This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume29, number5 (2008). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org SYNOPSIS The Gospel of Judas was first used by a second-century Gnostic sect that existed apart from the mainstream Christian community. It was created significantly later than the four [...]

In the first installment of this two-part series, I outlined the stark contrasts between the gnostic Jesus and “the Word become flesh.” These respective views of Jesus are lodged within mutually exclusive world views concerning claims about God, the universe, humanity, and salvation. But our next line of inquiry is to be historical. Do we [...]

The following is an excerpt from Article DG040-2 from the Christian Research Journal. The full article can be read by following the link below the excerpt. GNOSTICISM AND CHRISTIANITY- GNOSTIC UNDERDOGS? Although Pagels and others have provoked sympathy, if not enthusiasm, for the Gnostics as the underdogs who just happened to lose out to orthodoxy, [...]

The following is an excerpt from article DG040-2 from the Christian Research Journal. THE FIFTH GOSPEL- THOMAS ON TRIAL The Nag Hammadi text that has provoked the most historical scrutiny is the Gospel of Thomas. Because of its reputation as the lost “fifth Gospel” and its frequently esoteric and mystical cast, it is frequently quoted [...]

The following is an excerpt from article DG040-2 from the Christian Research Journal. The full article can be viewed by following the link below the excerpt. THE RELIABILITY OF THE GNOSTIC DOCUMENTS Historicity is related to trustworthiness. If a document is historically reliable, it is trustworthy as objectively true; there is good reason to believe [...]

THE LOST BOOKS OF THE BIBLE? Although much excitement has been generated by the Nag Hammadi discoveries, not a little misunderstanding has been mixed with the enthusiasm. The overriding assumption of many is that the treatises unearthed in upper Egypt contained “the lost books of the Bible” — of historical stature equal to or greater [...]

Popular opinion often comes from obscure sources. Many conceptions about Jesus now current and credible in New Age circles are rooted in a movement of spiritual protest which, until recently, was the concern only of the specialized scholar or the occultist. This ancient movement — Gnosticism — provides much of the form and color for [...]

The following is an excerpt from article DG040-1 from the Christian Research Journal. The full article can be read by following the link below the excerpt. The GNOSTIC GOD: UNKNOWABLE OR KNOWABLE? Many Gnostic treatises speak of the ultimate reality or godhead as beyond conceptual apprehension. Any hope of contacting this reality — a spark [...]

The following is an excerpt from article DG040-1 of the Christian Research Journal. The full article can be viewed by following the link below the excerpt. Gnostic Jesus- JESUS AND GNOSIS Unlike the canonical gospels, Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are not narrated and neither do any of the hundred and fourteen sayings in the Gospel [...]

GNOSTIC CHRISTIANITY- THE GNOSTIC MESSAGE Gnosticism in general and the Nag Hammadi texts in particular present a spectrum of beliefs, although a central philosophical core is roughly discernible, which Gnosticism scholar Kurt Rudolph calls “the central myth.”9 Gnosticism teaches that something is desperately wrong with the universe and then delineates the means to explain and [...]