The Gnostics
Gnosticism. Gnosis means knowledge. Do not take this as a search for absolute truth though, the Gnostics are not about gaining knowledge, but searching for knowledge. This may seem like a futile exercise in semantics, but let this quote clarify the difference.
“...the rational soul who wearied herself in seeking- she learned about God. She labored with inquiring, enduring distress in the body, wearing out her feet after the evangelists, learning about the Inscrutable One... She came to rest in him who is at rest. She reclined in the bride-chamber. She ate of the banquet for which she had hungered... She found what she had sought.” ~ Authoritative Teaching from Nag Hammadi
To what end did she seek?
“... You saw the spirit, you became spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw the Father, you shall become Father... you see yourself, and what you see you shall become.” ~Gospel of Thomas
Why? So that by seeking, you may become “no longer a Christian, but a Christ.” (Gospel of Thomas).
As you may have guessed from the quote above, the Gnostics have their own set of “gospel” narratives. Classically, Christians have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Gnostics add many more. Gospel of Thomas, Book of Thomas the Contender, Secret Book of John, Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Truth, Gospel to the Egyptians, Secret Book of James, Apocalypse of Paul, Letter of Peter to Philip and the Apocalypse of Peter among many others.
Now, the most well-known Gnostic gospel is the main source for the Da Vinci Code. It is called the Gospel of Mary. In these books there are many strange ideas, Jesus was married, had a twin brother, etc.
Even according to the Gnostics, these “secret” or extra gospels were not written by their name sakes. (ie Thomas did not write the Gospel of Thomas.) They also will admit that the gnostic gospels are based upon the author’s personal experiences.
“...I am the knowledge of the truth. So while you accompany me, although you do not understand, you already have come to know, and you will be called ‘the one who knows himself.’ For whoever has not known himself has known nothing, but whoever has known himself has simultaneously achieved knowledge about the depth of all things.” ~Gospel of Thomas
A fascinated historian, Elaine Pagels, wrote of the Gnostics, “...gnostics considered original creative invention to be the mark of anyone who becomes spiritually alive. Each one... expected to express his own perceptions by revising and transforming what he was taught. Whoever merely repeated his teacher’s words was considered immature.”
And Bishop Irenaeus, who fought the Gnostic heresy when it first emerged, wrote of them, “every one of them generates something new every day, according to his ability; for no one is considered initiated among them unless he develops some enormous fictions!”
So what is the Truth... that you need to know about the Gnostics? They were written by people over a century after Christ, written by people who by faith created gospel narratives of what they thought, solely dependent upon their own personal experience and invention. There is no truthful basis behind the Gnostics nor their postulations. In fact, they are in many ways still around, only they are called by a different name. Today we like to call them Cosmic Humanists. But their foundation is still the same. Gnosis.
Wishing for God to be truth, they make an Idol of truth and become the truth, the god they wish to be in themselves. And in so doing, they miss the Truth. The reality of what is.
Jared Williams
“...the rational soul who wearied herself in seeking- she learned about God. She labored with inquiring, enduring distress in the body, wearing out her feet after the evangelists, learning about the Inscrutable One... She came to rest in him who is at rest. She reclined in the bride-chamber. She ate of the banquet for which she had hungered... She found what she had sought.” ~ Authoritative Teaching from Nag Hammadi
To what end did she seek?
“... You saw the spirit, you became spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw the Father, you shall become Father... you see yourself, and what you see you shall become.” ~Gospel of Thomas
Why? So that by seeking, you may become “no longer a Christian, but a Christ.” (Gospel of Thomas).
As you may have guessed from the quote above, the Gnostics have their own set of “gospel” narratives. Classically, Christians have four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Gnostics add many more. Gospel of Thomas, Book of Thomas the Contender, Secret Book of John, Gospel of Philip, Gospel of Truth, Gospel to the Egyptians, Secret Book of James, Apocalypse of Paul, Letter of Peter to Philip and the Apocalypse of Peter among many others.
Now, the most well-known Gnostic gospel is the main source for the Da Vinci Code. It is called the Gospel of Mary. In these books there are many strange ideas, Jesus was married, had a twin brother, etc.
Even according to the Gnostics, these “secret” or extra gospels were not written by their name sakes. (ie Thomas did not write the Gospel of Thomas.) They also will admit that the gnostic gospels are based upon the author’s personal experiences.
“...I am the knowledge of the truth. So while you accompany me, although you do not understand, you already have come to know, and you will be called ‘the one who knows himself.’ For whoever has not known himself has known nothing, but whoever has known himself has simultaneously achieved knowledge about the depth of all things.” ~Gospel of Thomas
A fascinated historian, Elaine Pagels, wrote of the Gnostics, “...gnostics considered original creative invention to be the mark of anyone who becomes spiritually alive. Each one... expected to express his own perceptions by revising and transforming what he was taught. Whoever merely repeated his teacher’s words was considered immature.”
And Bishop Irenaeus, who fought the Gnostic heresy when it first emerged, wrote of them, “every one of them generates something new every day, according to his ability; for no one is considered initiated among them unless he develops some enormous fictions!”
So what is the Truth... that you need to know about the Gnostics? They were written by people over a century after Christ, written by people who by faith created gospel narratives of what they thought, solely dependent upon their own personal experience and invention. There is no truthful basis behind the Gnostics nor their postulations. In fact, they are in many ways still around, only they are called by a different name. Today we like to call them Cosmic Humanists. But their foundation is still the same. Gnosis.
Wishing for God to be truth, they make an Idol of truth and become the truth, the god they wish to be in themselves. And in so doing, they miss the Truth. The reality of what is.
Jared Williams
