The Gnostic Gospels

Once he was placed back in the world of his family he was enlightened yet confused. He was unable to do anything with the powers he was given until he was older. As he came to be a man, he was blessed with a gift of helping people. He worked curing illnesses until he felt it was time that his life should take another turn.

“It is enough to have understood only that God, the Creator of all things in nature, also governs all things, directing them to good. And, since He carefully preserves everything which He made in his own likeness, He excludes by fatal necessity all evil from the bounds of his state. Therefore, if you fix your attention to Providence as the governor of all things, you will find that the evil which is thought to abound in the world is really nonexistent.” Book 4; Prose 6

up the fight for his deity through the realm of words. Many theories have been

The third section dissects the formation of the New Testament with more historical context and views of other writings defined as Gnostic writing. Bruce explains the spoken words of the apostles carried as much authority as their written words and gives an in depth explanation how the Gospels and Pauline writings were viewed by the Church Fathers. The rest of the section demonstrates the Church Fathers and their views of what was to be considered scripture and the councils that affirmed the inspired scripture.

Gnosticism is nearly as old as Christianity and some would argue very similar to Christianity in beliefs. However, there are distinct differences to Gnosticism in beliefs, doctrines, and practices from, and practices of Christianity. Gnosticism had several key leaders during its early years, few of whom we will discuss at further length later in this paper. There were also several key leaders of the early Christian church who denounced Gnosticism for heresy and claimed that it was pseudo way to Christianity. Up until the 1900’s, very little was known about the precise beliefs of Gnosticism, then this changed with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi works which may have been written by Valentinus. Gnosticism is a more distinct religion than it

vastness of life and he realizes that god is there to look after him and help him handle his

others and created the empty shell of a man obsessed with spiritual morality and the curse of the

change begins when he encounters “ Thee Mystics ”. Thee Mystics were a group of

For example, the Gospel of Thomas includes salvation by secret knowledge, polytheism, disregard for the bodily appetites, and the thought of a blissful teaching Christ who is not necessarily human. It is likely related to Sethian Gnosticism. However, “Gnosticism” is largely an umbrella term for the beliefs of several movements in the post-Apostolic era that sought out special knowledge. Gnosticism is a term that is used for spiritual practices and religious beliefs. This term was very common for early Christians, as well as Zoroastrianism, Hellenistic Judaism, and Neoplatonism. The discovery of this Gospel, which was founded in 1945, along with the rest of the Nag-Hamaddi library is very revealing of certain gnostic groups that we previously had less knowledge of. We knew of Gnosticism from other texts and witnesses to them (Irenaeus) before. However, now there are many more source texts. There is also a difference between Gnostics and Orthodox Christianity. The Old Testament prophecies were described as fulfilled by Jesus. That is that Jesus was explained in the canonical Gospels as the Messiah. The Canonical Gospels are highly Jewish in their language and references. They were written by Hebrews. The Gnostic Gospels seem to be ignorant of the fact of the Jewish nature of Christ. They basically use His name but attach it

“[He opened for] me the doors of heaven; he spread open for me the portals of its horizon. I flew up to the sky as a divine falcon, that I might see his mysterious form which is in heaven, that I might adore his majesty. (10) … I saw the forms of being of the Horizon God on his mysterious ways in heaven.

The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagel discusses the origins of the Christian faith and the true reasons behind some of the Christian’s beliefs. Pagel claims that the theological disputes between the Orthodox Church and Gnostics in the early stages of Christianity were largely motivated by the political struggle for leadership of the religion. Orthodox Christians supported texts and interpretations to strengthen their goal which was to create an organization of believers. Gnostics, who was not necessarily seeking authority over Christianity, were eventually overshadowed by the supremacy of the Orthodox. Prior to the discovery of the artifact at Nag Hammadi in Egypt 1945 there were only had texts that support the Orthodox Christians belief, now historians were able to fully evaluate the two groups in a new prospective. Some of the writings found in this newly discovered artifact are believed to be the Gospel of Thomas and Mary Magdalene. Although Mary Magdalene does not have a book in the current bible, it is believed by many gnostic Christians that Jesus came to her in spirit after his death and passed on to her the secret knowledge of enlightenment. The new gospels that were discovered in Nag Hammadi doesn’t emphases on the birth or death of Jesus as the current biblical gospels do, but focuses more on Jesus’ life. Each chapter is devoted to a major theological problem that divides the Orthodox from the Gnostic. Pagel makes a compelling case that theological beliefs

Including the previous seven, Dr. Bill Wheeler (2011) presents three additional ways of seeking knowledge: revelation and faith; custom and tradition; and personal experiences. For a Christian, revelation and faith is a fundamental source of knowledge and truth. Wheeler describes two aspects of revelation, general and special. General revelation is looking at the world and realizing that God is the creator. Special revelation comes from Jesus, Holy Spirit, and the prophets.

Beare, Francis Wright. "Mission of the Disciples and the Mission Charge: Matthew 10 and Parallels." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 89, no. 1, Mar. 1970, pp. 1-13.

Gnosticism, which was viewed as a threat to early Christian beliefs can be defined as the “thought and practice especially of various cults of late pre Christian and early Christian centuries distinguished by the conviction that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis (King, p.5).” Besides the dictionary’s condensed definition summarizing Gnosticism, “Gnosticism” is a much more complex belief composed of numerous myths defining humans and God and viewed as an ancient Christian heresy. Gnosticism is rather a term invented in the early modern period to aid in defining the boundaries of normative Christianity. Yet, it has been mistakenly come to be thought of as a distinctive Christian heresy or seen as a religion in its own

When judging the historical reliability of the gospels many factors come into paly. In judging the historical reliability of the Gospels the kind of the gospels is important in understanding the intentions of the writers concerning the historical value of the text. When ranking the following sayings of Jesus: