Gnosticism - Irenaeus and his Against Heresies - Catholic Orthodoxy vs the Valentinian Gnostics

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Make Sure to Subscribe & Consider supporting Esoterica by becoming a monthly Patron - www.patreon.com/esotericachannel or a one time donation - www.paypal.me/esotericachannel Your support is profoundly appreciated!

[@kazisiddiqui6435]

Albertus Magnus was another doctor of church with links to the esoteric, wasn't he? That could be an idea for another episode.

What was the Jesuses' crime?

[@aminrodriguez4707]

39:22 after all, 55 years of age ia not that odd, considering he died in Japan(?).

[@patrickbarnes9874]

Why do you keep referring to St Irenaeus as a Catholic? He was a post-apostolic father, not a Catholic. There are no Catholics until 1053. Prior to that Rome was one of the patriarchates of the ancient faith. It had different theology and praxis from the Roman Catholic church of today. The church of St Irenaeus had no concept of penance, Purgatory, Mary as co-redemptrix, immaculate conception, the papacy, etc. By talking about St Irenaeus as a doctor of the Roman church you are assigning him to that church. He was fully just as much a member of the Eastern Orthodox church, the Protestants, the Oriental Orthodox church, and the Armenian church. Every large Christian group in existence today runs back through St Irenaeus. Rome has no ownership over him. Please refrain from the false notion that just because it's the biggest church today that means Rome is THE Christian church. It is not. You wouldn't say Abraham is the father of conservative Judaism and leave out orthodox Judaism would you? Of course not. So don't do it with Christianity.

[@yourbuddyunit]

By the golden throne, the middle round 21:00 almost made me laugh my way to Osiris.

[@noahhall6322]

Always great to see content on "Gnosticism"... whatever that really means. Gnosticism and early Christian heresy is almost entirely why I am who I am today; when I was younger, my first big fascination stemmed from the question "why do Catholics and Protestants have a different number of books in their Bibles" which led to "what was not included in the Bible and why?" - despite being a Catholic! It was on this path that I found my passion for ancient literature and philosophy, and am now learning Latin and Ancient Greek in order to teach (eventually) it myself. Thank you so much for a trip down memory lane and new insight, Proffesor Sledge!

[@SANxJONERO]

I feel the same way. Not even sure what to call Myself. Gnostic catholic don't sound right, especially since Crowly invented something called that. I am a cultural catholic, but definitely like the term gnostic.

[@sander.otdx.]

@@SANxJONERO Gnostic Christian or Christian Gnostic maybe? I personally, made a journey from agnostic to atheist to serbian orthodox to christian kabbalah to jewish kabbalah and black magic to angel magic without confession to spiritual to gnostic to gnostic with old-orthodox culture. I would call me orthodox gnostic or gnostic christian, because i believe in the gnostic texts + many other apocrypha + the orthodox (especially oldorthodox or oldbeliever) teachings.

[@gabrieljoselebron6762]

Would you believe me if I said I’m going down this exact same path today? I crave enlightenment over everything. I just want to take my best shot at finding the truth, and truthfully I may never find it but through investing our whole lives into this investigation we ‘may’ afford future generations to come one step closer, that’s enough for me. Happy hunting fellow truth finder!

[@gabrieljoselebron6762]

@@sander.otdx.atheist to Serbian Orthodox is a huge step, may I inquire what inspired this change? I used to be an atheist too but personally it felt lazy not inquiring into a higher power if not at least a higher standard for existing. Human ego I believe is the crutch of all existence, hence the human condition and I personally don’t believe human secularism has the means to cure it.

[@lordofthered1257]

I was Mormon and now I am a hard-core orthodox Catholic. I love the history of the Church we should know the history in order to fight for Christ and the truth passed down in his Church. Follow the truth and you will find Christ. God bless.

[@jimhallberg2142]

Extremely unfussed Martyrdom Scenes are probably my favorite subset of Christian art. I'm not sure if it tends to be on purpose, but the bland faces on people being burned/stabbed/attacked by animals is the vibe I wish to approach all my problems with. "Well this isn't how I saw my day going, but ah well. Nothing much for it I suppose."

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Y A S S S

[@nightshademagickian4140]

I suppose when you're a prophet/heretic/martyr being killed by your fellow men is of no real surprise, thus the Welp face. The same as the Jim face from the Office.

