Filmed at The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art on March 4th 2019, this lecture was given by Academy Director Laurence Caruana, author of several books with Gnostic themes. It is illustrated with works by Visionary artists, both classical (Blake, Michelangelo) and contemporary (Fuchs, Venosa, Alex Grey etc).

Preserved in Eusebius of Caesarea's Praeparatio Evangelica (c. 313 AD), the Theology of the Phoenicians by Sanchuniathon presents a euhemerist account of the creation of the world and the birth of the gods from among the ranks of primordial man.

Early Christianity included a wide diversity of beliefs on ideas as central as who Christ is and what is Jesus’ relationship with the Father to whom he prayed. Gnostic Christians focused their attention on personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) which they developed through elaborate philosophical mythologies. By the end of the Second Christian Century, bishops of the proto-orthodox establishment increasingly identified Gnosticism as a deadly “heresy,” which they sought to purge from Christianity. One of the figures leading the fight was Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon from 177 until his death in 202, who wrote a book entitled “Against Heresies” that was largely focused on combating Gnosticism.

In a presentation given from Lyon, France, John Hamer will look at the history and beliefs of the ancient Gnostics and consider why attacks by leaders like Irenaeus proved so effective.