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'''Gnosticism''' (after gnôsis, the [[Greek]] word for "knowledge" or "insight") is the name given to a loosely organized [[religious]] and [[philosophy|philosophical]] movement that flourished in the first and second centuries AD.{{fact}} The exact origin(s) of this school of thought cannot be traced, although it is possible to locate influences or sources as far back as the second and first centuries BC.{{fact}}
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'''Gnosticism''' (after gnôsis, the [[Greek]] word for "knowledge" or "insight") is the name given to a loosely organized [[religious]] and [[philosophy|philosophical]] movement that flourished in the first and second centuries AD.{{fact}} Though the exact origins of this school of thought cannot be traced with any certainty, it is possible to infer that certain non-canonical sources dating from the first and second centuries BC.
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There are numerous references to the Gnostics in second century proto-orthodox literature. Most of what we know about them is from the polemic thrown at them by the early Church Fathers.<ref>http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gnostics.html</ref>
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[[Marcion]] was the most famous of the Gnostics, and he established a "canon" of the Pauline epistles that did not include  the pastorals and a "mutilated" Luke. [[Justin Martyr]] mentioned Marcion c. 150 CE, and [[Irenaeus]] and [[Tertullian]] wrote against him extensively in the late second century (in ''Against Heresy'' and ''Against Marcion'', respectively).<ref>ibid.</ref>
    
==References==
 
==References==
 
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