06-19-2008, 10:36 PM
This "naastic" is a typical american way of pronouncing "gnostic". He is talking about the suprressed gnostic gospels of christianity. The word is derived from "gnosis" meaning knowledge, similar in origin to sanskrit "jnAna". The idea was that these sects gave higher place to "knowing" god, while the catholic dogma was based on having "faith" in god. Present day christianity is filled with "I believe" type statements. If gnostics had won, christianity may have developed a different character.
Nothing to do with Indian "nAstika", which is derived from na+asti, meaning negation (usually of Vedas, but also of God).
Nothing to do with Indian "nAstika", which is derived from na+asti, meaning negation (usually of Vedas, but also of God).