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• List of Illustrations
• The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
• Chapter X
• Chapter Xi
• Chapter Xii
• Chapter Xiii
• Chapter Xiv
• Chapter Xv
• Appendix Additional Notes By the Editor
• 1.: The Origin of the Goths; and the Gothic History of Jordanes — ( P. 4 Sqq. )
• 2.: Visigoths and Ostrogoths — ( P. 8 )
• 3.: The Defeat of Valerian, and the Date of Cyriades — ( P. 43 )
• 4.: The Pretenders In the Reign of Gallienus, Known As the Thirty Tyrants — ( P. 49 )
• 5.: Zenobia — ( P. 83 Sqq. )
• 6.: Corrector Italiæ — ( P. 96 )
• 7.: Probus and the Limes Germanicus — ( P. 120 )
• 8.: German Campaigns of Diocletian, Maximian, and Constantius ( 285-299) — ( P. 158 Sqq. )
• 9.: Diocletian’s Tariff of Maximum Prices — ( P. 178 )
• 10.: Authorities For Matters Pertaining to Christianity and the Primitive Christians — ( Chap. XV.)
• 11.: Origin of Gnosticism — ( P. 274 )
• 12.: World-eras — ( P. 289 )
• 13.: Early Church Institutions — ( P. 311 )
• 14.: Number of Christians In the Empire Under Diocletian and Constantine — ( Pp. 337, 341 )

11.

ORIGIN OF GNOSTICISM — (

P. 274

)

Hilgenfeld has developed his view as to the rise of Gnosticism in his highly important work on early heresies, Die Ketzergeschichte des Urchristenthums. His position is that Gnosticism was founded (as Irenæus said) by the Samaritan, Simon the Magian, at the beginning of the Apostolic epoch, and thus arose strictly outside Christianity, but yet within its atmosphere. Then it became in a way Christian, and deeply affected Christianity, both by breaking down Jewish Christianity, and by calling forth a combined opposition which led to the formation of a united Catholic church. Hilgenfeld repeats and defends his theory in his Zeitsch. für wissenschaftliche Theologie, vol. xxxiii. 1890, p. 1 sqq., against the different view put forward in Harnack’s Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte, vol. i. 1st edition, p. 178 sqq. Harnack holds that Gnosticism arose from pre-Christian syncretistic religious theories (a “Religionsmischung”) which existed in Syria and especially Samaria, and aimed at a universal religion. The Gnostics he describes as “the theologians of the first century” (p. 163); they took up Christianity at once as a universal religion and opposed it sharply to Judaism and other religions. In Gnosticism, he says (following Overbeck), is represented “die acute Verweltlichung” (Hellenisation) of Christianity, — a result which was only obtained by a gradual process in Catholic Christianity.

Harnack points out well (p. 172) that Gnosticism was accompanied by a number of other sects, only partially related, which on one hand shade off into Hellenism, on the other to ordinary Christianity; e.g. Carpocratians and Encratites respectively. He deals at length with the peculiar position of Marcion, p. 197 sqq. [Cp. articles on Gnosticism and Marcion, in Dict. of Christian Biography.]

Harnack has since made a valuable contribution to the study of Gnosticism by his work “Ueber das gnostische Buch Pistis Sophia” (1891). He shows that this treatise (for which see above, p. 277, n. 33), of which he gives an elaborate exegesis, was earlier than 302, and fixes it to the second half of the third century (p. 94 sqq.). He shows that it was written in Egypt, but does not represent Valentinian doctrines (as had been supposed) but rather Ophite, if we use this elastic word to connote a whole group of Syrian gnostic heresies (Ophites, Nicolaites, Sethites, Kainites, &c.). He goes on to develop an attractive theory that the Pistis Sophia is identical with a treatise mentioned by Epiphanius (De Hær. xxvi.) under the title of the Small Questions of Mary, as a work that issued from this Gnostic group, and he even tries to establish that it represents in particular the views of the Sethites.

A long and important study on Gnostic works preserved in Coptic (the Books of Jeû: Coptic text and German translation) by C. Schmidt, in Gebhardt u. Harnack, Texte u. Unters., viii. 1 and 2, deserves special mention.