[@drphosferrous]

It was a thing back then. Looking upreturbed when getting sworded meant you had pure,firm,upright,tough-guy faith.

[@apo.7898]

I believe it was on purpose but even if it wasn't it acquired theological importance.

[@michaelchevalier9777]

This is rad. Like all the prehistoric animals used as household appliances by the Flintstone family -- "eh, it's a livin"

[@CypressPunk34]

my favorite part of your videos is the calm, professional, and scholarly demeanor you use when speaking paired with captions like "WORLDSTAR! WORLDSTAR!"

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

It's the standard announcement for the commencement of fisticuffs.

[@michaelkelly1267]

Great appreciation for the 'this is fine' joke.

[@zelenisok]

came for the academic level info about early christian theological drama, stayed for the memes and the jokes.

[@realrealqbok]

I'd also recommend St. Lawrence then, whom, the legend assures us, when roasted alive on a gridiron, cheerfully informed his torturers: "I'm well done on this side. Turn me over!"

[@Nah_Bohdi]

I like the "nat 20" joke.

[@jeffbtvs]

As someone raised Mormon and who still attends, it may catch you off guard to say, but I thoroughly enjoy your channel. The past few years I've increasingly explored new ideological and theological ideas. And your channel has been incredible in providing new perspectives. Keep it up man, I love hearing you bring all these ideas into question and most of us greatly enjoy that questioning perspective.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Y'all LDS folks are keeping that Christian esotericism light on, for sure ;)

[@joshezell4636]

I as well am LDS and am fascinated with how the restored church has sprinkling of different strains of Christian and Jewish mysticism. You are not alone friend

[@randomango2789]

@@joshezell4636 How do you guys explain the teaching that Native Americans were Jewish Lamamnites who were cursed to have dark skin? Your prophets used to teach this. In fact, they all used to teach that dark skin was a curse from God which is why African Americans were not allowed to join the priesthood until the 1970s.

[@jlords24]

@@randomango2789 they did indeed teach that, they still sorta do though they're trying to distance themselves from it. Given the Book of Mormon was written in the 1800s, it's not surprised the book used the "cursed by God" excuse to encourage colonization of America. There are a lot of what may be considered moral problems with Mormon theology, but there are similar problems in the Bible (especially the Old Testament). Its an example of how religion can perpetuate harmful traditions, along with good ones (like loving your neighbor)

[@lalli8152]

@@randomango2789 Its kinda interesting especially in Amerikan when new cults or something comes they seem very racial. Like the brotherhood of islam is nothing but Black supremacist movement pretty much. One of their core believes is for example that white people dont have soul, and whites were created by some evil person to destroy true sons of god (black people), and in the off shoot of brotherhood they believe white people are actually demons without soul doing satans work on earth.

[@BojoPigeon]

I continue to be impressed with how people in antiquity were able to collect, curate, organize, and present information in these massive literary works. Even today, with the Internet, telephones, local libraries, university libraries, and easy and quick travel, this can be a challenge. I wonder what they did if they needed access to manuscripts in a distant location. Travel there in person and live there for a while as they did research? Exchange mail to try to find someone local to copy a manuscript for them? Hope that all the information is in a language they can understand? I'm sure the actual process of ancient research is boring to a lot of people, but it really fascinates me. #orthodorks

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

This is a great point and I feel the same way - it's awe-inspiring. I suspect they did all those things, especially when you have access to a city like Rome. The lengths that people went to to get information back then really makes us all look like lazy chumps!

[@BojoPigeon]

@@TheEsotericaChannel You do an amazing job with your research though. And especially with how you present it. I can still remember back in religion class in high school (private Catholic), in the semester on church history, having to learn about a whole bunch of early heresies, and which church councils addressed them. As a teenager, that was not the most captivating topic at the time.

[@Ellsworth_Musiq]

Imagine working on one task or work, all day every day for years on end. There were far fewer "distractions" back in the day. They were far more connected to the Earth, and their own mind. Now we have built a much greater collective consciousness, and the value of literature has been greatly devalued because many people aren't very connected with their own minds. What a person could accomplish in a month or a year back in the days, is something that a person today might take 100%-500% longer, just because, as a person also may feel much more comfortable and confident that they have "many years" to complete any said task. There are a lot of reasons that figures in history were capable of tasks far greater than today.

