Why did Gnosticism die out? Also what happened to the Gnostic Scriptures?
Why aren't those scriptures in the bible as well? Why were earlier Christians hellbent on destroying the Gnostic Scriptures? Are the Gnostic scriptures around somewhere still to this day? Will Gnosticism ever come back into play?
it died out because the gnostic scriptures aren't really a big deal to the core beliefs of Christianity. it still makes for good reading material, but not much else.
*head desk*
The early Christians were not 'hellbent' on destroying the Gnostic books.They were not included in the canon,because they were not considered authoritative or inspired.In addition,many of the books were written hundreds of years after Jesus.
Gnosticism is alive and making a resurgence. Jesus was a gnostic. The early church desired to take the human element out of Christianity by declaring the gnostic gospels as heresy. Pope Gregory in 581 declared them to be destroyed. Many were saved. By whom, we do not know. They were discovered in Nag Hammadi Egypt in the late 1800's. Many scholars believe that most of those writings predate the writings of Paul. It was the Paulians that feared the gnostic gospels because they taught of knowledge and enlightenment, NOT SALVATION!
The reason why they weren't included is because it did not fit early Church dogma. For example, in one of the Gnostic gospels ( I think it was the Gospel of Thomas) Jesus got angry at a play mate and killed him on the spot. Now, for a Church that is trying to center their faith around Jesus Christ being the savior of mankind, this lack of discipline does not look very good. It is these sort of writings that were left out of the original canon for obvious reasons. Then, once Church dogma was firmly established, Gnosticism became known as unorthodox, or heretical.
As for Gnosticism, it never died out...they went "underground". In fact, Gnosticism is very closely related to Christian mysticism, which was found throughout the medieval period. Gnosticism today can be found in many locations across the globe.
Do the the Gnostic texts survive today? Absolutely...I have a translated copy sitting on my book shelve. It is called the Nag Hammadi Library (they were found near the small town of Nag Hammadi in Egypt, hence the name) and you can get the book for around $20. Feel free to contact me with anymore questions on Gnosticism.
I beg to disagree with you. Gnosticism has not died. You see many forms of it today - the New Age Movement, Secular Humanism. I would even add atheism to the list.
Gnosticism, which gets its name from the Greek word nosies ("knowledge") was a religious movement beginning, possibly, before the time of Christ and extending into the first few centuries of the Christian era. Gnostics viewed themselves as "those who know." Their heretical teachings varied from group to group and can't be pinned down with specificity, but common gnostic beliefs included these:
Although Christ appeared to be human, his humanity was merely an illusion.
Christ appeared to die, but did not really die. The Crucifixion was really a Crucifixion.
Christ was not truly God, the second Person of the Trinity. He was merely a created being who was the lowest of the aeon's, a group of semi-divine beings between God and man. Each lower eon was given power by a higher eon. Christ, the eon furthest removed from God, created the world because God was too pure to dirty himself with matter.
Matter is evil, so one can do anything one wants with ones body, including killing it to release the soul from its imprisonment.
The God of the Old Testament is evil, as evidenced by the fact that he created the material universe. He is not the same as the God of the New Testament, who is the God of Love, as Jesus and his apostles taught (1 John 4:8, 16).
People are saved by acquiring secret knowledge (nosies), which is imparted only to the initiated.
Gnosticism was similar in some ways to the modern New Age movement. Like New Agers, Gnostic's used Christian terminology and symbols, but placed them in an alien religious context that gutted the essential teachings of Christ. It's unclear when gnosticism began. Many Church Fathers thought gnosticism was founded my Simon Magus, the Samaritan sorcerer who converted to Christianity (Acts 8:9-24). Some contemporary scholars think gnosticism started a few centuries before Christianity and then invaded it from the outside through the conversion to Christianity of Jewish and Gentile gnostics. Other scholars believe gnosticism started as a Christian heresy.
Peace and every blessing!
Why did Gnosticism die out? Also what happened to the Gnostic Scriptures?
