Publisher's Synopsis
the idea of Gnosis does not seem to be very different from that of the later -Mystical Theology, - -which originally meant the direct, secret, and incommunicable knowledge of God received in contemplation- (Dom John Chapman). The revelation sought for was not so much a dogmatic revelation as a revelation of the processes of -transmutation- of Rebirth, of Apotheosis or -Deification.- Its aim was dynamic rather than static. But while the followers of the Gnosis, both Christian and Hellenistic, would have agreed that the direct knowledge of God is incommunicable to others, they undoubtedly seem to have held that there were what may be described as intermediate or preparatory processes or energisings which could be communicated: (1) by initiation into a holy community; (2) by a duly qualified master; (3) under the veils of symbols and sacraments.
