: esoteric knowledge of spiritual truth held by the ancient Gnostics to be essential to salvation
Examples of gnosis in a Sentence
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Sounding faintly Buddhist to the modern ear, those writings interpreted miracles as symbolic descriptions of real spiritual revelations and transformations, available only to those with access to secret knowledge (gnosis).
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Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
Because of this discontinuity, Gnostic religions tended to include roles for special authorities possessing secret knowledge (gnosis) of God's wishes and intentions that couldn't be discerned from the structure of the world in which humans find ourselves.
—Damon Linker, The Week, 8 Feb. 2022
The red pill: gnosis, baby.
—Max Read, Vulture, 22 Dec. 2021
Another noted Alexandrian thinker was Valentinus, whose interpretation of Christianity required believers to embrace divine knowledge—in Greek, gnosis.
—National Geographic, 19 Apr. 2019
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Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
Because of this discontinuity, Gnostic religions tended to include roles for special authorities possessing secret knowledge (gnosis) of God's wishes and intentions that couldn't be discerned from the structure of the world in which humans find ourselves.
—Damon Linker, The Week, 8 Feb. 2022
The red pill: gnosis, baby.
—Max Read, Vulture, 22 Dec. 2021
Another noted Alexandrian thinker was Valentinus, whose interpretation of Christianity required believers to embrace divine knowledge—in Greek, gnosis.
—National Geographic, 19 Apr. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Gnosis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gnosis. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
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