Versione italiana: qui.

By Gnosticism we mean a number of cults loosely based on the idea that not God, but a lesser spirit called Demiurge made the material world. According to Gnosticism, human souls are trapped into mortal bodies and liberation can occur following a path of secret knowledge. Gnosticism rejects the idea of a world in which objective good (God) is fighting with objective evil (Satan).

Most [Gnostic cults] were based on a dualistic concept of good and evil as eternal and sometimes sacred spiritual forces. This dualism was more extreme than the qualified dualism of Christianity in which good and evil have been construed as existing in opposition to one another, but where the good is considered to be infinitely more powerful and is predicted to ultimately prevail. Judaism, in contrast, has presented a more monistic position on this question whereby good and evil are usually both subsumed as normal features of God’s creation, where Satan is a relatively unimportant figure and necessarily God’s adversary.

One of the prominent Gnostic themes was that the creator of the universe, sometimes called the Demiurge, was an inept, or overtly evil, spiritual being. The Demiurge arrogantly and falsely believed himself to be the god who ruled heaven and earth but was actually a spiritual entity of lower rank in comparison with the true, ultimate god of the Gnostics. The human spirit was viewed as a spark of ultimate deity trapped within the inferior and evil material body created by the Demiurge. Many Gnostics equated the Demiurge with the God of Israel, whom Christians call God, the Father. Conversely, the serpent mentioned in the Genesis (and considered by Christians to be Satan) was viewed by many Gnostics as benevolent and wise being who had come into the world to help humanity learn the desperately needed knowledge of good and evil. [...]

James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin, Cult and ritual abuse, 2000.

The most intriguing aspect of Gnosticism is a logical interpretation of the creation myth in the bible. God says in the bible: “…for the day that you eat from from it you will surely die”. The snake says: “On the day when you eat from the tree [...] the eyes of your mind will be opened” [1].

The Gnostics observed that Adam and Eve did not die the day they ate the forbidden fruit, but that their eyes were opened. Thus, they concluded that the serpent was correct and the God of creation was in error or had been lying. [...] Gnostics had essentially reversed what orthodox (or “straight.thinking”) Christians regarded as the holiest of beings with the one who was regarded as most evil. In some instances, from a Gnostic point of view, Christianity was Satanism, and from a Christian point of view, Gnosticism was Satanism. However, many Gnostics did consider themselves to be Christian, and although they had adverse opinions about God the Father, they were usually favorably predisposed toward Jesus, whom they considered to be (along with the serpent) a savior figure who had come to earth to convey knowledge.

James Randall Noblitt and Pamela Sue Perskin, Cult and ritual abuse, 2000.

This said, I remain a strong atheist, no matter how cool Gnostic cults beliefs may sound. Nevertheless, the Gnostic approach seems to judge the bible’s God from its action which, especially in the old testament, are not consistent with a benevolent god but with a arrogant and moody one.

[1] From the King James edition:

2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

3:4    And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

3:5    For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.