Don't they clearly show that gnosticism was the norm at tthe beginning of Christianity?
2007-12-01 11:37:30 · 3 answers · asked by Marc P, Fundie's Bane 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm not disturbed because I don't know what they are. Enlighten me.
2007-12-01 11:45:09 · answer #1 · answered by oldguy63 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Found in 390 C.E., the Gnostic Gospels have been proven as either heresy, or unreliable.
Jesus warned His followers that there would be false teachers and false prophets. So finding evidence that the Gnostics were "active" at that time, or any other time, should not surprise us.
Paul encourages us to be as the Bereans, who received with an open mind, then searched the accredited scriptures daily whether what they heard was accurate.
Fundamentalist Christians are already doing their homework in that regard. The Nag Hammadi gospels are not gospels at all.
2007-12-01 11:50:59 · answer #2 · answered by Bobby Jim 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not really, The Nag Hammadi scrolls (known as the gnostic gospels - but also containing other material) were written AFTER the New Testament. It is thought that the latest gospel (John) was written in ad70 but that the earliest Gnostic gospel (Thomas) was written c100 or later.
No one knows when Gnosticism originated - although some people do think it was around during the writing of the epistles (especially the pseudo-pauline ones) as it says "knowledge (gnosis) falsely so-called".
2007-12-01 11:47:26 · answer #3 · answered by leamhan 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