Gnostic GospelsDo they help us get closer to understanding

Jesus?

What is Gnosticism?

At the most basic level, the terms

Gnostic and Gnosticism refer to a belief

that is rooted in special knowledge. The

term gnosis is where we get the

English word knowledge from.

Gnosticism in its broadest sense is

about a religious view based on a claim

about knowledge.

Gnostic Characteristics

1. Dualism: this means that there is both in the

creation and in man and in man a mix of good

and evil that is distinguishable, at they exist side

by side. I.e. God is seen as being two different

god’s. There is a god who created, then there is

a secret god who is unknowable.

2. Cosmogony (Origin of the universe): In creation

there is a contrast of spheres, often called light

versus darkness, spirit versus flesh, and

knowledge versus ignorance. Immaterial is good

(Spirit), material (flesh) is bad.

Gnostic Characteristics

3. Soteriology (or salvation): Salvation and

redemption are understood primarily in terms of

secret knowledge. Salvation of the spirit within a

person is what matters, not salvation of the flesh. In

fact, the flesh is not redeemable. There is no

resurrection of the body from the dead.

4. Eschatology (or the teaching about the last

things): The only important matter is someone

understands leaving the flesh (material) behind.

The Gnostic

gospels were

discovered in Nag

Hammadi, Egypt,

near Cairo in 1945

and translated into

English in 1977.

The Gospel of

Thomas (140–

170) has 114

“secret sayings” of

Jesus.

Where do these

texts come

from?

The Findings of Nag Hammadi

• In the Nag Hammadi materials we find new,

intriguing titles, some gospels and some not.

Such titles include Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of

Philip, Gospel of Mary, Acts of John, Testimony

of Truth, Pistis Sophia, Wisdom of Jesus Christ,

and many others. Their dates range from the

second to the third century a.d.

• The bulk of this material is a few generations

removed from the foundations of the Christian

faith, a vital point to remember when assessing

the contents.

When did this movement start?

This movement had “bad seeds”

(Acts 8, 1 Tim. 6:20, 1 John) in the

first century, but it “grew” in the

second century as a heretical

movement against true

Christianity.

One more Distinctive

The Person of Jesus, the Work of

the Cross, and Salvation: An

unorthodox feature of Gnosticism

involved how Jesus was

understood in His person,

suffering, and work of salvation.

Here we consider the of

Apocalypse of Peter 81:4–24.

Apocalypse of Peter 81:4–

24I saw him apparently being seized by them. And I

said, “What am I seeing, O Lord? Is it really you

whom they take? And are you holding on to me?

And are they hammering the feet and hands of

another? Who is this one above the cross, who is

glad and laughing?” The Savior said to me, “He

whom you saw being glad and laughing above the

cross is the Living Jesus. But he into whose hands

and feet they are driving the nails is his fleshly part,

which is the substitute. They put to shame that which

remained in his likeness. And look at him, and [look

at] me!

Examining the Gospel of Thomas

Why look at the Gospel of Thomas: This is the most

popular of the findings. It has the most verses and it

is the most complete of the manuscripts.

Thomas is also a “fan” favorite among liberal

scholars. Some feel that we should get rid of all the

gospels and base out faith on this gospel alone.

Our best defense against these people is simply to

see what the text says for itself, and show them how

the text is not the same as the bible.

Gospel of Thomas

A supporter for the Gospel of Thomas is Elaine Pagels: She said, “the discovery of Thomas's gospel shows us that other early Christians held quite different understandings of “the gospel." We should read the gospel not as something wrong, rather as unfamiliar to us, getting a chance to know it more.”

The Discovery of the Gospel of

Thomas

In 1945, two years before the Dead

Sea Scroll were discovered, some

Bedouin workers were digging for

fertilizer near a cliff a few hundred

kilometers south of Cairo stumbling

across some manuscripts in a jar. The

unique thing about these manuscripts

were them being in “book form”

already.

The Discovery of the Gospel of

Thomas

Prior to this find some of the early

church fathers, (Origen, Ambrose,

Jerome) were already condemning

the writing in the 3-4 century. No

one knew where it was until many

years later.

Questions Raised By

Thomas• The Gospel of Thomas is not a narrative

gospel like our four gospels in our bible. Unlike Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John the Gospel of Thomas is a string of sayings—114 in all—that Jesus supposedly said.

• There are no travel scenes, no mention of Galilee or Jerusalem or any other city, no miracles, no healings, no exorcisms—just sayings.

Questions Raised By

Thomas

The prologue and the first saying

set the stage for the whole gospel:

“These are the secret sayings that

the living Jesus spoke and

Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.

And he said, “Whoever discovers

the interpretation of these sayings

will not taste death.”

