Editing Gnosticism (section)

=== Middle Ages ===
After its decline in the Mediterranean world, Gnosticism lived on in the periphery of the Byzantine Empire, and resurfaced in the western world. The [[Paulicianism|Paulicians]], an [[Adoptionist]] group which flourished between 650 and 872 in Armenia and the Eastern Themes of the [[Byzantine Empire]], were accused by orthodox medieval sources of being Gnostic and quasi [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] Christian. The [[Bogomils]], emerged in [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgaria]] between 927 and 970 and spread throughout Europe. It was as [[Syncretism#Religious syncretism|synthesis]] of Armenian [[Paulicianism]] and the [[Bulgarian Orthodox Church]] reform movement.

The [[Catharism|Cathars]] (Cathari, Albigenses or Albigensians) were also accused by their enemies of the traits of Gnosticism; though whether or not the Cathari possessed direct historical influence from ancient Gnosticism is disputed. If their critics are reliable the basic conceptions of Gnostic cosmology are to be found in Cathar beliefs (most distinctly in their notion of a lesser, Satanic, creator god), though they did not apparently place any special relevance upon knowledge (''gnosis'') as an effective salvific force.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Broek |first1=R. van den |last2=Hanegraaff |first2=Wouter J. |title=Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times |date=1 January 1998 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3611-0 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Gnosis_and_Hermeticism_from_Antiquity_to/0zfCrnqj_FUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Cathar+gnosis+not&pg=PA88&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref>

==== Islam ====
[[File:Adam and the Angels watched by Iblis.jpg|thumb|Some [[Sufism|Sufistic interpretations]] depict [[Iblis]] as ruling the material desires in a manner that resembles the [[Demiurge#Gnosticism|Gnostic Demiurge]].]]

The Quran, like Gnostic cosmology, makes a sharp distinction between this world and the [[afterlife]]. God is commonly thought of as being beyond human comprehension. In some Islamic schools of thought, God is identifiable with the [[Monad (philosophy)|Monad]].<ref>Winston E. Waugh, ''Sufism'', Xulon Press, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-597-81703-5}}, p. 17</ref>{{sfn|Nagel|1994|p=222}}

However, according to Islam and unlike most Gnostic sects, it is not rejection of this world but the performing of good deeds that leads to [[Jannah|Paradise]]. According to the Islamic belief in [[tawhid]] ("unification of God"), there was no room for a lower deity such as the demiurge.<ref>Andrew Philip Smith, ''The Secret History of the Gnostics: Their Scriptures, Beliefs and Traditions,'' Duncan Baird Publishers, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-780-28883-3}}</ref>

Islam also integrated traces of an entity given authority over the lower world in some early writings: [[Iblis]] is regarded by some [[Sufism|Sufis]] as the owner of this world and humans must avoid the treasures of this world since they would belong to him.<ref>Peter J. Awn, ''Satan's Tragedy and Redemption: Iblis in Sufi Psychology,'' Brill, 1983. {{ISBN|978-90-04-06906-0}}</ref>

In the [[Ismailism|Isma'ili Shi'i]] work ''[[Umm al-Kitab (Ismaili book)|Umm al-Kitab]]'', [[Azazil]]'s role resembles whose of the demiurge.{{sfn|Barnstone|Meyer|2009|p=803}} Like the demiurge, he is endowed with the ability to create a world and seeks to imprison humans in the material world, but here, his power is limited and depends on the higher God.{{sfn|Barnstone|Meyer|2009|p=707}} Such [[anthropogeny|anthropogenic]]{{clarify|date=October 2021}} can be found frequently among [[Isma'ili]] traditions.<ref>Corbin, ''Cyclical Time & Ismaili Gnosis,'' Routledge, 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-136-13754-9}}, p. 154</ref> In fact, Isma'ilism has been often [[takfir|criticised as non-Islamic]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2022}} [[Al-Ghazali]] characterized them as a group who are outwardly [[Shia]] but were adherents of a dualistic and philosophical religion.

Further traces of Gnostic ideas can be found in Sufi anthropogeny.{{clarify|date=October 2021}}<ref>Max Gorman, ''Stairway to the Stars: Sufism, Gurdjieff and the Inner Tradition of Mankind,'' Karnac Books, 2010. {{ISBN|978-1-904-65832-0}}, p. 51</ref> Like the Gnostic conception of human beings imprisoned in matter, Sufi traditions acknowledge that the human soul is an accomplice of the material world and subject to bodily desires similar to the way [[archon]]tic spheres envelop the pneuma.<ref>Tobias Churton, ''Gnostic Philosophy: From Ancient Persia to Modern Times,'' Simon and Schuster, 2005. {{ISBN|978-1-594-77767-7}}</ref> The [[ruh]] (pneuma, spirit) must therefore gain victory over the lower and material-bound [[nafs]] (psyche, soul, or anima) to overcome its animal nature. A human being captured by its animal desires, mistakenly claims autonomy and independence from the "higher God", thus resembling the lower deity in classical Gnostic traditions. However, since the goal is not to abandon the created world, but just to free oneself from lower desires, it can be disputed whether this can still be Gnostic, but rather a completion of the message of Muhammad.{{sfn|Nagel|1994|p=215}}

It seems that Gnostic ideas were an influential part of early Islamic development but later lost its influence. However light metaphors and the idea of [[Sufi metaphysics|unity of existence]] ({{langx|ar|وحدة الوجود|waḥdat al-wujūd}}) still prevailed in later Islamic thought, such as that of [[ibn Sina]].{{sfn|Nagel|1994|p=222}}

==== Kabbalah ====
Gershom Scholem, a historian of [[Jewish philosophy]], wrote that several core Gnostic ideas reappear in medieval [[Kabbalah]], where they are used to reinterpret earlier Jewish sources. In these cases, according to Scholem, texts such as the [[Zohar]] adapted Gnostic precepts for the interpretation of the [[Torah]], while not using the language of Gnosticism.<ref>[[Gershom Scholem|Scholem, Gershom]]. ''Origins of the Kabbalah'', 1987. Pp. 21–22.</ref> Scholem further proposed that there was a Jewish Gnosticism which influenced the early origins of Christian Gnosticism.<ref name="Scholem Jewish Gnosticism">[[Gershom Scholem|Scholem, Gershom]]. ''Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and the Talmudic Tradition'', 1965.</ref>

Given that some of the earliest dated Kabbalistic texts emerged in medieval [[Provence]], at which time [[Cathar]] movements were also supposed to have been active, Scholem and other mid-20th century scholars argued that there was mutual influence between the two groups. According to Dan Joseph, this hypothesis has not been substantiated by any extant texts.<ref>[[Joseph Dan|Dan, Joseph]]. ''Kabbalah: a Very Short Introduction'', Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 24.</ref>

[[Moshe Idel]] however has argued that the Gnostic or esoteric ideas found in Kabbalah have Jewish roots from ancient times, though we do not have written records of them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Idel|first=Moshe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=utWy5kz5K7IC&pg=PA30|title=Kabbalah: New Perspectives|date=1988-01-01|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-04699-1|pages=30–32|language=en}}</ref>