There are some skeptics and New Agers that insist there are “Gospels” of Jesus that were either lost or suppressed in the early church period, and they identify those gospels in part as the Gnostic Gospels discovered in 1945, found outside of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. Are these truly “other” gospels? In short, no.
The Gnostic Gospels are a collection of esoteric and mystical writing that in many ways paralleled the New Testament. The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of the Egyptians, The Gospel of Truth and some other fifty works were found bound together in 13 codices, all which dated to around the fourth century. Many of the works originated in the second century, and some scholars even believe that some of sayings of Jesus, particularly those in the Gospel of Thomas, date back to the apostolic age itself.
Although there is a significant amount of diversity in the collection of writings, there are some elements that seem common to most of the writings. With respect to world-view, they almost all purport an extreme form of Dualism or “hyper” Platonism. In this case, it is so extreme that the realm of the divine maintains no intercourse with the matter and the natural world. The material world is considered evil. In many cases, the physical world is considered to be the handiwork of an evil demigod, who is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. Consequently, there are descriptions on how the Logos had to descend through numerous realms just to merely appear (gr. “docet”) in our world. The incarnation of Christ is denied, and the passion and death of Christ are negated. Since the sacrificial death of Christ has no meaning, devotion to this other Christ consisted of seeking the secret knowledge (gr. “gnosis”) that he supposedly gave his disciples privately.
Also common to most of the Gnostic writing is the introduction of numerous other intermediate beings, which may be the personification of a certain virtue. Sophia (“wisdom”) is a goddess that enjoys significant distinction, sometimes as a part of a triad where she fulfills the role of the Holy Spirit/Mother of God the Logos. One might also find “Pistis” (“faith”) and Metanoia (“repentance”) as well as scores of others quasi-deities from varied sources. The principles of Gnosticism and Docetism are condemned quite soundly by the apostles John and Paul. One of the clearest condemnations is found in 1Timothy 6:20,21 where Paul directs Timothy to stay clear of the speculative banter of the Gnostics. Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge (gr. “Gnosis), which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. With respect to the question of canon, the Gnostic Gospels never found any support for their inclusion or acceptance with the early church fathers. The discovery of the Gnostics Gospels should properly then be interpreted as an event which helps shed light on the content of what the early church was fighting against. Many of the most significant heresies in the early church drew from the principles of Gnosticism, and until 1945, our understanding of Gnosticism was primarily though the polemic of Irenaeus, Tertullian and the other apologists. However, many modern day scholars have found in the Gnostic Gospels a new arsenal for critiquing and assaulting the New Testament. The scholars of the “Jesus Seminar” for example, seem to give more credence to the Gospel of Thomas than they do the authors of the canonical gospels. The Gnostic works are elevated by many seminary professors to be alternative traditions of Jesus that are on equal basis as literature with the New Testament. Many Mormon scholars are claiming that the discoveries at Nag Hammadi support the Book of Mormon, particularly in the areas of ritual and teachings about a divine “Mother”.
On a less scholastic level, the goddess “Sophia” was recently introduced as an alternative Deity for the Christian concept of God at the now infamous multi-denominational “Re-imaging the Godhead” women’s conference. New Ager’s likewise revel in the discovery of early documents, allegedly by apostles of Christ, that equate the true God with our inner “Self”, another common theme in Gnosticism. Likewise, the “DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown claimed that the truth of the early Christian church was found in the Gnostic writings. Interestingly enough, his spin on the Gnostic gospels was that they were empowering to females, and that the current church is unfairly run by males. However, anyone who has actually read the Gnostic Gospels know that they tend to be misogynist- perhaps even repressive to the female gender.
The discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, therefore, is actually a tremendous validation of the apologetic work of the early church. The apostles and early patristic apologists knew what they were talking about, and weren’t just jousting with windmills. They weren't "lost" so much as they were "thrown away". They make interesting reading, one just has to keep in mind that they are in no ways equal to, or comparable to actual "Gospels" or scipture. |
