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.