The church did not approve of people turning to philosophy as a path to understanding faith

The beliefs that were not consistent with the Christian orthodox (correct teaching) understanding of faith were viewed as heresy

Orthodox means correct teaching

Heresy: an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma

Christians (against Gnostics) destroyed Gnostic writings

In the middle of the 20th century Gnostic writings were discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt

Until the discovery of these writings, we had only the accounts of the early Church Fathers

Gnostic beliefs caused much tension within the Christian community because: Tore apart what many Christians saw

as their basic beliefs

Tossing out the idea that Jesus’ death leads to salvation

Overturned the traditional Christian understanding of the gospel stories

Change the Christian story into the sort of myth found in all those mystery religions

Made the God of the Jews into a being that was at the very least deluded

Made creation a bad thing

Beyond earth there is the Plenora

The divine realm of spiritual fullness, and the emanation of the various aeons that inhabit it

Sophia:

The youngest of the aeons

Was not content

Did not rebel against God but Her curiosity and desire led her to fall away

Compare to Eve

Curious

Ate the forbidden fruit = knowledge

For Gnostics, Eve did the right thing

There was not a garden but a prison

The creator God was not a wise, all-loving God, but an ignorant, half-mad craftsman

The fall was not committed by man and is not a punishment for disobedience

Mankind is not cursed with the burden of original sin but is merely asleep to its true nature

Sophia conceived and her child is called Yaldabaoth = demiurge

Yaldabaoth (Demiurge)

Knew nothing of God - true God

Knew nothing about the Pleroma above

Knew nothing about his mother

Thinking he was the only god, he created the material world and declared it good

In comparison to the Plenora, it was a shadow composed of gross matter

Since the demiurge could not create life, he trapped sparks of the divine

Redeemers: have been sent from the Pleroma to bring teachings which illuminate the situation in which mankind finds itself (Jesus was a redeemer)

These teachings can lead to direct gnosis with the Pleroma

Gnostics emphasized gnosis (knowledge) rather than faith

Gnosis: saves, redeems, and provides liberation

Jesus was the savior and redeemer by bringing knowledge of the universe and humans’ true place within it

Faith: faith in Christ, in his crucifixion and resurrection and his status as the son of God, the savior and redeemer of humanity

Due to these teachings, the leaders of the Christian communities decided they needed to deal with these issues before they became more widespread

Church leaders decided to:

Choose which of the many writings about Jesus should be included in the canon

Established creeds to ensure that everyone in the Church agreed on the basics of faith