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