Introduction
In the landscape of ancient religious movements, few systems exemplify intellectual misrepresentation as thoroughly as Gnosticism. Frequently marketed as a suppressed wellspring of primordial wisdom, Gnosticism instead reveals itself—under sustained scholarly scrutiny—as a constructed ideology that weaponizes obscurity, mythic invention, and selective textual abuse. Its enduring appeal lies not in historical authenticity or theological coherence, but in its promise of elitism: salvation for the initiated few who claim access to truths allegedly denied to the masses.
What masquerades as “hidden knowledge” is, in reality, a bricolage of late antique philosophical fragments, speculative mythology, and reactionary reinterpretations of Jewish and Christian texts. Gnosticism does not preserve ancient revelation; it retrofits dissatisfaction with the material world into a cosmic grievance narrative, positioning its adherents as victims of both creation and history.
The Fabricated Origins of Gnosticism: Invention by Accretion, Not Apostolic Transmission
No credible evidence supports the claim that Gnosticism represents…