What Gnostic Writings teach about Jesus

In 1945 in Nag Hammadi Egypt a number of manuscripts were discovered that contained the writings of Gnosticism. This was an important archeological discovery. To that point in history we only had what the early church fathers said about Gnostic heresy. Now we not only have what the church fathers said, we also have some of the manuscripts they were referring to. I have read the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Phillip, and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene. Another one that was recently publish is the Gospel of Judas. I have only read sections of the Gospel of Judas. These manuscripts were not included in our New Testament for several reasons. First, they were not written by the apostles or any close associate of the apostles. We have no idea who wrote these Gospels. They used the names of some apostles and other famous people to make them look authentic. Second, the manuscripts were written late i.e.,150-200 years after Christ. Third, these Gnostic manuscripts contained heresies which denied the humanity and deity of Christ. The Gnostics didn’t even believe in the same God as Christians. The Gnostics worshiped a great invisible spirit. They didn’t know what his name was but they believed he ruled over a vast host of deities. They believed that there were 72 luminaries and each of them ruled over separate heavens. These 72 were higher deities than the God of the Old Testament. They believed that twelve angels were made to rule over Chaos which is our world. One of these angels was defiled with blood. This particular angel’s name is Nebro which means rebel. Others called him Yaldabaoth which probably means “Child of Chaos” and Yaldabaoth is the God of the Old Testament. That’s our God. He is Yaldabaoth, child of chaos. He’s a rebel. There was a second angel named Saklas which means fool. The Gnostics believed that our material world and that we ourselves were made by a rebel and a fool. Paul dealt with Gnostic heresy in the first century. Colossians 2:18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. The Gnostics believed Jesus was not the son of the God of the Old Testament. They believed that Jesus was the son of the female counterpart of the highest Gnostic deity and that he was not really a man. He did not take on flesh. The Gnostics believed that Jesus was not really crucified. They believe that real Jesus was a spirit who hovered above the cross, laughing at the people below. John dealt with Gnostic heresy in the first century. 2 John 1:7 Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. The Gnostics did not observe baptism or the Lord’s Supper because they believed those rituals were instituted by the God of the Old Testament who was an evil being that should not have made this material world in the first place. According to Gnosticism, when you get all this secret knowledge you become aware that divinity is within you. You also become aware that this material world and all the works of the Creator of this material world are worthless. Even your body is of no value and you would be better off without it. The goal of the Gnostic was to free the soul of the body and everything material. Now, do I have to tell you any more bizarre beliefs that come from the Gnostic writings for you to understand why these books were not included in the canon of the New Testament. They are valuable because they teach us what the Gnostics believed, but they teach us nothing about Jesus.