[@arkhitek2251]

It’s truly fascinating.

[@arkhitek2251]

@@Ellsworth_Musiq Word!

[@AndreGarzia]

Your videos are one of my favourite parts of youtube... I just want to highlight how good your delivery is, not only with all the amazing curation and explanation, but also including the awesome quips and humor. Damn, if my teachers were good like that at uni I'd have paid more attention to the classes.

[@nightshademagickian4140]

Christian mysticism and Orthodox/Church doctrine research, the hard mode of Occultism. Thank you for guidance and insight, you do good work Dr. Sledge.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

NES hard, even

[@ludonymous526]

Well. It's your own business.

[@gmccaughry]

One of the best channels on YT without a doubt!

[@michelleburkholder2547]

That made my day, I love anything Dr Sledge does on Gnostism.

[@TheCasualTaurus]

You're good people Dr. Sledge. Thank you for the work you do!

[@rafaelsaavedra1127]

Love you and your work! Need to say that i am #Gnosticgnerd and #TeamSilmarillion. Keep the great work!

[@Seven-mc1pb]

Simon Magus, can't wait 💛

[@Propane_Propane]

Honestly I think this is the best video you ever produced. Thank you for this.

[@lordofthered1257]

I was a Mormon now converted to hard-core orthodox Catholic and I love these videos. I love history and I can feel my love of Christ, his Church, and for history itself growing. Thank you for your content.

[@Jgp4xzdmqnmil]

Finally left roman catholic church which does not call itself hard core anything. Im free of all insane religions. Im a contented peaceful at last Atheist.

[@lordofthered1257]

@@Jgp4xzdmqnmil Alone in the vacuum of human sin unable to make any objective moral claims.

[@NickSandt]

I was Protestant and converted to Gnostic Marcionism

[@lordofthered1257]

@@NickSandt Why would you convert to an obvious lie? All of the gnostic "gospels" are dated hundreds of years after the original gospels and conflict with the old testament. I guess it is true. Man would rather worship a lie to appease his heart than worship the true god.

[@NickSandt]

@@lordofthered1257 1. Marcion compiled the first Christian Bible ever circa 144 AD and it excluded the Old Testament because YHWH is not the God of Jesus. Rome changed this by excommunicating Marcion, labeling him a heretic post-death and adding to his canon of scripture. 2. The Torah is not original, it is retelling stories of the ancient Sumerian pantheon, the Anunnaki. Of which is the Sumerian god of air and storm deity, Enlil, who the Greek Zeus is modeled after, and Enlil’s brother the Sumerian god of the sea and water, Enki, from which came the story Poseidon. Moses wrote that God flooded the world and that God told Noah to build a boat but it was Enlil who flooded the world and his brother Enki told Ziusudra to build a boat. 3. Enki is Jesus/Poseidon and the snake in the garden while Yahweh is Enlil/Zeus/ the devil of the New Testament. Yahweh was a Canaanite storm deity, who caused a whirlwind in Jeremiah 29:13, spoke from a whirlwind in Job 38:1, and said Israel will reap a whirlwind in Hosea 8:7, and in Numbers 11:31-33 Yahweh used a whirlwind to gather quails for meat for the Israelites. Paul in Ephesians 2:2 calls the devil the “prince of the power of air” and Jesus in Revelation 2:12-13 says that the throne of satan is located in Pergamon which was where the Great Altar of Zeus stood, built by Eumenes II in the 2nd century BC. See the connection? 4. Jesus/Enki said no one can enter the kingdom unless they are “born of _water_ and the Spirit”, he walked on _water,_ turned _water_ into wine, supplied people with “living _water”_ (Holy Spirit), controlled the rain and the waves, his symbol is ichthys the fish 🐟, see the connection?

[@SableRhapsody]

I'm still in the very early stages of educating myself about Gnostic theology, and you've made the topic as accessible as possible. So I want to thank you for that. Also thank you for Justin "Thug Life" Martyr living rent-free in my head :D

[@alanleiker1742]

What an honest, brave, and entirely unbiased fellow

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Who me? Irenaeus? I can guarantee you both of us are biased :)

[@Brendatalks963]

Thank you for your brilliant and authentic discussion of the early centuries, so pivotal in our many religious foundations. I crave the clarity and illumination this study provides. Blessings to you.

