A brief but sympathetic survey of gnosticism, the Christian heresy which rivalled the Church for centuries. Though the term ‘gnostic’ applies to many different movements, the core belief — and the supreme heresy — was that salvation is achieved only through divine gnosis, or knowledge. The dogma and rituals of the priesthood were thus irrelevant and restrictive. Holroyd traces the persecution and influence of various gnostic and related groups throughout history, with satisfying tangents into hermeticism, William Blake, and Carl Jung. [Element]
