F. F. Bruce observes that the sayings of Jesus are best to be understood in the light of the historical circumstances in which they were spoken. The author of the National Geographic article on the Gospel of Judas tries to instill doubt about whether the gospels are indeed reliable. [then] advanced steadily while they remained buried, and unfortunately was not completely halted in the period between their discovery in 1945 and their final conservation thirty years later.8, Reading through The Nag Hammadi Library, one often finds notations such as ellipses, parentheses, and brackets, indicating spotty marks in the texts. As you may know, there are other gospels besides the four that we have in the canon of our Bible today (or, more accurately, there are other books that claim to be Gospels). Some have argued that if you want to know the real Jesus, the historical Jesus, then Gnostic writings (like the Gospel of Thomas) give you a more reliable picture. It is true most Gnostics do have a bone to pick with the material world, but not because they believe it is all bad, black and white, good vs. evil. There is solid evidence that the New Testament Gospels were written by their namesakes: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Although much excitement has been generated by the Nag Hammadi discoveries, not a little misunderstanding has been mixed with the enthusiasm. After two millennia of people using "Judas" as a synonym . Sign up and get free apologetics tips as well as important updates. . 1. There are few if any cases of known authorship with the Nag Hammadi and other Gnostic texts. They were only used by, well, Gnostics, not by the main church. The third of the series "Debates of the Reliability of the Christian Bible" produced by author Erik Angus MacRae in September of 2020, this work takes on the question of whether or not the Christian Bible is reliable by endeavoring in a thorough explanation and examination of the Judeo-Christia At the same time we find texts of a clearly Gnostic slant, as noted earlier. He concludes that Gnosticism was able to present its message in a sustained way as the teaching of Jesus only by separating the risen Christ from the earthly Jesus and by abandoning the attempts to show a continuity between the Jesus of the Jesus-tradition and the heavenly Christ of their faith.49. 3 Joy Lives in Uganda (2001-present) Author has 236 answers and 44.3K answer views 2 y Related Dunn then compares similar statements from Matthew, the Oxyrhynchus papyri, and the Nag Hammadi text version of Thomas: Matthew 7:7-8 and 11:28 Seek and you will find;he who seeks findsCome to meand I will give you rest. Pap. . 29 Francis E. Williams, Introduction: The Apocryphon of James, in Robinson, 30. Dethroning Jesus. But Gnostics themselves did not take these things literally, at least in the strictest sense. The word gnosticism comes from an ancient Greek word for knowledge. The term gnostic gospels refers to gnostic collections of writings about the teachings of Jesus, written from the 2nd - 4th century AD. Even certain approved books of the New Testament canon are sometimes called into question, such as Jude, which is drawn up as suspect by some for quoting the apocryphal Book of Enoch. After all, God wants to know us deeply and personally. The Gnostic Gospels, also known as 'The Nag Hammadi library' and the 'Chenoboskion Manuscripts' are a collection of texts found in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi over 70 years ago. Further, to argue cogently against the Gnostics, Irenaeus and the other anti-Gnostic apologists would presumably have had to be diligent to correctly represent their foes in order to avoid ridicule for misunderstanding them. 2 Harold W. Attridge and George W. MacRae, Introduction: The Gospel of Truth, in James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988), 38. 39 See Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Oxyrhynchus Logoie of Jesus and the Coptic Gospel According to Thomas, in Joseph Fitzmyer, Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1974), 355-433. 1. a "Gnostic.". The Gnostic Gospels are not reliable sources for the life and teachings of Jesus. In the first installment of this two-part series, I outlined the stark contrasts between the gnostic Jesus and the Word become flesh. These respective views of Jesus are lodged within mutually exclusive world views concerning claims about God, the universe, humanity, and salvation. In short, the Gnostic Gospels show clear evidence of being ancient forgeries, and provide us with no reason to trust that they are authentic artifacts from the time of Jesus. If suppression had been his concern, the book never would have been written as it was. They are therefore not reliable as historical documents. We have very good reason to trust the canonical gospels, so where the two come in conflict (as opposed to simply offering new information), the well-attested earlier gospels win out yet again. The original writing of the various documents, of course, took place sometime before A.D. 350-400, but not, according to most scholars, before the second century. It also teaches that the sacrifice of Jesus was not needed to appease the almighty God, but lower gods and angels. The question of reliability ultimately comes down to legitimacy. The Gnostic gospels reflect these changes when describing the relationship between Jesus' male and female followers. 