Topic: Margaret Barker

Scholarship suggests Gnosticism may have roots in ancient Egyptian mysteries and the suppression of animist spirits like Asherah and Anat by the Cult of Yahweh. During the reigns of King Josiah and Hezekiah, the feminine divine was marginalized in favor of a singular male deity. Miguel Conner discusses Margaret Barker's theory that Gnostics "smuggled" these ancient spirits through figures like Sophia, Mary Magdalene, and Simon Magus to preserve the original animistic world of the Hebrews.

The discussion explores how divinity is often a personification of gnosis or universal truth, as seen in Michelangelo’s "Creation of Adam," where God is depicted within a brain-shaped shroud. Brad Klausen explains that anthropomorphizing wisdom allows humans to relate to abstract principles. They reference Margaret Barker’s study of temple mysticism, suggesting the "Holy of Holies" in ancient temples corresponds to the third ventricle of the brain.