Gnostic texts..what are they?

Theology
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You can only find true solace in Christ Jesus and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, @Sam. For it is written, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The Lord Himself is “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4). And Jesus promised, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17). In Him alone the soul finds peace, for “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3).

J.

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Thanks brother @Johann …it means a lot to me, especially at this time

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You should know me by now, @Sam, I am not here to crush or bruise your tender spirit. For it is written of our Lord, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench” (Matthew 12:20). My desire, like His, is to restore gently, as the Scripture says, “If anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1). I seek to build you up, not tear you down, for “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Stay strong in Messiah Yeshua Sam.

J.

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The new Testament books were included as scripture using a simple formula.

Who were the authors, were they apostles or associates of apostles, or are they known to church elders.

Does what is written agree with other biblical books and with the theology that has been taught.

The gnostic books were excluded from the bible simply because those books failed the above tests.

As for being saved by “ good works “, suggest that he provides his biblical evidence for this idea.

Suggested Web sites -

Answersingenesis, wintery Knight and coldcasechristianity

Ephesians 2:8+9, it is by grace we are saved through faith so that no one can boast.

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These books were never excluded from the Bible. They aren’t in the Bible because orthodox Christians following the teachings of Jesus and His Apostles had no use for them; the New Testament is a collection of texts written in the first century by the earliest followers of Jesus. The earliest Gnostic texts were written sometime in the mid to late 2nd century. Which, of course, means that Thomas didn’t write the Gospel of Thomas, Philip didn’t write the Gospel of Philip, and so on. These are heretical texts which simply do not represent the real historical Jesus, what His early followers believed, or how they lived. In fact if you read some of those Gnostic texts you’ll notice a common theme: most of Jesus’ disciples are treated as ignorant evil idiots who just “don’t get it”, there’s instead usually a special chosen disciple whom Jesus chooses to deposit super secrete teachings to, and then all the other disciples mock and deride this special super disciple. This is very clearly meant for the disciples to represent the regular mainstream Christians who were just too stupid to get what Jesus “really” meant, and the super special disciple represents the Gnostics who are special and privileged and received the secret teachings of Jesus that were just too cool and radical for all the normies.

Early Christian writers commonly pointed something important out: They noted that what they were saying is what the generation before them believed, and that they could directly trace a straight line from themselves to Jesus and His Apostles. For example, Irenaeus could say that he learned from Polycarp, and Polycarp was a disciple of the Apostle John. They had direct, tangible connections with Jesus’s Apostles, and to Jesus’ own words. So when Irenaeus says of course there are Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) just like there are four cardinal directions on a compass, because that’s what we’ve received, that’s what was given to us from the beginning, we can trust these Four Gospels as Scripture, we don’t need any other gospels, we have the ones we’re supposed to have, and we read them every Sunday in church, as God’s word–he’s speaking as someone who is directly connected with the historic continuity of Christian truth going back to Jesus. He is therefore a highly reliable witness.

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I would not encourage anyone without a mature faith to read anything related to the Gnostic Gospels or other extra-biblical texts. It can do real damage to one’s faith.

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@DrDale, I very much agree with this.

The first time I learned about these sorts of texts and general “apocrypha” I was in high school. And while I had grown up in a devout home, I really wasn’t prepared theologically or mentally to handle that information. I was very fortunate that a person from my church was very knowledgeable, and encouraged me to learn more theology and about the history of the Church–exposing myself to Church history and good theological sources gave me a knowledge-base where I could trust that the fundamental teachings of my Christian faith were historically grounded, biblically true, and faithful. I have, in the decades since, become a major advocate for theological and biblical literacy, and that learning Church history is a foundational tool for helping us trust what we believe. There is two thousand years of faithful Christian witness, and that is a treasure we can rejoice in. God has been faithful, and it’s not up to us to always reinvent the wheel–the wheel was invented long ago, and it is solid and good.

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Good, sage advice. I really don’t have time to read them. I’m sticking to my daily bible reading and devotionals.

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The dead saw scrolls are probably apocryphal.

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Everything asked and stated here in the post and in the responces can be easily looked up and researched. Nothing is super secret.

Between the death of Christ and the formation of a United Church by Rome, some 200 to 300 years after Christ, there were many many widely different beliefs and perspectives about Jesus and his teachings. Dogma, belief, and practices ran a spectrum all over the place. For example, I heard recently that one of the early sects believed Jesus had become a 100 foot angel.

Just think about the crowds that learned from Christ, each gleaning one thing or another from a gathering. And then, inspired by His Words, they taught from His teachings and the miracles they witnessed, and humans being humans, filled in the gaps of all things they did not know with each new generation of that sect. And multiple sects did this.

The Gnostic texts came from this diversity of material. It may be completely false or completely true or some mix in between. But as Conservative Christians we don’t embrace any of these other texta as truth because they are considered fringe and go against a united view of Dogma, Belief, and Practice. The more we embrace the alternative view the further we move away from what is safetly and widely accepted as true, whether that is wrong or right.

The Dead Sea Scrolls were a bunch of scrolls- books and letters- that were found in a cave or tomb that predated many of the ones held by the church up until that point. Including the ones that make up the Bible.

Because they are older, the dead sea scrolls reveal edits and add ons to the original texts of the Bible that occured over time. The older versions found amongst the dead sea scrolls have largely become accepted as closer to the original text. Because of this, many modern Bibles translate the text according to the dead sea scroll versions with notes indicating what the Bible said after it was altered.

Some Churchea cling to the King James Bible, which remains altered from the older texts, holding the King James version as truer. This may be because of the belief in the unerring nature of God’s Word, confusing God’s Gift to men, which is unerring, with man’s handling of that gift, which is erring and self serving As man also sacrificed the Son. And the Bible itself hints that weeds were sown with the wheat, and as the Prophet Jeremiah says to his own people, the scribes have lied.

There comes a point where we must examine and decide for ourselves what is Truth and whst is not. And my personal compass as I have said many times before is Christ’s statement on the two Highest Commands. LOVE is the compass when any questions arise. How we should behave, the direction we should move, the goal we should strive for. Whether angels are servants of God, other dimensional beings, or aliens. Whether Gnostic texts or Mainstream belief is correct or far from it. No matter what may be the physical or spiritual reality of any of it, if LOVE does not show the way then it is not a way worth going.