In 1 Jn 1, who were the Gnostics?
Gnosticism was a group of heresies which wanted to mix fanciful Greek thought and Christianity. Gnostics are not specifically mentioned in First John. All Gnostics believed in fanciful godlike beings, of whom Christ was just one. They believed the God of the Old and New Testaments were different, and the God of the Old Testament was evil. Gnostics accepted the Gospels but rejected most or all of Pauls writings. They had additional scriptures, which varied. There were two types of Gnostics: libertine and ascetic. All Gnostics said the physical body did not matter, only esoteric spiritual knowledge. Libertine Gnostics concluded that sinning all you wanted in the body was fine. Ascetic Gnostics concluded that you should be celibate, never marry, and treat your body harshly. As an aside, the Basilidean Gnostic sect worshipped as their Supreme deity “Abrasay”. It was considered magical to incant abrasadabra, which was later corrupted to “abracadabra”, which is a nonsensical word magicians u
