Jimbo's pre recording notes and outline can be viewed here.
People & groups
Gnosticism — Umbrella label for diverse early Christian movements that emphasized secret/experiential knowledge (gnosis) to awaken a divine “spark” within.
Proto-orthodox — Modern term for the streams of early Christianity that later became mainstream “orthodoxy.”
Sethians — A Gnostic school with elaborate myths about Sophia, a false creator, and rescuing divine sparks.
Valentinians — Gnostic movement from teacher Valentinus; tended to see the creator as ignorant rather than evil and blended in with church life.
Basilidians (followers of Basilides) — Early 2nd-century movement; reported to teach many “heavens” and often associated with Docetism.
Marcionites — Followers of Marcion of Sinope who rejected the Hebrew Scriptures’ God as distinct from the Father of Jesus.
Ebionites — Torah-observant Jewish-Christian group; generally skeptical of Paul and insisted on Jewish law.
Justin Martyr — 2nd-century Christian writer who mentions churches reading the “memoirs of the apostles.”
Irenaeus — Late-2nd-century bishop who argued for exactly four Gospels and wrote Against Heresies.
Tatian — 2nd-century Christian who created the Diatessaron, a harmony of the four Gospels.
Ideas & vocabulary
Gnosis — Experiential, saving knowledge.
Demiurge — The craftsman/creator of the material world; benevolent in Plato, often ignorant/hostile in Gnostic myth.
Yaldabaoth / Samael — Names some Gnostic texts give the ignorant creator.
Pleroma — The “fullness” of the divine realm in Gnostic cosmology.
Aeons — Emanations/personae of the divine within the Pleroma.
Sophia — “Wisdom”; a key figure in Gnostic myths whose fall leads to the flawed creation.
Docetism — View that Christ only seemed human/suffered.
Dualism — Sharp good/evil or spirit/matter split; in many Gnostic systems, matter is inferior or corrupt.
Asceticism — Strict self-denial (e.g., celibacy) for spiritual aims; some groups were strongly ascetic.
Allegory / allegorical — Reading stories as symbolic rather than literal history.
Apocalyptic — Expectation of imminent divine intervention/kingdom.