[@AnaiBendai]

Thank you for posting this Doc! I've really been waiting for this one.

[@michaelthompson9540]

You do not give such a detailed account about something you hate, unless you want others to grasp it. He even offered an explanation of the tears of Sophia by his own understanding and added to it. Sometimes the adversary is your best friend.

[@ponyote]

Best theological shade. :D I just love your sense of humor, Doctor.

[@jeffaltier5582]

Thank you. This is one of your more fascinating videos in an area that I am very interested in learning more about.

[@geraldmeehan8942]

Thank you so much for this episode very informative and even more entertaining. So much information packed into 40 minutes, amazing!

[@BojoPigeon]

Looking forward to the Simon Magus episode. He's literally on my list of "Topics I hope will be covered on Esoterica." He gets a really brief mention in the New Testament, which leaves his fate a mystery. And then the extra-biblical literature goes right into fan fiction territory. And if you do a KZbin search for historical information on the topic, you're not much better off.

[@gimli1908]

@Pete Testube it’s often known as Apocrypha

[@jdewit8148]

Yes bring it on.

[@garnersfg6667]

There’s a section on Simon the Magus in The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P Hall if you’re interested.

[@HistoryandReviews]

@Pete Testube Acts of Peter

[@ludonymous526]

Simon Magus was a fraud.

[@ginnistiles]

You - being you and doing you - are a treasure on this Earth! I love your Work 🏆🥇💎

[@thegreyetch]

"Never thought i would find Christ with a Jew" "What about with a friend?" "Aye. That i could do" Love ur vids man lol. LOTR, black metal references, all while being an actual doctor and staying on topic. This is the stuff i miss fron college. U rule dude.

[@stoggsherfnik4569]

That’s the tragedy of believers deprived of the Original Testament , in its Original language.

[@LonaPua_Pouliuli-Popoki]

🤙Aloha Dr. Sledge mahalo Your screen tags are especially good, keep having to pause to fully appreciate them

[@grayk6565]

You are a fantastic gentleman and scholar and I appreciate the videos you make. I love playing them while working out or cooking.

[@naomiseraphina9718]

Speaking on behalf of Gnostic Gnerds everywhere; Thank you, Dr. Sledge! Your are our hero! --N

[@ludonymous526]

Nerds, they are not.

[@kylesty6728]

Wonderful as always. Hoping you’ll eventually cover my personal hero (of the highest order!) Teresa of Avila.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Yep, at some point!

[@NoahVaile]

Once again, Doctor, fascinating, educational ...and hilarious. Have you made the Simon Magus episode? Like the mysterious and powerful Lilith, he's another extremely fascinating cameo actor from the Bible who deserves to be more thoroughly explored and exposed - far too little is known of these two! Thank you as always for your excellent work, I look forward to seeing your episodes on both these characters. Edit: oops, sorry, just realised this is yr latest episode...

[@Bildgesmythe]

Your channel is filled with so much knowledge and humor, that i can keep coming back to them and learn something new. I need more free time to binge watch!

[@athefitz]

Thank you for all the scholarly work you share with us.

[@HiDesert004]

When I think of Simon Magus I can't help but recall Jack Palance's hilarious portrayal of him as a magical conman in the movie The Silver Chalice, starring Paul Newman. I think it came out sometime in the 1950s and had these interesting Art Deco sets. Newman reportedly hated the movie so it's not well known, but it is worth watching for Jack Palance's acting alone. Also Helen is in it, portrayed by Virginia Mayo!

[@ludonymous526]

Sorry, but Simon Magus committed a grave offense that we know today as "Simony", which is a form of bribery.

[@catoelder4696]

Another wonderful video!

[@totoji]

Synced upload with Religion for Breakfast again! I love you both!!!

