Gnu. 



GNU 



Father s I r e- 

 naeus, Tertullian, 

 Hippolytus, 

 Epiphaiiius, Igna- 

 tius, and Justin 

 Martyr; from the 

 Pistis Sophia, a 

 3rd century Coptic 

 work; and re- 

 mains of apocry- 

 phal gospels and 

 epistles. 



Gnostics inter- 

 preted the Scrip- 

 tures for their 

 own purpose ; and 

 one result was the 

 f o r in u lation by 

 the Catholic 

 Church of its stan- 

 dards of ortho- 

 doxy, of dogmatic 

 theology based 

 upon what could 

 be shown historic- 

 ally to be derived 

 from Christ and His apostles. Gnos- 

 ticism declined in the 3rd and died 

 out in the 6th century, but was 

 reflected in Manichaeism, an at- 

 tempt to fuse Zoroastrianism, 

 Gnosticism, and Christianity; in 

 Paulicianism ; in the beliefs of the 

 Cathari and Albigenses ; and in 

 Rosicrucianism. 



The reputed founder of post- 

 Christian Gnosticism was Simon 

 Magus (see Acts 8), the supposed 

 author of a work called The Great 

 Revelation, of which only frag- 

 ments remain. It had two pro- 

 minent schools ; one in Alex- 

 andria, of which Basilides, Valen- 

 tinus, and Carpocrates were leaders, 

 and one in Syria, of which Satur- 

 ninus and Cerdo were among the 

 teachers. The last leader of note 

 was Marcion, who conceived three 

 primal forces : the good God, re- 

 vealed by Jesus Christ ; evil mat- 

 ter, ruled by the devil; and the 

 Demiurge, identified with the 

 Yahveh of the Jews. 



The sects wavered between ex- 

 tremes of asceticism and sensual 

 immorality ; and included, in ad- 

 dition to those named after their 

 leaders, the ascetic Encratites or 

 Continents, and the serpent wor- 



357O 



White-tailed variety, a native of Africa 



flambier Bolion, F.Z.S. 



Ltibliugi-apli y . Gnostic Heresies of 

 the 1st and 2nd Centuries, H. L. 

 Mansel, ed. J. B. Liglitfoot, 1875; 

 The Gnostics and Their Remains, 

 C. W. King, 2nd ed. 1887; Frag- 

 ments of a Faith Forgotten, G. 11. S. 

 Mead, 1900; Esoteric Teaching of 

 The Gnostics, F. Swiney, 1909 ; 

 numerous works in German, and 

 the writings of The Fathers. 



Gnu OR WILDEBEEST. Genus of 

 large antelope, differing from all 

 other genera in having heavy heads 

 and necks which somewhat sug- 



gest the appearance 

 bison. There are 

 two species, the \ 

 white-tailed and 

 the brindled, both 

 natives of Africa. 

 The horns curve ; 

 downwards and 

 then upwards. 

 The muzzle is re- 

 markably wide, 

 the neck has an 

 erect mane, and 

 the tail has long 

 thick hair almost 

 like that of a 

 horse. The animal 

 stands rather 

 more than 4 ft. 

 high at the 



of 



small 



GOAT 



Goa, once the wealthiest city in 

 India, is now a city of ruins. The 

 colony has belonged to Portugal 

 since its capture by Albuquerque in 

 1510. Pop. of settlement, 5 lf>, 7 7 2. 



Goajira. Territory of Colombia, 

 S. America. A peninsula jutting 

 into the Caribbean Sea, on the 

 N.W. shore of the Gulf of Mara- 

 caibo, it is low-lying and sandy on 

 the coast, with the Oca Mts., a X.E. 

 extension of the Andes, inland. 

 Area, 5,000 sq. m. Puerto Estrella 

 is the capital. The native Indians, 

 virile and independent, are as yet 

 little influenced by civilization. 

 Claimed by both Venezuela and 

 Colombia, it was given to the latter 

 republic after arbitration in 1891. 

 Pop. 53,013. 



Goal (Fr. qaule, a pole). 

 Originally a mark set up to show 

 the end of a race. It has thus come 

 to be a synonym for an end or aim. 

 In football matches the score is 

 counted by goals, a goal being 

 scored when the' ball is kicked be- 

 tween the goal posts. Sea Football. 



GoalandaoRGoALUNDO. Village 

 and subdivision of Bengal, India, 

 in the Faridpur district. Goalanda 

 village is 151 m. N.E. of Calcutta, 

 and is the terminus of the Eastern 

 Bengal Rly. and an important 

 steamer station. 



Goalpara. District and town of 

 India, in W. Assam. It lies to the 

 S. of Bhutan, and, although fertile, 

 is very unhealthy. The town is the 

 capital of the district, and stands on 



Goa. The church of Bom Jesus, built in 1594, in which 

 is buried S. Francis Xavier, the apostle of the Indies 



shipping Ophites or Naaseni. One shoulder, lives in the open country, 

 influence that worked against 

 Gnosticism, by means of 



rival 



theory of the universe, was Neo- 

 platonism (q.v.). An important 

 branch of study in connexion with 

 the heresy is concerned with its 

 elaborate and mystical symbolism, 

 secret terminology, and use of in- 

 scribed talismans and amulets. The 

 supposed Scriptural references to 

 Gnosticism, e.g. John 1 ; 1 Tim. 

 i, 4 ; 2 Tim. ii, 18 ; Tit. iii, 9, are 

 debatable. See Abraxas ; Doce- 

 tism ; Ophites ; Valentinians. 



with the zebra. See Antelope. 



Goa. Portuguese colony on the 

 W. coast of India. Bounded by 

 the Bombay presidency, its area is 

 1,469 sq. m. It is a fertile region, 

 producing rice, spices, copra, 

 coconuts, salt, pepper, and betel 

 nuts. The trade is chiefly transit. 

 It contains the town of Panjim or 

 New Goa, the capital of Portuguese 

 possessions in India since 1845. 

 Except for some of its churches, 

 still in excellent preservation, Old 



the river Brahmaputra, 80 m. N.E. 

 of Rangpur. Pop. about 5,100. 



Goat. Genus of the family 

 Dovidae, which includes also oxen, 

 sheep, and antelopes. The goats 

 are placed between sheep and ante- 

 lopes, and it is difficult to distin- 

 guish them from sheep. Certain 

 species of wild sheep approach 

 goats very closely in structure and 

 appearance. 



Goats differ from sheep in the 

 bony structure of the skull, and 

 the horns are placed close together 

 immediately above the eyes. The 



