Gnosticism: The Possession of Knowledge

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06592a.htm

   In our class discussion on Wednesday, part of our notes were about the two strands of the nature of
Christian life. The first strand was the "Gospel as a mystery or as plain news: Gnosticism". I was wondering what Gnosticism was, so I decided to look it up. In case you were also wondering what Gnosticism is all about, this article provides a brief description and history of it.
   Gnosticism is essentially "salvation by knowledge".  Unlike Christianity and most other religions, the soul is not saved by faith in God, but instead by the possession of a higher knowledge of the "mysteries of the universe". Gnostics believed that not everyone had this knowledge, however. Only certain people possessed it, and if you happened to be one of those people who did not, you were out of luck.
    An interesting aspect of Gnosticism is that it borrowed terms and ideas from other religions. They did this to explain their knowledge. When Gnosticism came in contact with Christianity, it borrowed Christianity's terms and sacraments. However, Gnosticism also claimed that it was the only true form of Christianity and that common people could not obtain the knowledge necessary to be saved. This knowledge was only for the elite who somehow were special enough to possess the knowledge. It's funny how Gnostics could never explain exactly how one becomes special enough to obtain the knowledge.

I hoped this helped explain a little more about what Gnosticism is.