THE GNOSTIC INFLUENCE ON PSYCHOLOGY: EFFECTS OF THE COMMON HERESY

Judeo-Christian theology has been plagued throughout its history by heresy concerning, among many things, the doctrine of God and of human nature. Psychology, possessing a generally fluid doctrine of human nature- from the dualistic to the holistic, from the analytical to the existential, from the "dark shadow " to the supreme good- has also been plagued by anthropological heresy. This article tentatively suggests that historical psychology has built its anthropology upon philosophical presuppositions in the tradition of the Gnostic heresy. "Whence evil, and why? " was, as Tertullian asserted, a burning question in all Gnostic movements, indeed, the real basis of their "heresy, " which resulted from the fact that they meditated too long o