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Loading...One other major change that I have made in my textbook on the New Testament is that I have completely rewritten my description of early Christian Gnosticism. I’ll be presenting in a few posts what the section now looks like, and will explain why I made the changes. To make sense of the new portion, I first need to give the introductory discussion (dealing with our sources of information, including the Nag Hammadi Library), which I did not change drastically from the earlier version. Here it is:
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The Problems of Definitions, Sources, and Dating
Over the past fifty years scholars have engaged in heated debates over how to define Gnosticism. These debates are intimately related to the problems that we have with the ancient sources that describe Gnostics or were written by Gnostics. Until about a hundred years ago, our only sources for understanding Gnosticism were the writings of its most vocal opponents, the proto-orthodox church fathers of the second, third, and fourth centuries. In our discussion of the Johannine epistles, we have already seen some of the problems with reconstructing a group’s beliefs and activities on the basis of an attack by its enemies. With regard to Gnosticism the problems are even more severe. Proto-orthodox church fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian saw Gnosticism as a major threat to the success and unity of Christianity and pulled out all the stops in their assaults on it. Many of their charges—for example, their claim that certain groups of Gnostics engaged in wild sexual orgies and bizarre nocturnal rituals that involved eating babies—must be scrutinized with care (see Chapter 28).
One of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the twentieth century provided us with an entirely new source of information about Gnostics, a source not produced by its opponents but by Gnostic Christians themselves. In 1945, just over a year before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some Egyptian peasants stumbled upon a jar containing thirteen ancient books. These books contained some fifty-two literary works, most of them previously unknown. When they finally made their way through antiquities dealers into the hands of competent scholars, it became clear what they were. These peasants had accidentally unearthed a collection of ancient Gnostic texts written in Coptic, an ancient Egyptian language.
The books themselves were manufactured …
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The impression I had years ago (not sure where I got it from) was that Gnosticism probably originated as an offshoot of and reaction against, not Christianity, but Judaism. Is that definitely wrong, the Gnostics having learned about characters like Cain and Esau only from the Christian “Old Testament”?
By the way, is use of the term “Old Testament” offensive to modern Jews?
I think some Gnostic groups certainly had close ties with Jewish traditions (and Jewish people). That’s why they are so obsessed with the book of Genesis, e.g. Whether a lot of Gnostics started out as non-Gnostic Jews is very hard to say….
Dear Prof. Ehrman,
Were there any reliable historical sources indicating that Gnostics were persecuted by orthodox churches?
Thanks,
They certainly were vehemently opposed, but prior to the conversion of Constantine I’m not aware of any active persecutions. Maybe someone else on the blog knows?
Dr. Ehrman, isn’t Gnosticism founded at least to some degree in Platonic duelism? What is the relationship between Gnosticism and Plato – is there in fact a relationship. I had always understood that there was some kind of relationship. Is that wrong? Thank you.
SBD
Yes, I think it is a set of religious traditions with deep roots in Middle-Platonism (and it’s multiplicity of divine layers separating the human from the ultimate divine realm)
Do the gospel of John and Paul’s writings have gnostic tendencies?
No, I don’t think Gnosticism was around yet in their time.
Does the term logos in John 1 have anything to do with Gnosticism?
I don’t think GNosticism existed yet. My sense is that the logos doctrine comes more from reflections on the beginning of Genesis (God SAID, let there be light…)
When did Gnosticism begin? Thomas seems a small step in that direction but not actually Gnosticism. Mid 2nd-3rd century it was flourishing. Maybe a better question is what is the earliest credible date for a Gnostic text that has survived?
Probably by the beginning of the second third of the second century, I should think.
Hello Bart, I thought Mandeans, John the Baptist’s followers were a Gnostic sect too. Didn’t they pre-date Christianity?
John’s followers certainly predated Christianity (since Jesus was one of them), but the Mandaeans were a group that emerged *out* of this earlier group of followers. (It’s kind of like saying the Roman Catholic Church did not exist in the time of the NT; but it certainly *emerged* out of the followers of Jesus at the time.) The other problem is that we do not know much about what they actually thought in antiquity (we don’t have records) or how their thoughts developed over time, e.g., possibly, in a more gnostic direction.
I –as many others– will, of course, be following these posts closely…
…but are there any texts or other books that you would recommend on this topic? (For example, I’m currently reading David Brakke’s _The Gnostics_. Are there others you might suggest?)
Maybe Bentley Layton’s Gnostic Scriptures; Nicola Denzy Lewis, Introduction to Gnosticism; Karen King What is Gnosticism?
It seems to me that throughout history it is the pragmatic, traditional, authoritative, even dictatorial forces that hold sway. Intellectual and esoteric concepts like those of the Gnostics don’t take hold of the masses. So even today we see the masses voting for those who will give them concrete “answers” and telling them what to do and what to believe. So many people want someone to tell them what to do and what to believe. That’s religion, and politics, in a nutshell. (I’m probably influenced by the recent election results!)
1. Thanks for doing a series of posts on Gnosticism. This has always been a hard subject for me to grasp, especially the different variations all of which are still called Gnosticism. What are the basics that get something called Gnosticism?
2. The information that Gnosticism may have originated apart from Christianity and then later became fused with it in some forms is quite interesting. This process sounds similar to that of Plato influencing Christianity.
3. It still stuns me how often Gospels were written by an unknown author and then ascribed to a disciple. It almost seems like a standard procedure.
Is there any ancient Gospel that was really written by the author to which it is ascribed?
None that survives, at least.
Just reading Westar’s “Reflections on the Category Gnosticism”. Is the term a modern word that needs review. Is the term a barrier to understanding the category? I have more to read on the subject but wondered if you had a response to the material.
Yes, it’s become a debated term. My sense is that it’s fine to use, so long as you define what you mean by it. (So too with other related terms: Christian. Jew. Religion. Etc. Few terms are completely non-problematic!)
Ecclesiastes 7:24-25 KJV
[24] That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? [25] I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things , and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
Can anyone just decide to be gnostic? I have been shown things and know things through the spirit which led me to define my beliefs as the gnostic you have just described! But others whom I’ve tried to share any of this with just tell me I’m evil for even questioning the bible. It is very hard to know such truths and not be able to tell those who don’t understand because the veil has not been lifted from their eyes. Closed minds and hard hearts will not allow it.
Jeremiah 29:13 KJV
[13] And ye shall seek me, and find me , when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Are we the only ones searching for truth with a heart pure enough to receive it?
I keep telling people if they would even open their Bible and read it word for word and pay attention to the my God your God thy God almighty God Lord Lord God etc. they could see their is more than one God being spoke of in the Bible. They call me evil but won’t even open the book to look they just believe what was told to them in church. When I first had this revelation I cried for weeks it’s so sad they really know not what they do!
Romans 11:8-10 KJV
[8] (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. [9] And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them: [10] Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.