A Gnostic Catechism: Revised Edition by Stephan A. Hoeller

There exists a general need for concise, clear and authentic information regarding the Mythos held by the Gnostic tradition. The present age is characterized by much shallow thinking and a tendency to reduce meaningful ideas to nebulous nonsense. With the increase of publicity attached to some teachings of the Nag Hammadi material, Gnostic ideas and terms are being appropriated by uninformed sources. The name Gnostic is often misapplied. When everything is "Gnostic" nothing is Gnostic. Although far flung and poetic, the Gnostic Mythos is a specific one; one ought to know what it is and what it is not.The word "catechism" readily conjures up visions of dogmatic belief, enshrined in rigidly formulated articles and designed to be memorized and mindlessly recited by children and by adults of childish minds. Yet a catechism is truly but a compendium of instructions, usually of a religious nature, arranged in the form of questions and answers. There is no necessary implication of dogmatism and even less of childish simple mindedness at all.Still, when we attach the word "Gnostic" to "Catechism" we may encounter another problem. A Gnostic is by definition a knower, and since knowledge supersedes belief, a knower cannot very well be a believer. If a catechism is mainly a statement of beliefs, it is something that no Gnostic would have a need for. So far so good, but the issue under consideration is a bit more complex than that. [From the Author's Preface.]