The more literalistic of the Christian communities, in an effort to preserve the “integrity” of stories about Jesus and his teachings — or at least their interpretations of those teachings — differentiated themselves from other Christians who espoused Gnostic ideas. Their term for the latter was “heretic” and their ideas came to be called heresies. Some early Christian fathers sought out heresies to vigorously oppose them. Lacking ancient sources of original Gnostic documents, prior to Nag Hammadi modern scholars have had to rely on the writings of those early Christian heresiologists (individuals who study and write about heresy) to provide information about Gnosticism in their writings.

The most notable among the heresiologists was a church father named Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, who sometime around A.D. 180 wrote a treatise in five volumes titled On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis. The work is commonly referred to as simply Against Heresies. Other church fathers, such as the Tertullian (bishop of Carthage) and Hippolytus of Rome, also made contributions to what is known about Gnosticism by writing against it. You will read more about these individuals and the heresies they particularly found offensive in other chapters. For now, suffice it to say that the majority of Gnostic texts were destroyed in order to suppress the movement. Little survives to modern times, though copies of Gnostic texts discovered within the last half-century have shed more light on what is known about Gnosticism.

Gnostic Syncretism

Syncretism means the merging together of distinctly different (often opposing) ideas and fusing them into one concept. The Gnostics used syncretism from the already existing traditions of the ancient world to develop their ideas about cosmology (origin and structure of the universe) and theology. From roughly the second to the fourth centuries A.D., their sects flourished. It is believed that in some cases entire congregations may have shared Gnostic ideas but in other cases only an individual or a few people within a congregation might embrace Gnostic beliefs, since there was no Gnostic collection of teachings gathered in one book like the Bible.

Gnostic Religious Writings

The Gnostics wrote diverse works, including many gospels about Jesus, his life and his teachings, and his companions (Mary Magdalene, Thomas, Philip, Judas Iscariot, et al.). Banned for centuries, copies of Gnostic texts resurfaced in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. A peasant stumbled upon a clay jar containing fifty-two ancient papyri texts. These ancient texts discovered only a half century ago offer a snapshot of earliest evolving Christianity in Palestine in the first few centuries. Among the codices (leather-bound papyrus manuscripts) found were The Gospel of the Egyptians, Pistis Sophia, The Dialogue of the Savior, The Book of Thomas the Contender, The Apocryphon of John, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Thomas, and The Thunder, Perfect Mind. Taken together they show the extreme diversity and divisions in early Christian thinking and writing. Find these Gnostic texts at www.gnosis.org or in the book, edited by James M. Robinson, titled The Nag Hammadi Library: The Definitive Translation of the Gnostic Scriptures Complete in One Volume.

Gnostic Equality Between the Sexes

Did the Gnostics believe that men and women were equal? Most likely, since it is known that the Gnostics especially revered Mary Magdalene and held her in the highest esteem. They featured her prominently in their writings. She even has a Gnostic gospel named after her. The Gnostics depicted the Supreme God in male and female imagery and therefore saw the Divine in women as well as men. In the Gnostic scriptures, it is often Sophia, goddess of wisdom, who calls out in a Gnostic myth or proverb or shines behind the “lens” that Mary Magdalene holds in her discussions with Jesus.