Gnosticism is an ancient syncretic religious movement (peaking 1st-5th centuries AD) that emphasized gnosis (secret, experiential knowledge) as the key to salvation. Unfortunately, once Christianity became institutionalized By Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicea in the summer of 325 AD, all other views of the fledgling metaphysical movements were perceived as heretics and vilified. From 325 until 1517 when Martin Luther allegedly nailed his “95 Theses” to the Castle Church door, in Wittenberg, sparking the Protestant Reformation did another metaphysical proposition get strength. Metaphysics, abstract thinking, has proved to be a very effective method of controlling the masses historically. Gnosticism was perceived even earlier than 325 as elitist as many of the groups believed only a very few had the “spark of the divine” creating a “church within the church” that felt condescending toward typical believers. It also had no unified structure like the developing Catholic-Orthodox Christianity. Governments tend to angle towards conformity as too much nonconformity makes managing the populace quite difficult. Strong central governing institutions are mandated to maintain law and order and keep the peace and stability. Governments which permit excessive free thought generally have challenges…The trade off of an excessively controlled society which may be more stable versus a more open society which tends towards chaos; you choose…