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Triumphal
entry. Unlike Gnosticism, orthodox Christianity placed Jesus in a historical
context and framed his sayings with explanatory events.
The fiction thriller The Da Vinci Code ignited a world-wide controversy with his opening statement..."FACT: All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents and secret rituals in this novel are accurate." The Da Vinci Code Deception examines whether the novel is fact or fiction.
NEW ON DVD
Affectionately Yours, Screwtape: The Devil and C.S. Lewis. The Screwtape Letters, a thin volume of imaginative letters between two devils, has given millions of readers insight into conquering spiritual struggles. Explore the Biblical, historical and cultural depictions of Satan and hell and gain a deeper understanding of temptation and redemption.
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art I: Origin, Teaching
and Opposition to Gnosticism
Part II: Some Gnostic Writings
Part III: Meaning of Gnosticism for Today
References
What Can Gnosticism Teach Us?
The sparsity of orthodox truth in Gnostic
writings and their contrariness to orthodox Jewish and Christian teaching
does not mean that Gnosticism has nothing at all to teach us. In fact
there are several things we can learn from "Christian" Gnosticism.
- Early Gnostic opponents of Christianity were well aware of (and opposed
to) the Church's teaching that Christ's physical body arose from the
dead, proving the antiquity of this doctrine.
- The Gnostic corpus shows that key Christian doctrines and practices
(such as eucharist) were widely known, demonstrating their authoritative
nature.
- The Gnostic writings by quoting the apostolic writings or alluding
to them show that those books and the personalities associated with
them were well-known among the early Christians and are not later inventions.
- Gnosticism reminds us that the church has always faced error and that
such teachings can be expected to rise again and again.
Why Is Gnosticism Reviving Now?
Like the early Christian centuries, we live in a world whose culture
has lost its way. Western society is characterized by promiscuity, lawlessness
and excess. Having rejected Christian morality, it is natural that people
will seek something to fill the void. Perhaps they want a halfway house--something
that goes by the name Christian even if it is not. Perhaps people want
a rationale for their behavior; Gnosticism certainly offers that in its
myths of the unredeemable flesh. Or perhaps some want a justification
for their rejection of the faith that built our culture. In that case,
the enemy (Gnosticism) of my enemy (Christianity) becomes my friend. Others
are searching for meaning--any kind of meaning. To such, especially to
those who perceive themselves as more intelligent than the norm, Gnostic
literature may appeal as a source of ancient wisdom.
Elaine Pagels' book The Gnostic Gospels reflects considerations
that may make Gnosticism appealing today for some. Her thesis seems to
be that orthodox church leaders of the second and third centuries used
religion for ulterior purposes: to suppress individual autonomy (represented
as artistry), feminism, independence from religious authority, and a "more
reasonable" view of the resurrection. In their grasping for personal
power these leaders narrowly redefined Christianity so that it no longer
embraced the full spectrum of alternatives within early Christianity.
Needless to say orthodox Christians reject this characterization.
There is no denying, however, that what the Gnostics are said to represent
may appeal to some in our culture who have abandoned any pretense of accepting
the authority or literal truth of Christianity, to those who exhibit a
spiteful response to tradition or to those who seek personal or religious
autonomy.
For others, Gnosticism has simply become a politically correct mantra
to invoke as a source of ancient wisdom or a different and truer understanding
of reality.
How Is The DaVinci Code Related to Gnosticism?
A modern author who invokes Gnosticism is Dan Brown in his mystery thriller The Da Vinci Code. One of his characters alludes often to Gnosticism
and Gnostic writings in explaining the historical background of the mystery
that is unfolding in the story. Brown gets some things wrong. For example,
none of the Gnostic writings that we have uncovered say that Christ was
married to Mary Magdalene or had sex with her. Contrary to his claims,
the Gnostic gospels do not assert the humanity of Christ. Instead they
spiritualize and intellectualize the Jesus of the Gospels. Brown develops
a conspiracy theory of Christian history with the Emperor Constantine
as his arch-villain, suppressing and destroying Gnostic gospels among
other foul deeds.
Why Did Gnosticism Languish for Centuries?
Like Brown in his fiction, Elaine Pagels presents a conspiracy theory
but hers is in the realm of popular nonfiction. She claims that victorious
orthodox churchmen persecuted Gnostics out of existence and burned their
manuscripts, then rewrote the history of the times to tell the story their
way. This seems to reverse the story. Although persecutors of Christians
tried to destroy their books, Christians seem to have merely defined certain
works as authentic Scripture and others as inauthentic. Although there
was a spontaneous burning of magic books by the new converts of Ephesus,
this had nothing to do with suppressing rival gospels (Acts 19:19).
But perhaps there were other influences at work? Bart Ehrman suggests
"powerful" Bishop Athanasius caused Gnostic books to be destroyed by writing
a festal letter in 367 which listed the books that Christians were to
accept. Athanasius' list included exactly the books that are now in the
New Testament. However, that letter did not even hint that unacceptable
books be destroyed. To the contrary, among the books Athanasius rejected
as not being Scripture were Esther, The Shepherd of Hermas and The Epistle of Barnabas. Athanasius affirmed that although he
did not consider these and several other titles to be inspired, they were
nonetheless useful to read. What effect did his list have? Although Athanasius
was influential (because he so often stood up at great cost to himself
for what he believed), he was far from powerful. Indeed, for much of his
life he was on the run or in exile.
The real reason for the virtual disappearance of Gnosticism and Gnostic
writings for many centuries is that its ideas did not embody the timeless
truths that outlast societal change. As Pheme Perkins wrote, "By the end
of Augustine's life, Manichaeism, the last powerful manifestation of Gnostic
spirituality in the ancient world, had spent its force. It was ill-adapted
to the new world that was emerging" (Perkins 3). As orthodox Christians
see it, the power of God was not undergirding the Gnostics and they crumbled
while the orthodox stood the test of time because of their living and
defensible truth.
History-Based Christians vs. Gnostics
Although some Gnostic writers may have considered themselves Christians,
there were significant differences between them and orthodox Christians.
The Gnostics did not seek to ground their faith in historic fact the way
the orthodox did. Virtually all scholars acknowledge that the Gnostic
gospels were forged in the names of apostles. By contrast, the orthodox
of that era, both in their writings and in their arguments, attempted
to demonstrate the historic base of their teachings. While many scholars
claim some books of the New Testament are also forgeries (especially 2
Peter, 2 Timothy and Titus) and claim that the orthodox changed words
here and there in the originals to strengthen their position, it is nonetheless
clear, from the arguments that the orthodox made in the heat of argument,
that they attempted to ground their belief in verifiable historic fact.
The difference this makes is apparent even in the type of gospels the
orthodox accepted. Unlike the Gnostic gospels, the orthodox gospels placed
Christ within a historic context and his sayings are given a frame. For
that reason, we should perhaps call orthodox Christians not "the orthodox"
but "history-based" Christians.
The bottom line is, Gnosticism was seen by history-based Christians as
false, just as today we consider Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses
and Mormonism to be forms of Christianity which are not based on the historic
facts and teachings that have come down to us. The church was right to
reject Gnosticism.
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