Does TDVC Unwittingly Prove a Gnostic Truth?

From a reader, a self-described Gnostic:

I am an ex-Catholic, with several degrees in theology, and a practicing Gnostic. A friend of mine gave me DVC to read last summer. I tossed it in my bag with the other beach reading and a month later returned to this friend's house for the weekend. I was just finishing DVC at the time (out of morbid fascination, really), so he asked me what I thought of it. I had totally forgotten that he was the one who gave it to me to read, so I told him it was a dreadful piece of both history and writing, put together by some screenwriter wannabe with Priory of Sion fantasies. And that even if it were true, it was pointless. He was gracious, but I was still embarrassed. I read worse books last summer, but none were worse and more popular.

People love this book. And this is the traditional Gnostic truth which it proves: the human race is composed of three kinds of people: pneumatics, who are awakened and live from their true identities; psychics, who live in an ego world of convention and morality; and hylics, who are basically monkeys running around in human form. This book is an ironically effective pointer to the preponderance of hylics among the fiction-reading public!

I supposed from the orthodox viewpoint, it might show the truth of the cognate doctrine of Original Sin. So, as New York Jews like to say, it shouldn't be a total loss.

Intriguing analysis. I'm pleased to see that he recognized how rotten The Da Vinci Code is. Orthodox Christianity would actually be in some agreement about the "three kinds of people," but would use terms such as Saints, saints, and sinners. "Saints" are those who have not only been awakened to the life of grace, but have entered fully into that life, achieving (by God's grace) a level of holiness and communion with God that "saints" also strive for. As for "sinners," I think we all know a bit about that state.

One huge difference between the Gnostic and Orthodox perspective is that gnosticism, in all of its forms, asserts that only a select elite will find their "true identities" and that it will come through esoteric, hidden knowledge—and it will have little or nothing to do with holiness. Orthodox Christianity teaches that everyone—regardless of intellect, education, or theology degrees—can be saved, attain sainthood, and enter into eternal life for the simple, incredible reason that God became man and offers us His divine life through Jesus Christ, His Church, and the sacraments. This has quite a bit to do with holiness because God is Holy and only those who are holy—by His grace—will have eternal communion with Him.

Of course, in my more cynical moments, I might describe the three types in this way: discerning, confused, and gullible. But these would, in the end, still reinforce a Christian view of reality.

Comments

[Bill Walsh]

"Practicing Gnostic?" Quoi? How does one practice gnosis? One just knows, don't one?