[@ravenkeefer3143]

Irenaeus, as a source is a fantastic look at detailed, explicitly painful and overwhelmingly detailed exposition of the variations of theology of the time. This work appears to be a much more accurate depiction of gnosticism, and a good source for journeying gnosticism today. Personally, I've found the texts of "defamation", intentionally written to condemn various ologicals, to be truer words, more accurate (painfully at times) and better representative than theological teachings of the subjects today from modern review and works. Mahe Ohna ✌️ Favour ALL

[@jlords24]

I used to be mormon, the "Mormons are still adding books" killed me

[@demonsty]

you're officilly on my list of drop what you're doing theres a new video, youtubers. you make even the boring stuff interesting to learn about!

[@publicastration]

I have been watching your back catalog and this channel has been great thanks for all you do!

[@mindtruthwordlife505]

As someone who was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition and who has since become fascinated with the Valentinian stream of Gnosticism, I’ve become convinced that much of what distinguishes Catholic sacramentalism and in particular The Mass, was actually adopted into the developing orthodoxy from these same Valentinians who were eventually rejected and suppressed.

[@ludonymous526]

Well. I don't like Gnosticism, but what happened to many Gnostics is appalling. Remember the Albigensian Crusade? That one saw many, MANY Gnostics (in this case, Cathars) get gruesomely slaughtered until they were extinguished.

[@esamax6044]

As I sit here at 1:45am wearing my cherished if ill-fitting Esoterica tee shirt I realize how grateful I am to you for explaining so clearly what was going on culturally and spiritually in the first centuries AD in the history of Western Civilization.

[@johnmeroney2007]

“When you’re a demiurge, who can hurry.” T. McKenna

[@aroseinwinter7719]

46 minutes🥰 I’m already loving it

[@jamiegallier2106]

I appreciate your incredible videos so much! ❤

[@danielpiechowicz2898]

Great episode, as always. Loved the dnd references and your attitude towards Christianity(s) was funny.

[@timothygrimm]

Very much looking forward to the Simon Magus episode. In the meantime, “Rock me, Irenaeus! Irenaeus! Rock me, Irenaeus!” 😎

[@DaveTheTurd]

Excellent work, as is your custom. Thank you, kind sir.

[@comradegarrett1202]

21:11 that whole section has me rolling. "if you just sit down, you can end suffering if you sit quietly enough"

[@sethen132]

Quite informative. Thank you sir.

[@blazingstar9638]

Best channel on yt

[@williammartinactor]

So wryly Brilliant. Thank You Dr. Sledge!

[@LadyNicola]

I'm on my 3rd read through the Silmarillion. What a treasure trove.

[@hypergraphic]

Great video. I was laughing at loud at those captions you put underneath the images. No joke, I would pay money if you published a book of religious art with funny captions beneath them :)

[@populuxe1]

I'd love it if you'd cover the Emperor Julian sometime

[@yadidlechem2357]

Another great episode.

[@marc_rapp]

Enjoy listening to you explain these academically! Glad I found this channel. Thoughts on the more contemporary notion of the Logos actually being an altered state where the word of god(s) themselves, took on idea-graphic qualities while writing the words of god(s, as many religions have a foundational understanding of the power of sound/word/symbol/syllable). Which is to say, the characters of the typeface would reveal shapes (we call this Gestalt) while writing, thus giving us some of the symbols we have? Did the "word" as it was being transmitted, and the letters/sigils of the words, become logos? What we today call, Graphic Design. And subsequently, when a logos would appear, perhaps the anthropological art would then emerge as a way to give narratives to the logos that would appear, while writing- A kind of automatic writing/corpse writing, that for people whom were not artists perse, but through a creative intellect, would see the IHS, or OWL, or LOGOS as a graphic shape-? For example; The Word "logos" in upper and lowercase letters, looks very close to a dragon facing east (right). The tale is the L, the face/tongue, being the S. And of course, the Sacred G being the point of transference for the logos. Dull Disclosure, I've been building brands and designing marketing identities for companies for over 30 years. We create logos this way, very often, within the industry basically responsible for mass-logos-bathos-pathos.

[@lotusheart625]

I deeply enjoy gnostic texts, and the best description I've heard of Iraneus is, to paraphrase, "he's helpful to read because he wrote so much AGAINST gnosticism, and in such great detail, that we can glean the truth from between the lines." Frankly I think it's more of a "lady doth protest too much" situation, where he was ultimately repressing how deeply interested he really was in the subject. Anyway, I am upset by how much I actually want to read his texts now that you've provided such a humorous overview! Burst out laughing more than a few times. Nat 20 on fire resistance, nat 1 on getting stabbed! I'm still cackling. Amazing work as always.

