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The eclectic -impartial- researchers have always stated that GNOSTICISM is a very peculiar phenomenon connected to the activity of the CONSCIOUSNESS in man, in his attempt to decipher the mysteries that link his existence to his creator and the events derived from this unknown link.
The scientific study of the CHRISTIAN GNOSTICISM had its pioneers: Mr. Chieslet in the 17th century; Mr. Beausobre and Mr. Mosheimin in the 18th century. However, it was in the beginning of the 19th century when this study progressed and included works by Mr. Horn, Mr. Neander, Mr. Lewald, Mr. Baur, etc.
The outstanding work «Histoire crítique du gnosticisme» by Mr. Jacques
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Matter, Paris 1828, reedited in Strasbourg in 1843, was considered for a long time a classic work on Gnosticism.
All these authors and many others illustrated to us in their assessments that: «If Gnosticism was nothing more than a set of doctrinal aberrations due to the heretic Christians of the first three centuries, its interest would be purely archaeological. However, it is much more than that; the Gnostic attitude will appear spontaneously beyond any direct transmission. Gnosticism is a mystical ideology that tends to reappear incessantly in Europe and in other places of the world at times of great ideological and social crises ».
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