The Ladder of Divine Ascent: Has Steve ever heard of the book called, The Ladder of Divine Ascent (caller calls it letter of divine ascension)? Gnosticism & Asceticism: There's a lot of talk about Gnosticism in the Bible, but Christians don't have to practice Asceticism, even though people like John the Baptist & Paul seemed to practice asceticism, since Jesus didn't, & we are supposed to follow His example!