[@totoji]

I appreciate using The Young Pope photo there, I highly recommend the show and the sequel The New Pope.

[@luke-alex]

Yes! I preferred the first one but also enjoyed the second.

[@AquariusGate]

I'll remember not to drink tea while listening to you Justin. Twice, it spluttered out of my nose while listening. Admittedly it was laughing but I do hold your humour responsible. Great shortform intro my friend 😂👏

[@HuntingTheEnd]

You had me both wanting to and fearing reading this text... until you gave a Silmarillion comparison. Sold

[@isawamoose]

Think you and Church of the Eternal Logos would make for an interesting conversation!

[@This1sS0Stup1d]

It’s kinda comforting to see that the early Christian movements had the same questions and reasons for splitting as I had. I trust that Paul guy as far as I could’ve thrown him…when he was alive.

[@VampyricObsessions]

Fascinating stuff indeed. Also, I've got to admit, didn't expect seeing... predicate logic memes. Nice touch, Dr. Sledge.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Oh that's just old fashioned Aristotlean logic in modern notation, not even in modern logic.

[@VampyricObsessions]

@@TheEsotericaChannel Cool! Wouldn't know much to say about that, given that I barely passed (but passed nonetheless!) my exam on logic, I just recall seeing something similar in our materials.

[@iniglowee]

Love the reference to the silmarillion, it has made studying history/religion/myth/language much easier! Thanks Tolkien

[@ludonymous526]

Well. But Tolkien was a Catholic. And the Legendarium he brought to us is very much the opposite of Gnostic thought.

[@ludonymous526]

@@iniglowee Well. Some things, at least. But I was here to mostly point out that Tolkien was a Catholic. But either way, there's a reason why his work is so great.

[@johncollins211]

here we o!! heck yeah now i got a reason to not get out of bed for another 45 min

[@ericd7051]

bravo, had some good laughs making dinner. you make this all so fun. thank you

[@RackTomRememberance]

YO THIS ABSOLUTELY SLAPS - ARE YOU GETTING YOUR TOPICS FROM INSIDE MY MIND?!

[@almosrogacs8956]

I really like your videos on gnosticism

[@philipearakaki]

Theological Pugilist Destroy heresies with FACTS and LOGIC

[@Malygosblues]

HERETICS HATE HIM

[@evans808274mc9la]

Excellent content

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

The fastest draw on youtube!

[@evans808274mc9la]

@@TheEsotericaChannel apart from last week. I had COVID.....

[@evans808274mc9la]

@@TheEsotericaChannel apart from last week. I had COVID.....

[@evans808274mc9la]

@@TheEsotericaChannel apart from last week. I had COVID.....

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

@@evans808274mc9la Oh, brother! Hope you'll feeling better or 'on the mend' as they in your neck of the woods.

[@dex5815]

Thanks!

[@vallewabbel9690]

Team gnostic thanks you for this video!

[@DaleKallio-jk9wo]

Wow..apologists beware your commitment to your task surely involves this. Thank you Dr. Sledge, for your endurance and for providing a road map for investigation.

[@aneyethatcansee9045]

You're always on point, but you've matured like a fine sarcastic absinthe...😆👏 Great episode 🙏 ...and in all the Apocryphal Christian tomes Christ is crucified at 49, for whatever that's worth, it seems to be consistent across many sources 🤓

[@aneyethatcansee9045]

@@TheLincolnrailsplitt , Paul, Saul of Tarsus, Simon Magus, and Flavius Josephus are all the same personage... There's a lot to discover for the discerning seeker😉

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

@Esoterica Excellent video, as always. On the Wisdom being ignorant thing, I think maybe you hit the nail on the head without realizing. Sophia is Wisdom, not Knowledge, not Gnosis, she is Understanding not tempered by Gnosis, leading to the deformed creation of Yaldabaoth. It seems to me this is the entire point in a nutshell, the religion is not about faith or even wisdom necessarily but Gnosis, knowledge is the secret spice that enables salvation, without it even Wisdom is corrosive and deformed. I'm not a master scholar of the many schools of Gnosticism so take my interpretation with a grain of salt but from what I do know it seems internally consistent.

