Neocities.org

In the context of Christianity, it would be a case of "sinning against the Holy Spirit". In other words, attributing "goodness" to that which does evil and "evildoing" to that which does good. It is to sow confusion. Life itself (i.e.: creation) is associated with the perfection of virtue, with "goodness". Whereas "sin" is associated with death, always leading to fragmentation and decay.

It seems that many "Gnostics" were persecuted by tyrants that held a concept of "dominion theology" (i.e.: "anti-Christs"). Once it became enshrined as the "state religion" of Rome, it was already thoroughly corrupted in practice, the seeds for what would later become "The Inquisition". But as we already know, "bad trees produce bad fruit". Hence, the curses of "the fall" in Genesis 3.

One might read the Old Testament and easily come away with the idea that "god is malicious and/or insane". However, they are usually missing the overarching narrative, while taking pieces out of historical/cultural context. One has to constantly keep in mind that the ancient Israelites were struggling to purge themselves of the destructive beliefs associated with their ancient Canaanite "gods".

In other words, many were constantly confused about *who* God is, the character of God. As a somewhat extreme example, if one is worshiping violence and promiscuity, then they probably won't find it at all evil to sacrifice their child after getting the temple prostitute pregnant. That might not seem relevant to our experience nowadays, but the messages are timeless if the "Spirit" behind them is understood.

only religions which can be wielded as tools of control by the state survive, christianity would have died as a fringe cult if it wasn't adopted by the romans as the state religion.

@daliwali - But what exactly is "surviving" if we have inherited a distortion? Spiritual knowledge should empower the most constructive aspects of us, not be used to justify harming one another. Likewise, people can freely pass on knowledge that they find personally useful without trying to control others through it.