The one thing all gnostic philosophies all have in common is that there is always some secret knowledge we must discover in order to be saved, to ascend, to improve, or whatever, and it is knowledge that is never available to the masses. It is only ever available to a select few who must prove themselves worthy of it. In the frame of Christian religion, a gnostic gospel doesn’t maintain that salvation depends upon the death and resurrection of Jesus alone, even if it might seem that way to the casual observer. Ultimately it depends only upon what the acolyte knows. In the world at large, secret knowledge is the basis of every occult practice.

The fascination with secret knowledge is as old as humanity. The first man and woman were tempted with secret knowledge, which they were made to believe was superior to the knowledge they had. They were told it was knowledge that would raise them to a God-like level of being, but instead they fell to an animal-like state of loss, and death became inevitable. I do not believe God was announcing a punishment to discourage Adam from eating that fruit when He told him it would kill him. I think it’s more of a case of making it clear where the choice to seek that kind of knowledge would lead.

Don’t be too quick to dismiss the story of Adam and Eve if you don’t believe the Biblical story is literal. The metaphor holds true, and that means that in it there is something valuable to learn.