[@RylehFtagn666]

Definitely one of your more entertaining videos. Got a kick out of the jokes. Keep up the good work.

[@valentinus7776]

Pretty intersting video. I will say in though in response to Irenaeus's claim that how could Sophia could of fallen and create the demiurge if she was "wisdom". The reason Sophia fell and created the demiurge was that she rejected the Logos (divine reason and her eventual divine partner). The Logos is intellectual reasoning and rationality, whereas Sophia is emotional reasoning and moral judgement. So essentially she rejected rationality and reason and only used her gut instincts (just used her emotional faculties) to make her decisions. There is a moral in this story, being "feely" is worthless if you don`t balance it out with being “thinky”. Wisdom without reason is useless, and pretty dangerous.

[@Ratnoseterry]

Theres a good talk by Seneca in his series of Letters that covers this topic. That it is good to have wisdom, but to be wise is not necessarily a virtue, because you don't become wise by reading books of wisdom, you become wise by making mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes aren't worth the price of wisdom, especially in extremely feudal societies.

[@rickwrites2612]

@@alem8100 Irrraneus is talking about the gnostic eschatology, not Jewish scripture.

[@comradegarrett1202]

​@@alem8100 Gnostics believed that all the aeons were emanations of the Highest God, essentially derived from and an appendage of His divinity. The aeons would and could not exist without Him. They are much more equivalent to the idea of angels as extensions of God rather than gods in their own right.

[@ludonymous526]

​@@comradegarrett1202Maybe. BUT they're a flawed religion.

[@whisper8742]

I do prefer the Silmarillion, thank you sir~

[@tobiasbellhouse8107]

Dear Dr. Sledge-Thank you so very much for your wonderful work. St Irenaeus was the first Father of the Church I read in detail, and remains one of my favourites. If I may ask, are you planning upon working upon the Neo-platonic mystics of the Later Roman Empire ? Figures such as Maximus of Ephesus, Iamblichus Chalcidensis and of course Flavius Claudius Julianus are very interesting in their reinvention of classical Paganism.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Yep, sure am!

[@tobiasbellhouse8107]

@@TheEsotericaChannel Oh how marvelous ! I look forward to learning more of those who followed the "underground puerilities and sorceries of Trophonius, or the babblings of the Dodonaean Oak, or the trickeries of the Delphian tripod, or the prophetic draught of Castalia"(Gregory Nazianzen - Oration 39) within the later Dominate. It is interesting that, despite the modern claim that the 4th-5th century Church was overly favourable toward Pagan philosophy, the Church Fathers of the later Empire condemned "even Plato, the sage admired among the Greeks, with all his vaunted understanding about God", since he went "down with Socrates to Peiræus to worship Artemis, a figment of man's art"(from 'Against the Heathan' by St Athanasius).

[@sheilashanti]

Brilliant work, sir. A truly informative deep dive, I learned much. Also I gotta say I laughed out loud many times, know there's at least one #gnosticgnerd out here who appreciates your very specific genre of wit.

[@Parmandur]

Coming from a team #orthodorks perspective, the terms "Catholic" and "Heretic" came to be contrasted as characterizing the dialectic you point out here. The "Kato holos" approach isn't "universal", the way we mean it, but "according to the whole" or "holistic." The "chooser" is one who collapses a complex issue to cut a Gordian knot, like Marcion did by throwing out the Hebrew scriptures as the work of a demiurge to "solve" his perceived problems with the text rather than looking at it further.

[@ludonymous526]

Now, that's one thing. But Gnostics were warping theology, which is why they were deemed heretics.

[@NevisYsbryd]

Perhaps you might play D&D on here one day. It would we fascinating to watch a game or campaign where the setting and lore behind magic is all derived from real world occultism. Thank you for this nuanced take. While for almost entirely different reasons, I am, perhaps, _more_ leery of Gnosticism than Irenaeus was (although the school of thought which much of my own beliefs were derived from were also under that suppression).

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

It'd be great to do some dnd material!

