A Separate God: The Christian Origins of Gnosticism, by Simone Pétrement, argues Gnosticism isn't a separate pre-Christian system but a Christian heresy that emerged as early Christians distinguished themselves from Judaism, degrading the Old Testament God (Yahweh) to a lesser creator (Demiurge) and seeing Christ as a revealer of a higher, true God, using themes from Paul and John for their ideas of salvation through secret gnosis (knowledge).
Pétrement traces Gnostic myths and doctrines, like the divine spark trapped in the material world and the need for esoteric knowledge for liberation, back to Christian sources, viewing it as an internal development rather than external influence.
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