The genealogy of Gnostic cult (Case study: Judaism)

Gnosticism is a numerous movement of thought that entered the world of Jewish-Christian thought in the second century AD and created important intellectual challenges in the field of Jewish-Christian theology. These challenges led to an examination of the origins of Gnostic thought and followed various theories. One of these theories considers Judaism to be the origin of Judaism. On the one hand, the Gnostics use of themes and even the words and expressions of the Old Testament shows the Jewish elements in this thought and on the other hand, the Jewish recognition of the origin of the Gnostic religion is incompatible with the strong anti-Semitic tendencies of the prominent Gnostic systems. Examining Jewish teachings and comparing them to the central ideas of Gnostic thought, such as the "meaning of knowledge”, the "concept of ultimate salvation" and the "unity of God and mystic" distorts the claim of the Jewish origin of Gnostic thought and according to the lack of convergence in these important and fundamental issues, the claim of the Jewish origin of the Gnostic religion is ruled out. In this paper, we examine the possibility of the Jewish origin of Gnosticism through content analysis method and an analytical-critical approach.