The True Man
Aurelius Augustinus is also known as “St. Augustine of Hippo,” or “Augustine” and lived from 354–430 C.E.. He is one of the most important Christian writers and philosophers, instrumental in the merger of Greek and the Judeo-Christian traditions.
Saint Augustine is a Patriarch of the Gnostic Church.
“The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder.” ― St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
(Gnostic) From The Theosophical Glossary: “Famous 2nd century Gnostic who in many ways was the unacknowledged teacher of the Church Fathers Origen and Clement. His teachings, largely those of the ancient wisdom, were probably derived from the esoteric schools in Alexandria. He is author of “The Shepherd of Hermes” and various Homilies and Epistles, and is said to have been the author of the celebrated Gnostic gospel, the Pistis Sophia, where his doctrines are set forth. His school, the Valentinians, had Italian and Asiatic branches, which gave rise to other offshoots, thus spreading his influence far and wide and exerting an enduring effect on thought. He averred that the apostles had not publicly given out all they knew, but that they had esoteric knowledge. He taught that the primal cause, which he names Bythos (depth), manifested itself as the pleroma (fullness), the sum total of all manifestation. His teachings on pleroma are defined by a vast, intricate diagrammatic scheme, representing a process of emanation on a hierarchical plan with threefold, sevenfold, tenfold, and twelvefold hierarchies; mankind itself forming a lower branch of these hierarchies. Thus he is enabled to explain the origin of mixture or evil, and to reconcile the goodness of God with the imperfection of nature by pointing to minor demiurgic creators; thus too he can give the true meaning of Christ and redemption.”
“Undoubtedly, Valentinus was a great master of love and formed a school called the Valentinians. They were dedicated to the study of Esoteric Christianity in all its aspects, and because of this we will address you in a precise form to speak about the miracle of love.” – Samael Aun Weor
“After the death of Basilides, Valentinus became the leading inspiration of the Gnostic movement. He still further complicated the system of Gnostic philosophy by adding infinitely to the details. He increased the number of emanations from the Great One (the Abyss) to fifteen pairs and also laid much emphasis on the Virgin Sophia, or Wisdom. In the Books of the Savior, parts of which are commonly known as the Pistis Sophia, may be found much material concerning this strange doctrine of Æons and their strange inhabitants.” – Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928)
Marcion of Pontus was a second century theologian who argued that the God portrayed in the Old Testament cannot be the same as the God proclaimed by Jesus. Marcion contrasted the cruelty, jealousy, and harsh justice of the God of the Old Testament with the God of pure mercy proclaimed by Jesus. Based on this understanding of Scripture, Marcion posited that the God of the Old Testament was the Creator God, but inferior and different from the God of mercy proclaimed by Jesus. . . To support this theology, Marcion created his own canon of Scripture, the first in Christian history. He rejected all the Old Testament, and accepted only Paul and Luke as genuine, but even these he modified by deleting certain passages.^[1]^ Although Marcion died around 160, the church he founded persisted in the West until the end of the third century, and in the East until the middle of the fifth century.
Founder of various convents in Spain.
The Carpocratians was a Gnostic sect partially based on Platonism that was established in the 2nd century AD and existed until the 6th. It was named after Carpocrates of Alexandria, its founder, and gained its final form in the writings of his son, Epiphanes.