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Single Idea 23057

[filed under theme 29. Religion / A. Polytheistic Religion / 4. Dualist Religion ]

Full Idea

Gnostic traditions envisage a supreme God that created the universe and then withdrew into itself, leaving the world to be ruled by a lesser god, or Demiurge, which might be indifferent or hostile to mankind.

Gist of Idea

Gnosticism has a supreme creator God, giving way to a possibly hostile Demiurge

Source

John Gray (Seven Types of Atheism [2018], Intro)

Book Ref

Gray,John: 'Seven Types of Atheism' [Penguin 2019], p.5


A Reaction

It doesn't seem to solve any problems, given that the first God is 'supreme', and is therefore responsible for the introduction and actions of the later Demiurge.


The 12 ideas from John Gray

Christians introduced the idea that a religion needs a creed [Gray]
Judaism only became monotheistic around 550 BCE [Gray]
Gnosticism has a supreme creator God, giving way to a possibly hostile Demiurge [Gray]
Buddhism has no divinity or souls, and the aim is to lose the illusion of a self [Gray]
Free atheism should start by questioning its faith in humanity [Gray]
Human knowledge may not produce well-being; the examined life may not be worth living [Gray]
Knowledge does not need minds or nervous systems; it is found in all living things [Gray]
The will hardly ever does anything; most of our life just happens to us [Gray]
Without Christianity we lose the idea that human history has a meaning [Gray]
Nowadays we identify the free life with the good life [Gray]
What was our original sin, and how could Christ's suffering redeem it? [Gray]
Over forty percent of the Earth's living tissue is human [Gray]