Oh yes, they did borrow heavily from Plato. To the gnostics, the "soul" could be shared with other people. So right now me an tack are having a discussion. We are sharing and searching each others "souls" because we are interacting with each other. If we were face to face, we would be sharing our souls through the spirit. In other words, we would be interacting together physically and mentally (souls) through speech (Spirit = breath). When the gnostics had the "spirit of the lord", it meant they were preaching (talking..you need breath to talk) and sharing the good experiences (their souls). This book by far had the best explanations of the foundations of Christianity and really made an impact on me. this Christianity was MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE than the conservative, preachy, closed minded christianity that we see in America today. Gnostics considered these types of christians to be stuck in the first stage of the mystery; thinking "of this world" and not the immortal soul. I cant remember every detail, but the next step was something like realizing the mystery of the soul (salvation) and denying "this world". I think the last step was actually becoming a christ like figure (Jesus in your heart) by becoming aware and sensitive of your soul (interactions within reality) makes such a great impact on everything and everyone around you.
Anyways, If I had to choose any kind of christianity to convert to, I would convert to a gnostic in the unitarian/universalist model. The thing is, modern gnostics would not harp on atheist or other religions for not being a christian. They would only care about how sensitive you were to your thoughts and surroundings. To them, it was a method of becoming compassionate that would eventually release you from dogma- Once you have Jesus in your heart (the last step of the mystery), you no longer need the law because you will do what is kind and right because you WANT to..not because of some law that forces you to do so because of promises of punishment if you do not comply. That rings very familiar compared to many of todays christians who are still "of this world" who follow the law for fear, ignorant, and selfish reasons.. as opposed to having Jesus (salvation) in their hearts and walking the path of Jesus (doing right because you want to do it and help saving people from destructive and hateful actions and ways).
The gnostics seem more like agnostics to me..but that is a completely different topic to me.
Anyways, If I had to choose any kind of christianity to convert to, I would convert to a gnostic in the unitarian/universalist model. The thing is, modern gnostics would not harp on atheist or other religions for not being a christian. They would only care about how sensitive you were to your thoughts and surroundings. To them, it was a method of becoming compassionate that would eventually release you from dogma- Once you have Jesus in your heart (the last step of the mystery), you no longer need the law because you will do what is kind and right because you WANT to..not because of some law that forces you to do so because of promises of punishment if you do not comply. That rings very familiar compared to many of todays christians who are still "of this world" who follow the law for fear, ignorant, and selfish reasons.. as opposed to having Jesus (salvation) in their hearts and walking the path of Jesus (doing right because you want to do it and help saving people from destructive and hateful actions and ways).
The gnostics seem more like agnostics to me..but that is a completely different topic to me.
