An Overview of Gnosticism and the Bible by Lewis Loflin In AD
1209, the entire population of the Albigens was slaughtered at
the order of Pope Innocent III. The Albigens, in the south of
France, was then the most populous, the most technically,
socially, and economically advanced part of Europe. Its
population was largely Gnostics and Arian Christians, and were a
sanctuary for Jews who were persecuted almost everywhere else in
Europe. All of these groups had a high percentage of literacy
and read the Bible, which was prohibited by the Vatican. The
above was an introduction to an essay I read years ago, but it
is sad historical fact. What is it about the Gnostics, Arians,
and Jews that produces such rage and fear within official
Christendom? Gnosticism is often defined as a "cult" of "secret
knowledge" or to quote, "These gospels emphasize knowledge that
initiates have and others do not." Gnosticism envisaged the
world as a series of emanations from the highest "One", that
produced a series of emanations. The