Questions Raised by

ThomasThe opening lines raises three Questions:

1. This gospel is one of secret sayings.

2. Salvation is achieved by knowledge—by

understanding the meaning of sayings rather

than by faith.

3. Thomas, the twin, may well be considered Jesus’

twin brother in this work. (No scholar believes

this gospel was written by Thomas, the disciple

of Jesus.)

When was the Gospel of Thomas

Written?

The predominant view is that

Thomas was written in the first half

of the second century, probably

between AD 120 and 140. Some

even argue for a date of AD 180.

The date is important because…

When was the Gospel of Thomas

written?

Some people like to mention this writing during the time of the apostles. But this is a weak argument, because:

(1) If it was written during the time of the apostles, there would have been mention of it in the second century.

(2) The literary writing styles are completely different than the gospels we have in our bible today.

(3) Rather it is easy to see that someone from the second century, copied the Gospels creating a false gospel to make conflict within the church.

What Does Jesus Say In The Gospel Of

Thomas?

The gospel of Thomas is really big

on Jesus revealing secret sayings

to Thomas. And such sayings, if

understood properly, will bring

eternal life.

Thomas: 13

Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me to someone and

tell me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are

like a righteous angel.” Matthew said to him, “You are like

a wise philosopher.”

Thomas said to him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable

of saying whom you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your

master. Because you have drunk, you have become

intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have

measured out.”

And he took him and withdrew and told him three things.

When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him,

“What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell

you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up

stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the

stones and burn you up.”

Gospel of Thomas

This picture diverges from the portrait of Jesus we

see in the gospels from the bible in some important

ways.

1. It contradicts Peter’s confession of Jesus in the

bible. Here Jesus is not the Messiah; he isn't

even a teacher.

2. It puts Thomas against the other disciples,

putting him in a superior position because of his

special knowledge.

3. What Thomas knows cannot be disclosed.

Thomas:70

Jesus said, “That which you have will

save you if you bring it forth from

yourselves. That which you do not have

within you [will] kill you if you do not

have it within you.”

This is wrong because: Salvation in

Thomas seems to focus on what is in a

person rather than our trust in a savior.

Thomas:18

The disciples ask Jesus, “How will our end

come? Jesus responds, “Have you found the

beginning, the, that you are looking for the

end” You see, the end will be where the

beginning is.”

This is wrong because: The Jesus of

Thomas does not know the future, or better

the end times.

Thomas 52.1-52.2

His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four

prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them

spoke in you.” He (Jesus) said to them, “You

have omitted the one living in your presence

and have spoken (only) of the dead.”

This is wrong because: Jesus is denying

the OT prophets regarding the coming f the

Messiah.

Thomas:77

Jesus said, “It is I who am the light which is

above them all. It is I who am the all. From

me did the all come forth, and unto me did

the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I

am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find

me there.”

This is wrong because: Jesus sound like

he is a pantheist.

Thomas:114

Simon Peter said to them, “Let Mary leave us, for

women are not worthy of life.”

Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make

her male, so that she too may become a living spirit

resembling you males. For every woman who will

make herself male will enter the kingdom of

heaven.”

This is wrong because: Because Peter turns into

every women's nightmare, along with the non-

comforting words of Jesus. It also is just wrong!

Conclusion on Thomas

Thomas along with all the other Gnostic

gospels portray Jesus in a non-biblical

light. Thomas portrays Jesus is a way

that brings unhealthy tension to the true

bible. Thomas’s Jesus performs no

miracles, does not speak prophetically,

does not die for anyone’s sins, and

does not accept faith in himself, let

alone worship.

What does the Bible say?NT Writings

The Apostle John

The Letter of 1 John, the apostle is addressing this

class of people. The Gnostics professed to know

the truth, but John here sets forth the true facts of

the Christian Faith, which can be known with

certainty.

He describes God as light (1:5); love (4:8, 16);

truth (5:6); and life (5:20). This does not mean that

God is not a Person, but rather that God is the

source of these four blessings.

1 John

According to John, a person either is a

child of God or he is not; there is no in-

between ground. That is why this

Epistle is filled with such extreme

opposites as light and darkness, love

and hatred, truth and lie, death and life,

God and the devil. John uses the word

“know” a great many times.

1 Timothy 6:20

Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge”…

• The word knowledge in this verses means, a strange variety of knowledge.

• Esoteric (for a few select people) knowledge (primarily philosophical and religious), with the implication of its being heretical and contrary to the gospel—‘esoteric knowledge.’

Colossians

Most scholars agree that the letter to

the church at Colossae was written to

disapprove the ideas of Gnosticism to

Hellenistic philosophies and mysteries

to apocalyptic and mystical Judaism to

various amalgams thereof.

This is all of chapter 2 in the letter.

Conclusion