14 Michael Grosso, Testing the Images of God, Gnosis, Winter 1989, 43. These books are known as the New Testament Apocrypha and consist of fifty-two texts. Fitzmyer drives this home in criticizing Pagelss view that the Gnostics have an equal claim on Christian authenticity: Throughout the book [Pagels] gives the unwary reader the impression that the difference between orthodox Christians and gnostic Christians was one related to the origins of Christianity. . Marvin W. Meyer judges that Thomas shows the hand of a gnosticizing editor.44 Winterhalter, who reveres Thomas enough to write a devotional guide on it, nevertheless says of it that some sayings are spurious or greatly altered, but this is the work of a later Egyptian editor.45 He thinks, though, that the wheat can be successfully separated from the chaff. 4): John Lennox vs. Richard Dawkins. The connotation of a gospel is that it presents the life of Jesus as a teacher, preacher, and healer similar in style, if not content, to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But Gnostics themselves did not take these things literally, at least in the strictest sense. There are generally two camps, one with an early date of around 50 A.D. and another with a late date of around 140 A.D. Are they equally valid books suppressed by controlling church fathers? In particular, what about books such as the Gospel of Judas or the Gospel of Thomas which present a different side of Jesus? The Gnostic Gospels are not reliable sources for the life and teachings of Jesus. These four Gospels are rooted in the apostolic tradition and can be attributed to apostolic authorship: St. Matthew was an apostle; St. Mark was a disciple of St. Peter; St. Luke was a disciple of . Finally, while the canonical gospels teach a message that is preached publicly and available to all, the Gnostic Gospels teach salvation by "secret knowledge" that Jesus only gave to a few. Finally, to treat the Gnostic gospels as truly reliable accounts is to betray a deep ignorance of Gnostics themselves. 13 See Ray Summers, The Secret Sayings of the Living Jesus (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1968), 14. Instead, it must be asked whether it is likely that while the canonical gospels treat the message of Jesus as being out of Gods grace and for all, the Jesus of the Gnostic gospels came to appease lower gods and angels while offering secret knowledge of salvation to a select few. In fact, only five are listed as gospels - Truth, Thomas, Philip, Egyptians, and Mary. Part Two of this series will therefore inspect the historical standing of the Gnostic writings in terms of their historical integrity, authenticity, and veracity. To go along with that, they also believed that we all have a spark of the divine within us and that salvation is achieved through secret knowledge that allows that spark to escape the material world (the Greek word for knowledge is gnosis, and thats where we get the word gnostic). Content may be subject to copyright. Do we have a clue as to what Jesus, the Man from Nazareth, actually did and said as a player in space-time history? But this assertion does not, in itself, provide support one way or the other for the truth or falsity of Gnostic doctrine. For this reason Thomas, along with other documents which purported to contain secret sayings of Jesus, was rejected by the Church.46, Here we find ourselves agreeing with the early Christian defenders of the faith who maintained that Gnosticism in the church was a corruption of original truth and not an independently legitimate source of information on Jesus or the rest of reality. We see here a Gnosticism that is born antagonistic to the Old Testament. The Nag Hammadi text that has provoked the most historical scrutiny is the Gospel of Thomas. In fact, most of the Gnostic texts were poems, wisdom literature, and supposed historical narratives. It may be true, as Pagels says, that the winners write history, but that doesnt necessarily make them bad or dishonest historians. Early gnostic groups sometimes were early Jewish Christians, who also saw no division in the old and new testaments, except for Covenant and fulfillment of meaning through YESHUA. This article first appeared in the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL, volume 13, number 03 (1991). Are the Gnostic Gospels Reliable? The Gnostics, on the other hand, could do no such thing. Were they reasons according to consistent Christianity, or were they political reasons? Dualism is very important in Gnosticism. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught (Luke 1:1-4, NIV). First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the 49 Ibid., 288; see also Blomberg, Historical Reliability, 219. They had lists of bishops in various cities, and those lists showed that their beliefs were passed on from generation to generation, stretching all the way back to the beginning of the Church. This totally contradicts the God of Scripture. This explanation uses the Synoptics as a reference point for comparison. The Gnostic Gospels The Gnostic Gospels were written by early so-called "Christian" Gnostics. It's all there, man, in the Gnostic Gospels! The Apocryphon of James claims to be a secret revelation of the risen Jesus to James His brother. There are major issues of reliability per standard historical methodologies: We discount the Gospels as at all reliable on standard historical methodologies that would produce the same result in every other field: They're late, post-dating any evident witness known to still be alive; In this gospel, Jesus entrusts a great deal of secret knowledge and honor to Mary, who is commonly opposed by Peter for no other reason than that she is a woman (he plays this role in other Gnostic texts as well; it was common for Gnostics to have a low opinion of the apostle Peter, particularly because of the Catholic Churchs regard for