One born in America has no doubt at least had some contact with Christianity. The word itself likely evokes an image in one’s head, and one may think they are speaking of the same thing in communicating. The reality, however, is that Christianity is much more diverse and divisive than one may have thought. Some think that history holds the answer, and that the older a teaching, the more authentic and true it is. In reality, early Christianity was likely just as diverse and divisive, if not more so than in the modern era. By far the most dominant school of thought under the Christianity is a shared heritage finding its roots in Judaism or the Abrahamic tradition. This is likely the main common denominator between various denominations today.
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It is very likely that those hearing the message of Jesus Christ would best understand and interpret the message and meaning of salvation in terms of what they already know. Those who were not aligned with or favorable of a Judaic connection were likely more influenced and aligned with their Roman influence of Platonism, as it coincides with the time of Gnosticism becoming large and at the time the text in question was written. Marcion, a major figure representing those rejecting allegorical interpretation, also favored a distinction from Judaism in the development of Christian thought. Within Platonism we find the concepts of idealism and divine mediation, both of which can be found within The Second Treatise of the Great Seth. Idealism is essentially a concept that speaks of God as intellect, being non-physical in nature. In the text we read about the nature of God according to the Gnostics: “…he appears to him as a Monad of all these, a thought and a father since he is one” (WCH, p. 57). Here we see the use of the concept of God being a non-physical thought and a father. A farther represents a source of something, which brings us to the Gnostic teaching in congruence with the Platonic concept of divine mediation, whereby the source of God as intellect is spread throughout. We read of this in The Second Treatise of the Great Seth whereby Jesus says: “I produced thought about the Ennoias which came out of the undefiled Spirit, about the descent upon the water, that is, the regions below. And they all had a single mind, since it is out of one” (WCH, p. 53). Here we see a teaching and understanding congruent with the Platonic concept of divine mediation, whereby the minds of those with God are out of the “undefiled Spirit” (WCH, p.
It is very likely that those hearing the message of Jesus Christ would best understand and interpret the message and meaning of salvation in terms of what they already know. Those who were not aligned with or favorable of a Judaic connection were likely more influenced and aligned with their Roman influence of Platonism, as it coincides with the time of Gnosticism becoming large and at the time the text in question was written. Marcion, a major figure representing those rejecting allegorical interpretation, also favored a distinction from Judaism in the development of Christian thought. Within Platonism we find the concepts of idealism and divine mediation, both of which can be found within The Second Treatise of the Great Seth. Idealism is essentially a concept that speaks of God as intellect, being non-physical in nature. In the text we read about the nature of God according to the Gnostics: “…he appears to him as a Monad of all these, a thought and a father since he is one” (WCH, p. 57). Here we see the use of the concept of God being a non-physical thought and a father. A farther represents a source of something, which brings us to the Gnostic teaching in congruence with the Platonic concept of divine mediation, whereby the source of God as intellect is spread throughout. We read of this in The Second Treatise of the Great Seth whereby Jesus says: “I produced thought about the Ennoias which came out of the undefiled Spirit, about the descent upon the water, that is, the regions below. And they all had a single mind, since it is out of one” (WCH, p. 53). Here we see a teaching and understanding congruent with the Platonic concept of divine mediation, whereby the minds of those with God are out of the “undefiled Spirit” (WCH, p.