians by Church Fathers, and Hebrew words and names of God were applied in some Gnostic systems.<ref name="JE-G">{{Cite encyclopedia|first1=Joseph|last1=Jacobs|first2=Ludwig|last2=Blau|year=1906|title=Gnosticism|url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6723-gnosticism|access-date=2023-09-10|encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia}}</ref> The [[religious cosmology|cosmogonic]] speculations among Christian Gnostics had partial origins in [[Maaseh Breishit and Maaseh Merkavah|''Maaseh Breshit'' and ''Maaseh Merkabah'']]. This thesis is most notably put forward by [[Gershom Scholem]] (1897–1982) and [[Gilles Quispel]] (1916–2006). Scholem detected Jewish ''gnosis'' in the imagery of [[merkabah mysticism]], which can also be found in certain Gnostic documents.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3533}} Quispel sees Gnosticism as an independent Jewish development, tracing its origins to [[History of the Jews in Alexandria|Alexandrian Jews]], to which group Valentinus was also connected.{{sfn|Albrile|2005|p=3534}}

Many of the [[Nag Hammadi texts]] make reference to stories and characters from the Hebrew Bible, in some cases with a violent rejection of the Jewish God.{{sfn|Cohen|Mendes-Flohr|2010|p=286}}{{refn|group=note|name="Cohen"|Cohen & Mendes-Flohr: "Recent research, however, has tended to emphasize that Judaism, rather than Persia, was a major origin of Gnosticism. Indeed, it appears increasingly evident that many of the newly published Gnostic texts were written in a context from which Jews were not absent. In some cases, indeed, a violent rejection of the Jewish God, or of Judaism, seems to stand at the basis of these texts. ... facie, various trends in Jewish thought and literature of the Second Commonwealth appear to have been potential factors in Gnostic origins.{{sfn|Cohen|Mendes-Flohr|2010|p=286}}}} Gershom Scholem once described Gnosticism as "the Greatest case of metaphysical anti-Semitism",<ref>{{Cite book|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-503607-7|last=Gager|first=John G.|title=The origins of anti-semitism: attitudes toward Judaism in pagan and Christian antiquity|page=168|date=1985}}</ref> though Professor Steven Bayme said Gnosticism would be better characterized as [[anti-Judaism]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bayme|first=Steven|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56QJ9O7MFJ4C&dq=gershom+scholem+gnosticism+anti-semitic&pg=PA122|title=Understanding Jewish History: Texts and Commentaries|date=1997|publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc.|isbn=978-0-88125-554-6|language=en}}</ref> However, recent research into the origins of Gnosticism shows a strong Jewish influence, particularly from [[Hekhalot literature]].<ref name="Kabbalah New Perspectives">{{Cite book|last=Idel|first=Moshe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utWy5kz5K7IC&pg=PA31|title=Kabbalah: New Perspectives|date=1988-01-01|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-04699-1|page=31|language=en}}</ref>