What is Gnostic's?

Question

I am just not sure - what are the gnostic gospels?

Totally in the dark on this one so complete basics would be apriciated - I mean I'm assunimg they are connected but....?

Answer 1

Basics?-Um, they believe that the characters and stories are parables and that Mary Magdalene was one of the more important disciples (nothing about JC & her being married)
they also teach that the stories in the Bible are 'outside' mystery stories-they have a deeper meaning you learn about as you study it more think their interpretation of Heaven & Hell is to do wih philosophy (i.e.-you're in Hell w/o God and Heaven is a state of being where you feel you have all knowledge-you're one with God)
I've heard two different interpretations of 'God'-one is that Yahweh of the OT shows both the good side and the judgemental one; I've also heard that Sophie (mother Goddess-?) tried to form a child w/o any help and a distorted being evolved and is Yahweh, I think there's a belief in a masculine deity that's more associated with the solar system
I noticed someone listed a website for more info-I'm reading a book called 'The Jesus Mysteries' that describes what it has in common with Paganism and what it haas similiar to the more literal Christianity

Answer 2

Each gospel was written by a different religious community. They were written recordings of oral traditions which tended to be made as the original members of the community died. This is the case for both the biblical gospels and the gnostic gospels.

After a few centuries, the church selected which gospels would be accepted. They decided on Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The gnostic gospels were those that were not included. Some gnostic gospels were hidden at Nag Hammadi and were recently discovered. The translations of those gospels show that several of the communities seemed to believe in a hidden knowledge or gnosis. Hence the name gnostic.

At the core, the gnostic gospels don't differ radically from the traditional gospels. They do, however, introduce elements that the early church thought in would be in their interests to suppress. The most famous of these is the intimacy between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Some (but not all) tend to focus on what is now known as Gnostic Christianity. This is a striving to achieve enlightenment like Christ in this life in addition to striving to achieve salvation through Christ in the next life.

Answer 3

Gnostic means "knowledge." The church decided to simplify Christianity so they decided on just the 4 gospels everyone is familiar with. They tossed the others out, even though they are beautiful and I find far more interesting than Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The gnostic gospels posit other theories on the early teachings and life of Christ and as we know, thoughts not condoned by the church are considered bad.

The 4 gospels you know all were pretty much the same so they chose them. Sort of like saying see, look the story is true cause these 4 guys all agree. The gnostic gospels differ and that was scary to the church.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/gnostics.html

Just look up gnostic gospels, there is loads of info online.

Answer 4

The Gnostic scrolls were banned by the early church in about the year 400 for not following Christian dogma. The Gnostics are more famous for keeping some books of the Bible also banned by the church, like the Gospels of Mary and Thomas. Those have only recently been discovered in the Hammurabi Gnostic Scrolls.

Answer 5

Gnosticism," a term alluding to special mystical knowledge, designates a series of religious movements that have existed since ancient times. This philosophy permeated Judaism, Greco-Roman religion, and what now appear to be different varieties of Christianity. The struggle to publish these ancient manuscripts has at times seemed like an ancient story of Egyptian magic - filled with curses and drama.

According to the gnostic gospels, Jesus was about enlightenment, not salvation.

They are not accepted by mainstream Christianity as authentic, and are therefore declared heresy and not included in the standard Biblical canon. Rather, they are part of the so-called New Testament apocrypha.

Gnostic philosophy and religious movements began in pre-Christian times. After the Crucifixion, the name "Christian Gnostics" came to represent a specific section of the Christian community who believed that the path to spirituality was not by simply worshipping Christ, but in each person gaining knowledge and insight of the spiritual nature within themselves, thus gaining a spiritual enlightenment. This community blends the teachings of Jesus Christ with a variety of other beliefs.

Answer 6

Gnosticism is a branch of Christianity that emerged which approached Jesus' teachings from a different perspective on how to approach the Divine... based on the consideration that the Divine is all around us, within us and so forth, and development of the mind, (similar to that of Buddhist mind training, but not THE same), can get you closer to the Divine.

Check out some books on the topic or online. Lots of good stuff in the bookstores.

_()_

Answer 7

Gnosticism is a word derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning knowledge. It is a term created by modern scholars to describe a diverse religious movement often associated with Christianity.

Gnostic of, -- relating to, or possessing intellectual or spiritual knowledge.

Answer 8

Gnosticism is an approach which realizes that *experiencing* divinity as opposed to merely babbling, arguing, (and killing) about (or in the name of) god is probably a much more wisdom filled path to god. "ordinary/popular/mass religion" is mostly about theorizing and discussing, etc. It never leads to what humans are really "after", namely the actual experiencing of the presence and healing offered by "divine energies". Take a look at *Gnosis of the Cosmic Christ* for some guidance (which requires effort) for contacting those "divine energies". A far far cry from what's offered by fundamantalist christianity. :-)

Answer 9

bit confusing to me to but they ot conneted to christian ones

i have copy of em but hard to read.

som e kind of old phil religion in middle east area and greece.
check out wikipedia on gnostism

Answer 10

here's a couple of links


http://altreligion.about.com/od/gnosticscriptures1/Gnostic_scriptures_Texts.htm


http://www.gnosis.org/welcome.html


http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/library/gs.htm


http://www.sacred-texts.com/gno/index.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnosticism