The story how an Arab peasant found some ancient scrolls in the 1940s after avenging their father's murder in a blood fuel sounds like something out of the preview of a novel with the word "code" in the title. And, this is just the start of the saga -- how they eventually (minus some his mom apparently burnt as trash) got in the hands of scholars for review involves years more of drama. Finally, there is interpreting the actual documents.
Elaine Pagels was involved in the editing of the texts found at Nag Hammadi and continues to write about "gnostic" writings and thought, most recently as part of book on the final book of the orthodox New Testament. Such is part of the story -- the NT is a choice, twenty seven books chosen long after the fact, though the "canon" itself was largely accepted as normative by the second century. This is not to say that we should take the books at face value -- only about half of letters labeled "Pauline" are likely written by Paul himself, for instance.*
"Gnosticism" is in fact a term given to various beliefs concerned with inner knowledge, often of a mysterious nature, often in conflict with orthodox teaching. The book repeatedly shows that one reason why official "catholic" churches (though some of the critics ironically eventually split from the official church themselves) were so passionate about the evils of gnosticism was the threat to the basic aspects of the institution. A concern for self-knowledge could threaten basic principles of apostolic authority (including the bishops as following in the footsteps of the few with direct experience of the Resurrection) and widespread membership that is allowed by following creeds and practice, not some special knowledge that only a few can truly reach.
The author over time clearly has mixed feelings about gnosticism, including in a later book in which she talked about a traumatic experience in her own life. The psychological aspects (the "inner truths" of the movement fascinated Jung), acceptance of a role for women (and the feminine aspects of God) and the individual (often in very poetic way, plus accepting the ability of a "living" interpretation, not tied to past accounts) all interests her as well as what it tells us about the orthodox view. The themes still with us. On the other hand, she respects Christianity and its broad membership, something unlikely to develop with the esoteric and clearly somewhat elitist gnostic point of view.
Take the belief of some that martyrdom was the true path to glory, based on a proclamation of faith. Some gnostics were wary at best about this path, seeing it as glorifying death while the believers might not actually know the truth -- merely belonging to the official church wasn't enough there. This seemed to some as a grave insult to the dead. And, is not membership in the official church positive in various ways, including respecting humanity, in all its glory, not rejecting such things as imperfect physicality as compared to the inner spirit? The belief in the human Jesus might seem illogical given Christian beliefs, but it also seemed more human to honor our whole self, including sacraments to honor life moments. Gnosticism might be ideal, but pie in the sky.
The various sides of each point of view adds to the thought provoking nature of the journey here. Ultimately trying to actually wrap one's mind around some of the esoteric writings leaves something to be desired, but how many try the same with some things in the official Bible?
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* There is some effort to push back gnostic thinking to the mid-original century of the modern era, e.g., dating the Gospel of Thomas (or part of it) as early as c. 50. Admittedly, I'm not an expert, but it seems gnostic writings are of a second generation variety overall, though "in the air" by the time of the end of the century as the final books of the NT (including II Peter) were not yet written. Such sources, including writings not found in the actual New Testament (including from Bishop Clement) already were concerned about such "heresies" and "false teachings."
And, it raises themes also present in Greek philosophy, so the overall themes could have been around quite early, though applying them to Christian thought probably took some time. Suffice to say, I think the synoptic gospels are probably more akin to Jesus' actual ministry, but to the degree "the truth" is found over time, this is of limited importance.
Elaine Pagels was involved in the editing of the texts found at Nag Hammadi and continues to write about "gnostic" writings and thought, most recently as part of book on the final book of the orthodox New Testament. Such is part of the story -- the NT is a choice, twenty seven books chosen long after the fact, though the "canon" itself was largely accepted as normative by the second century. This is not to say that we should take the books at face value -- only about half of letters labeled "Pauline" are likely written by Paul himself, for instance.*
"Gnosticism" is in fact a term given to various beliefs concerned with inner knowledge, often of a mysterious nature, often in conflict with orthodox teaching. The book repeatedly shows that one reason why official "catholic" churches (though some of the critics ironically eventually split from the official church themselves) were so passionate about the evils of gnosticism was the threat to the basic aspects of the institution. A concern for self-knowledge could threaten basic principles of apostolic authority (including the bishops as following in the footsteps of the few with direct experience of the Resurrection) and widespread membership that is allowed by following creeds and practice, not some special knowledge that only a few can truly reach.
The author over time clearly has mixed feelings about gnosticism, including in a later book in which she talked about a traumatic experience in her own life. The psychological aspects (the "inner truths" of the movement fascinated Jung), acceptance of a role for women (and the feminine aspects of God) and the individual (often in very poetic way, plus accepting the ability of a "living" interpretation, not tied to past accounts) all interests her as well as what it tells us about the orthodox view. The themes still with us. On the other hand, she respects Christianity and its broad membership, something unlikely to develop with the esoteric and clearly somewhat elitist gnostic point of view.
Take the belief of some that martyrdom was the true path to glory, based on a proclamation of faith. Some gnostics were wary at best about this path, seeing it as glorifying death while the believers might not actually know the truth -- merely belonging to the official church wasn't enough there. This seemed to some as a grave insult to the dead. And, is not membership in the official church positive in various ways, including respecting humanity, in all its glory, not rejecting such things as imperfect physicality as compared to the inner spirit? The belief in the human Jesus might seem illogical given Christian beliefs, but it also seemed more human to honor our whole self, including sacraments to honor life moments. Gnosticism might be ideal, but pie in the sky.
The various sides of each point of view adds to the thought provoking nature of the journey here. Ultimately trying to actually wrap one's mind around some of the esoteric writings leaves something to be desired, but how many try the same with some things in the official Bible?
---
* There is some effort to push back gnostic thinking to the mid-original century of the modern era, e.g., dating the Gospel of Thomas (or part of it) as early as c. 50. Admittedly, I'm not an expert, but it seems gnostic writings are of a second generation variety overall, though "in the air" by the time of the end of the century as the final books of the NT (including II Peter) were not yet written. Such sources, including writings not found in the actual New Testament (including from Bishop Clement) already were concerned about such "heresies" and "false teachings."
And, it raises themes also present in Greek philosophy, so the overall themes could have been around quite early, though applying them to Christian thought probably took some time. Suffice to say, I think the synoptic gospels are probably more akin to Jesus' actual ministry, but to the degree "the truth" is found over time, this is of limited importance.