Gnosticism

• Gnosticism was a series of beliefs amongst Early Christians that challenged the authority of the Early Christian Church from 117 CE onwards.
• By the fourth century CE a series of Reforms had made Gnosticism a Heresy

Basilides

• Basilides was an early Teacher of Gnosticism based in Alexandria who worked between 117-138 CE, during Emperor Hadrian‘s Reign.
• The Basilidians believed in their great Archon (God) ‘Abrasax’, because his name in Greek contained the number 365, the same number of heavens in the Upper World, also the number of days in one year, and the number of Parts in the Human Body.

Nag Hammadi Library

• Also known as the Gnostic Gospels is a surviving work of Gnosticism dating from the 2nd century CE.