This marks part 2 of a 5-part series where I will read aloud chapters from Manly P. Hall's “The Wisdom of the Knowing Ones: Gnosticism, the Key to Esoteric Christianity.” In this episode, we'll be reading chapter one, “Gnostism, The Key to Esoteric Christianity.”

What you'll learn:

• The impact the teachings of Plato and Aristotle had on the early Christian era
• The difference between creationism and emmanationism
• What is the role of Aristotle in anthropology?
• How the early Christian church viewed the concept of God
• How the Orthodox church struggled to contain and control the early Gnostic movement (and how it embraced parts of both Christianity and paganism)
• The contributions of certain early Gnostic teachers and theologians in Alexandria (Basilides and Valentinus)
• The myth of Pistis Sophia and Yaldabaoth as an understanding of the path of esoteric initiation
• How the Gnostics used “abraxas,” also known as Gnostic gems as talismans and ways to identify one another during the time the Orthodox Christian church was attempting to persecute them as heretics
• Pagan morals: how the Orthodox Christian church attempted to make Pagans out to be cruel “heathens,” when it fact, they also lived by their own values and moral code, and how many of them respected the teachings of Jesus
• Understanding the esoteric teachings of the early Christian mystery schools
• Why the Gnostics rejected much of the Old Testament (the Marcionite Christian Church: what they believed and why Marcion was excommunicated)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Manly Palmer Hall was a Canadian author, lecturer, astrologer, mystic, and Freemason. Over his 70-year career he gave thousands of lectures and published over 150 volumes of written work. Early in his life, he became drawn to mysticism, esoteric philosophies, and their underlying principles. While visiting London in the early 1930s, Hall acquired from an auction agent at Sotheby's, a substantial collection of rare books and manuscripts about alchemy and esotericism. Owing to economic conditions resulting from the Great Depression, he acquired the collection for an insanely low price due to the economic circumstances of the time.

SELECTED READING: “The Wisdom of the Knowing Ones: Gnosticism, the Key to Esoteric Christianity.” (Pages 1-22)

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