What are the 4 Gnostic Gospels?
What are the 4 Gnostic Gospels?
The discovery of 13 books containing 52 texts in the Nile River valley of Egypt in 1945 called Nag Hammadi opened the door for the history of early Christianism and the teachings of four Gnostic gospels called; the secret book of James, the gospel of Thomas, the book of Thomas and secret book of John.
How many Gnostic gospels are there?
52 texts
The Gnostic Gospels: The 52 texts discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt include ‘secret’ gospels poems and myths attributing to Jesus sayings and beliefs which are very different from the New Testament. Scholar Elaine Pagels explores these documents and their implications.
What do the Nag Hammadi texts say?
Early Christian writings discovered over the past century, however, go further. The gospel of Philip, one of the Nag Hammadi texts, describes Mary Magdalene as a “companion” of Jesus “whom the Savior loved more than all the other disciples and [whom] he kissed often on the mouth.”
How is gnosticism different from Christianity?
Gnostics were dualists and worshipped two (or more) gods; Christians were monists and worshipped one God. Gnostics focused on eradication of ignorance; Christian concern was the eradication of sin. Both had a redeemer.
What does Nag Hammadi say about Jesus?
Today Christians believe that only Christ was “one” with God, but Jesus seems to be saying that the rest of us are too. In another Nag Hammadi text, The Dialogue of the Savior, the disciples ask Jesus, “Who is the one who seeks and who is the one who reveals?” Jesus answers, “The one who seeks is the one who reveals.
Why did the church reject the Gnostic Gospels?
They were uncomfortable with the belief that Jesus had a human body subject to human weaknesses and offered other theories such as Jesus appearing to have a body or having a supernatural body. They held Jesus in high contrast to Yahweh, who was thought to be an inferior and even immoral deity.