Gnōsis ("knowledge") is a Greek word of Indo-European origin, related to the English know and the Sanskrit jñāña. The term has long been used in comparative religion to indicate a current of antiquity that stressed awareness of the divine mysteries. This was held to be obtained either by direct experience of a revelation or by initiation into the secret, esoteric tradition of such revelations.

Pre-Christian Gnosis

The experience of gnosis was highly esteemed at the beginning of our era in various religious and philosophical circles of Aramaic and Greco-Roman civilization. It is a key word in the scrolls of the Jews of the Essene sect found at Qumran. In the canonical Gospel of John, Jesus is quoted as having said at the Last Supper: "This is [not 'will...