him as the supposed first pope). What is seen by some as a Gnostic challenge to historic, orthodox views of the life, teaching, and work of Jesus was actually in many cases a retreat from historical considerations entirely. The Lost Gospelsa ninety minute long BBC documentary (first released in 2008). Yet, a reading of these gospels reveals an entirely different genre of material. So a review of Gnosticism is in order. Both lack Old Testament background, ethical exhortations, and end-time eschatology. What, then, of the veracity of the documents? The Gnostic Gospels are ancient religious writings which falsely claim to be written by famous biblical figures such as Peter, Thomas, and Mary. 5): Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden, Debate Teacher Reacts (Ep. Wright notes this very fact: The canonical gospels were being read and quoted as carrying authority in the early and middle second century, whereas we do not even hear of the non-canonical ones until the middle or end of that century.. Given N.T. Only when we have understood them thus can we safely endeavor to recognize the permanent truth which they convey. Wise Disciple is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit Christian ministry, Filling In with Vibrant Color: A Review of the CSB Holy Land Illustrated Bible, The Gospel Is the Justice Liberals Are Looking For, Debate Teacher Reacts (Ep. There is a typo in there. Do we have reason to believe the text as it now reads is essentially the same as when it was first written? Gnosticism was a notable heretical movement of the 2nd-century Christian Church, partially of pre-Christian origin. The Kingdom is inside you, and it is outside you, Your email address will not be published. The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels. Many early Christians believed that all matter is evil, and the spirit-realm is good. Andrew Phillip Smith, a Gnostic scholar who is not a believer, says in his book The Gnostics that the Gnostics were not terribly interested in their stories being strictly true. The Gnostic Gospels are real, but they weren't really systematically snuffed out (they mostly just faded into history), and you can still read them quite a few of them, at least right now. The Real Reason The Gnostic Gospels Aren't In The Bible. If a document is historically reliable, it is trustworthy as objectively true; there is good reason to believe [] If your father doesn't believe that the Bible is reliable, you might see if he's willing to read some books which give evidence that it is. Consequently, this diversity attracted some really strange gnostic groups jumping on the bandwagon (which Paul fervently warned about) with various levels of personality groups and backwards ideas attributed by them that seem to have made into gnostic canon although there is no such thing definable, these strange backwards ideas are thought of as heretical Gnosticism. Without undue appeal to the subjective, it can be safely said that the Gnostic material on Jesus has a decidedly different "feel" than the biblical Gospels. Many Gnostics were not actually in opposition to orthodoxy the way modern times assume, but rather it eventually was the other way around. Granted, none of this proves without a shadow of a doubt that the orthodox Christians were right. So again, we have reason to doubt their historical reliability. These anti . Ox. I've mentioned already that they had a deep mythology in addition to the Genesis account. This means that the Gospel of Matthew is reliable because of its origins and coherence with Mark and Luke and John: all four Gospels anchor their themes and literary strategies in the real-life story of Jesus (see Part Fourteen, below). 32 Robinson, 131; See Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins, 130-31. Garabandal: Are the Prophecies About to be Fulfilled? As with the New Testament, we do not know who really wrote these gospels, but several of them were written pseudepigraphically in the names of various apostles. These later gospels give us a lot of helpful insight into the nature of 2nd century Gnostic beliefs, but they don't tell us anything about the historical Jesus. in her repentances for her transgressions in which she is asking for salvation, ultimately for all humanity, through Christ the Savior, she pairs her apologies with the Psalms of David, as Jesus also refers to them in his teaching and ministry. Conversely, the Gnostic Gospels are fanfic several generations removed from Jesus' time on earth. Tuckett has also argued that the Gospel of Mary and the Book of Thomas the Contender are dependent on synoptic materials, and that there is virtually no evidence for the use of pre-synoptic sources by these writers. They censored them, but they have all the stuff they didn't want you to know.". The full text of this article in PDF format can be obtained by clicking here. In the Gnostic materials Jesus seems, in many cases, more of a lecturer on metaphysics than a Jewish prophet. For example, they believed that the material world is bad and only the spiritual world is good. Required fields are marked *. Their name comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." These people thought they had secret, special knowledge hidden from ordinary people. Wright cites gives us a proper explanation: that the Gnostic gospels, being written perhaps a full century after the canonical gospels (most of the New Testament was written between 70 and 90 A.D.) pulled from the tradition of the canonical gospels. At most, they show an alternate perception of Jesus in splinter groups from the early church. 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