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Definitions
- Apocryphal
(Greek word meaning hidden or not genuine) Gospels are gospels
written from the 2nd to 4th century which take
either a revisionist or supplemental
approach to the Canonical Gospels.
- Canonical
(Greek word meaning rule or measuring rod) Gospels refer
to the 4 Gospels of the New
Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, that
were officially
recognized by the Church as being inspired and suitable for teaching
and practice.
- Gnosis
is a Greek word that means knowledge and as it applies to
the religion that bore it’s name. It grew
to mean the doctrine of salvation by knowledge.
- Gospel
is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words god (good) and spell
(to
tell) or good news.
- Synoptic
(Greek word meaning overview) Gospels are the 3 New Testament
Gospels, Matthew, Mark and
Luke, that often
closely parallel each
other in their subject
matter and their use of words.
History
Gnosticism
is a religious movement that started some centuries before
the Christian Era and arrived at it’s apex in the 2nd
century. Gnosticism lasted openly until the 5th century,
when it was declared heretic by the 2nd Council of Constantinople
(533) and it’s practioners were forced to go underground in order
to practice their beliefs. Gnosticism combined elements of the various
Pagan
and Mystery
religions, Judaism, Eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism and
upon it’s arrival, Christianity. Gnosticism was dualistic in nature,
believing in the opposing forces of good (spirit) and evil (matter). Gnosticism
taught
that salvation only came through secret spiritual beliefs and practices,
only possessed by Gnostics, which would free the spirit from the confines
and attachments
to the material existence. Gnostics applied these understandings to the
interpretation of Jesus’ message.
In
1945 Gnostic documents from the 4th century, written in Coptic,
were discovered wrapped in leather and
sealed in earthen jars, in caves near
Nag Hammadi,
Egypt. The Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of thirteen ancient codices
containing
53 separate texts. This discovery included a large number of primary
Gnostic scriptures - texts once thought to have been entirely
destroyed during
the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" - such as
the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth.
The discovery and
translation
of the Nag Hammadi library, which was completed in the 1970's, has provided
impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature
of Gnosticism.
Some scholars have come to believe that many of these Gnostic Gospels
are older than the Canonical Gospels.
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