Abstract:
The aim of the work is to identify the peculiarities of the genealogical
development of Gnostic ideas in Europe and how strongly they influenced the
formation of European religions in the past and present. Among the
numerous doctrines of late antiquity, a special place is occupied by a
syncretic phenomenon – Gnosticism, a peculiar mixture of ancient Eastern,
Jewish, Orthodox Christian and Hellenistic traditions. The problem of the
philosophical reconstruction of Gnosticism is also relevant in that a number
of modern religious trends call themselves Gnostic. Gnostics are sometimes
called the creators of the first racist theories, because all those human beings
created by the Demiurge are divided into 3 categories. However, even if we
discard the religious side of the issue, we still have an equally important
point – the moral and ethical teaching.