[@agender7052]

​@@TheEsotericaChannel I think about what Nevis says every time you make a D&D joke/reference, and in fact a leftist LGBT ttrpg discord server I'm on goes nuts over your videos whenever I or other subscribers in there post them for exactly that reason: enhancing worldbuilding and system building where magic, religion, spirituality and mysticism are concerned. Double the value of your videos for ttrpg nerds making their own systems and settings! The real world value of learning about history and the historical and contemporary flux and flow of these beliefs and practices...and getting inspiration for ttrpg stuff lmao

[@justinward3218]

Nah I’m definitely firmly nestled in team “proto-orthodoxy.” St. Irenaeus is a hero of mine and my local parish has a historical connection to him. I just enjoy hearing what the other sides have to say.

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Glad I don't have a dog in that fight

[@HappyHermitt]

Their telling and descriptions of Archons is enough to make me a Gnosticism enthusiast. They basically warned us of modern day gray aliens as decievers.

[@ludonymous526]

Gnostics are crazy nuts.

[@ludonymous526]

Well. That's one thing. But Gnostics themselves were deceivers.

[@twhitten828]

I Love your Humor tackling these complicated devicive (?) subjects

[@popandajp]

Ok i went to valentinian video and came back, im ready

[@AkAkAkNeil]

We need some GNOSTIC GNERD t-shirts now!

[@ludonymous526]

Easy, mister.

[@GroundbreakGames]

One time at Sunday school I asked why the dinosaurs aren’t mentioned in the Bible and had my hand smacked with a ruler and spent the rest of the day standing in the corner. Religion in a nutshell.

[@Ricca_Day]

Good question. Poorly prepared teacher and response to it. God doesn’t have a problem with our questions. Much like Truth.. the Holy Spirit Resonates and harmonizes the Chord.. and fine tunes the discord. Sorry for your experience.. but I really do understand. God is Perfect.. but the ones who are tasked with Exposition.. are very far from It.

[@मुक्ति-व4ढ]

There aren't raccons in the bible, yet they still exist. Bible bad! Also, Job 40:15-24.

[@harpsichordkid]

Yeah…I’m guessing this never actually happened. Sounds like a poorly written scene out of a very woke film What century was it when people regularly got smacked with rulers? Did you grow up in the 1860s?

[@rickwrites2612]

@@harpsichordkid Cotporal punishment in school was allowed til late 20th century, some well into late 1990s . Wow you must be young. Boomers got hit, and some of Gen X, even if Xers were not hit, they remember the controversy. The issue of whether to stop corporal punishment was debated on the news when I was a teenager in late 1990s. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. This story was easily the norm in catholic school through the 1960s everywhere in US. Corporal punishment wasnt banned in US on average til the 1990s, and that includes public school, not just religious. Some states it was earlier, in late 1970s or 1980s, others it was very late 90s. Go ahead and research this.

[@harpsichordkid]

@@rickwrites2612 You know what Sunday School is right? It’s not grade school. Neither my 88 yo grandmother or my 104 yo great uncle have heard of people being smacked with rulers in Sunday school, so if this is an age thing, they should be old enough to have seen it. And, btw, both private and public schools still have corporal punishment. Maybe not in the area you live. Did you read the comments or were you just looking for an opportunity to complain about how times are changing and young people don’t know stuff?

[@helenbostock2350]

I amazing of your knowledge it fornonable.

[@NullStaticVoid]

True story, I couldn't find a copy of any of the previous books when I got into Tolkein, so I read Silmarillion first.

[@voidgazerwisco]

I'm not even remotely Gnostic. On the contrary, my show is the exact opposite. But I really enjoy your show. Especially this episode 👍

[@horrorhabit8421]

Looks like Plotinus got in a pretty serious bar-fight there.

[@desertphilosopher777]

Have u made a video on basidilean gnosticism?if so plz make one lol

[@senecaflint6853]

#TeamProtoorthodoxy represent!

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

Orthodorks

[@MarlonOwnsYourCake]

I definitely wanna know more about polycarp

[@lmvath211]

I love your stufff. Grinning

[@simka321]

Check the gang signs of Justin Gangsta: flippin' off Trypho with his right hand, and bustin' out a' victory sign with the other. Like a boss!

[@TheEsotericaChannel]

I'm on #teamtrypho

[@jerobardo37]

can’t wait for you to cover Simon Magus ! 2024 ??