Dualism in Gnosticism; comments on It

The present paper introduces a brief account of the dualism of Gnosticism. Gnosticism is a kind of esoteric gnosis and cognition through which, according to gnostics, man can free himself from both physical world and evil, and attain the spiritual world and good. Gnostics believe in dualism; they differentiate between three exalted real God and the God who has created this physical world. According to the followers of Gnosticism, the physical world is evil and corrupt and it has been created by a selfish and ignorant god. Christian Gnostics believe that the God of Jews, "Jehovah", is the creator of the physical world, and they think that the religious law of Torah is consistent with the will of this God. Since matter is evil, man's body is evil, too. Man's body must be weakened through certain practice and seclusion, and his soul which belongs to spiritual and transcendental worldmust be strengthened. The Soul is a gift from a good God and it must gain intuitive knowledge towards its main origin in order to be free from the physical world. However, since it gets stuck in this physical world, it forgets its origin. The good and transcendental God has sent his son, Jesus Christ, to help him remember the good God and his original position. Christian gnostic's beliefs on the reality of Jesus Christ, the physical world, its creator, and about the religious law of Torah have gone astray. Therefore, the orthodox Church considered gnostic beliefs to be dangerous and innovatory, and they anathematized these beliefs in the second century A.D