TruthMatters

 

The Gnostic Religion

 

Gnostic is a term derived from Greek word gnosis which means “knowledge”. Their teaching was a perversion of the Christian teachings. The Pastoral Epistles go so far as tell Timothy to turn away from false knowledge ‘gnosis’ (1 Tim. 6:20). Paul and early Church fathers wrote against the Gnostic teachings such as false doctrine (I Tim 1:3; 6:3), Jewish myths (Titus 1:14), Old Testament Law (I Tim 1:7).

 

John referred to the Gnostic’s as being the antichrists in I John 2:18-26; because:

  1. There were many of them (v. 18).
  2. They had left the church because they had nothing in common with the true believers (v. 19).
  3. They denied that Jesus was divine (v. 22).
  4. They denied the Father and Son (v. 22).
  5. They were liars (v. 22). 
  6. They do not have the Father (v. 23).
  7. They were trying to lead the true believers astray (v. 26).
  8. They denied that Jesus was raised from the dead (I John 4:2; II John 7).
  9. They were deceivers (II John 7).

 

The gnostics understood themselves to be the elite “chosen people” who, in distinction from the “worldly-minded,” were able to perceive the delicate connection between world (cosmology), humanity (anthropology), and salvation (soteriology). The goal of gnostic teaching was that with the help of insight (gnosis), the elect could be freed from the fetters of this world (spirit from matter, light from darkness) and so return to their true home in the Kingdom of Light—for that alone is the meaning of “salvation.” They taught salvation is not a matter of deliverance from sin and guilt as the bible taught, but by freeing ones spirit from matter (hyle), in particular, the material human body (an out of body experience).

 

The early church fathers such as Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Origen, and Epiphanius denounced the Gnostic religion because of its heretical teaching. But in modern times it has often been applied more loosely to any form of religious belief which emphasizes any kind of dualism and/or the possession of secret knowledge.

The Gnostic writings reveal the following:

First: The Gnostics believed that the true nature of Jesus was divine. These Gnostic teachers denied that a sinless Christ could have a human (and thus sinful) body. They, then, made a distinction between the human body of Jesus and the Christ who came from heaven. Christ only descended upon the body of Jesus. In this manner, they sought to maintain that the heavenly Christ had no contact with a body that was evil. They actually taught that Christ did not really come in the flesh. (This teaching does not agree with I John 4:3; II John 7.)

Second: The Gnostics exalted the acquisition of knowledge, for in their view knowledge was the end of all things. Because of their knowledge, they had a different understanding of the Scriptures. And because of this understanding they separated themselves from the Christians.

Third: the Gnostics declared that matter is evil. They based this doctrine on the many imperfections we observe in nature. Accordingly, they taught the following points:

1.   The world is evil. This evil causes a separation, in the form of an unbridgeable gulf, between the world and the supreme God. Therefore, the supreme God cannot have created the world.

2.   The God of the Old Testament created the world. He is not the supreme God, but an inferior and evil power.

3.   Any teaching of the incarnation is unacceptable. It is impossible for the divine Word to live in an impure body.

4.   There can be no resurrection of the body. They who are set free experience liberation from the shackles of an impure body.??

Gnostic teachings:

Some Gnostic’s taught:

1.      The creation of the world resulted from the fall of Sophia (Wisdom). In every case the material creation was viewed as evil.

2.      Most Gnostics held that Christ was not truly incarnated nor could he truly suffer on the cross.

3.      There is no resurrection of the body.

4.      Gnostic salvation is not dependent upon faith or works but upon the knowledge of one’s true nature, some Gnostics indulged deliberately in licentious behavior. Carpocrates, for example, urged his followers to sin, and his son Epiphanes taught that promiscuity was God’s law.

5.      Some of the Gnostic writings are anti-female. From the Gospel of Thomas, saying 114, “--- For every woman who will make herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven”.

Sources of Gnostic Writings:

 

In 1945, Gnostic manuscripts were discovered in Upper Egypt near the modern city of Nag Hammadi. These writings became known as the Nag Hammadi Codices. They were written in Coptic, an ancient Egyptian language. The leather-bound books themselves were manufactured in the second half of the 4th century and this is known because the spines of the leather bound books were strengthened with scraps of paper that was dated 341, 346, and 348 CE. The original documents that these books were based upon could be older than 348 CE.

 

The Nag Hammadi Codices is a group of twelve papyrus codices and eight leaves, dating from the 4th century c.e. and inscribed in Coptic which is a translation of the Greek originals. They are now housed in the Coptic Museum in Old Cairo. Most (but not all) of the 52 tractates in the Nag Hammadi collection are gnostic in character. Hence, the American edition of these and related Coptic texts is called the Coptic Gnostic Library. The texts in the Nag Hammadi collection number 52 in all.

These Gnostic gospels include: The Book of Thomas the Contender; The Apocryphon of Adam; The Apocryphon of James; The Apcryphon of John; The Apocryphon of Paul; The Apcryphon of Peter; The Gospel of the Egyptians; The Gospel of Philip; The Gospel of Thomas; The Gospel of Truth; The Gospel of Truth; The Teachings of Silvanus; The Three Steles of Seth; The Second Treatise of the Great Seth; The Letter of Peter to Philip.

The miscellaneous Gnostic subjects found in the Nag Hammadi Codices were: A Valentinian Exposition; Allogenes; Asciepius 21-29; The Concept of  Our Great Power; The Discourse on the Eight and Ninth; The Dialogue of the Savior; Eugnostos the Blessed; Hypsiphrone; Marsanes; Melchizhizedek; On Anointing; On Baptism; On Eucharist; On the Origin of the World; Plato, Republic 588-589; The Acts of Peter and Twelve Apostles; The Exegesis of the Soul; The Hypostasis of the Archons; The Interpretation of Knowledge; The Paraphrase of Shem; The Prayer of the Apostle Paul; The prayer of Thanksgiving; The Sentences of Sexus; The Sophia of Jesus Christ; The Thunder: Perfect Mind Authoritative Teaching; The Treatise of Truth; The Tripartite Tractate; The Thought of Norea; The Testimony of Truth; Trimorphic Protennoia; Zostrianos and Miscellaneous Fragments.

Berlin Codex 8502, which dates from the fifth century, contains the Gospel of Mary which contains Mary Magdalene’s reaction to Peter’s rejection of her revelation. This encounter is missing in the original Greek text. This Codex also includes The Gnostic Texts Apocryphon of John, The Act of Peter, and Sophia of Jesus Christ.

 

None of Gnostic gospels indicate any type of sexual relationship between Mary and Christ! They represent Christ’s nature as being too divine for this type of human relationship.