I bought The Gnostics (Tobias Churton) at a charity shop recently because I've always wanted to know more about who they were, what they believed and why they were hounded out by other Christians.
The book was written in conjunction with a Channel 4 programme screened in 1987 and the author admits that subsequent research might supersede his own findings. The book is concerned with the discovery of the writings found at Hamra Dum in Upper Egypt, later to become known as the Nag Hammadi Library. There are, in total 13 Codices including ones I have heard of, namely The Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. However, there are far more. Each Codex holds between three and eight separate works. Some are non-Christian. A full list of works are listed from page 156 (Appendix Two) and describes roughly what they are.
The book is very complex, and some of it went over my head but, and these are my own thoughts, the Gnostics posed a threat to orthodox (Catholic) religion because their beliefs were different. They sought knowledge and light. One major difference between Gnostics and Catholics was that Gnostics believed that only Jesus body (form) was on the cross to explain the 'appearance' of the crucifixion. His spiritual self was not there. Gnostics were branded heretics and gradually they 'disappeared'.
Then along came the Cathars. These people interested me even more because I had read about them in Kate Mosse's book Labyrinth. From her book I found sympathy for these quiet people who were persecuted, subject to the Inquisition and were burned alive. Their beliefs were much like the Gnostics. They believed that this world was created by Satan. Baptism was not the holy spirit descending but the person's own spirit.
I still struggle to understand exactly what these people believed but I think that we today have our own ideas of God and what this world is all about. These days there is more open discussion. People aren't content to be told what to think and comply.
When the Bible was put together some Gospels, or writings, were excluded (The Gospel of Thomas is rather a good one to read, actually!). Some others (not from the Nag Hammadi but other books not considered to be in the Bible were grouped together in what's known as The Apocrypha which you won't find in your everyday Bible. I bought a Jerusalem Bible so I could read the Book of Tobit after coming across it in Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers. The whole story is re-printed in that book but I was curious as to what else was in the Apocrypha, but even here there are books missing. In church today we sometimes have readings from The Wisdom of Solomon and perhaps one or two other books but they are very few and far between. If you would like to see a list of missing books click here.
What I also find interesting is that when reading the New Testament, there is reference to 'other things written down.' What are these? The book of Mark is another Gospel that fascinates. He talks about secrets, things hidden, not made known - this is very Gnostic in thought. Maybe!
Gnostism has never really gone. The author quotes William Blake as one. He read all the early stuff (sorry should have mentioned people like Plato, Mani of Manichees, another Christian branch of people around 200 AD). Way back....we are talking about a hundred years after Christ.... there were Gnostics. There was different thought by other Christian groups about the nature of God and really that hasn't stopped. The author quotes John Lennon as a Gnostic!
I have yet to read a simple book about the Gnostics and the Cathars! However, this did enlighten me a little. It is a shame that some of the Gnostic writings have been lost - some were actually burned because it wasn't known that were valuable. These findings open up the thoughts of those living in times just after Christ - how what they believe influenced their lives and brought them into conflict with 'the orthodox church'. Not an easy subject, but one I'm sure I will come back to!
The book was written in conjunction with a Channel 4 programme screened in 1987 and the author admits that subsequent research might supersede his own findings. The book is concerned with the discovery of the writings found at Hamra Dum in Upper Egypt, later to become known as the Nag Hammadi Library. There are, in total 13 Codices including ones I have heard of, namely The Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. However, there are far more. Each Codex holds between three and eight separate works. Some are non-Christian. A full list of works are listed from page 156 (Appendix Two) and describes roughly what they are.
The book is very complex, and some of it went over my head but, and these are my own thoughts, the Gnostics posed a threat to orthodox (Catholic) religion because their beliefs were different. They sought knowledge and light. One major difference between Gnostics and Catholics was that Gnostics believed that only Jesus body (form) was on the cross to explain the 'appearance' of the crucifixion. His spiritual self was not there. Gnostics were branded heretics and gradually they 'disappeared'.
Then along came the Cathars. These people interested me even more because I had read about them in Kate Mosse's book Labyrinth. From her book I found sympathy for these quiet people who were persecuted, subject to the Inquisition and were burned alive. Their beliefs were much like the Gnostics. They believed that this world was created by Satan. Baptism was not the holy spirit descending but the person's own spirit.
I still struggle to understand exactly what these people believed but I think that we today have our own ideas of God and what this world is all about. These days there is more open discussion. People aren't content to be told what to think and comply.
When the Bible was put together some Gospels, or writings, were excluded (The Gospel of Thomas is rather a good one to read, actually!). Some others (not from the Nag Hammadi but other books not considered to be in the Bible were grouped together in what's known as The Apocrypha which you won't find in your everyday Bible. I bought a Jerusalem Bible so I could read the Book of Tobit after coming across it in Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers. The whole story is re-printed in that book but I was curious as to what else was in the Apocrypha, but even here there are books missing. In church today we sometimes have readings from The Wisdom of Solomon and perhaps one or two other books but they are very few and far between. If you would like to see a list of missing books click here.
What I also find interesting is that when reading the New Testament, there is reference to 'other things written down.' What are these? The book of Mark is another Gospel that fascinates. He talks about secrets, things hidden, not made known - this is very Gnostic in thought. Maybe!
Gnostism has never really gone. The author quotes William Blake as one. He read all the early stuff (sorry should have mentioned people like Plato, Mani of Manichees, another Christian branch of people around 200 AD). Way back....we are talking about a hundred years after Christ.... there were Gnostics. There was different thought by other Christian groups about the nature of God and really that hasn't stopped. The author quotes John Lennon as a Gnostic!
I have yet to read a simple book about the Gnostics and the Cathars! However, this did enlighten me a little. It is a shame that some of the Gnostic writings have been lost - some were actually burned because it wasn't known that were valuable. These findings open up the thoughts of those living in times just after Christ - how what they believe influenced their lives and brought them into conflict with 'the orthodox church'. Not an easy subject, but one I'm sure I will come back to!
Comments
Post a Comment