Gnosticism The Quest for Knowledge Why is Gnosticism

Gnosticism The Quest for Knowledge

Why is Gnosticism hard to grasp? n A belief system n Lack of central organization n Lack of linear progression

Discovery of Gnostic Documents n Gnostic documents discovered 1945 n Muhammad ‘Ali al. Samnan n Smuggling scandal

Main Gnostic Tenets n The Godhead and the dyad n The Universe as a prison n Knowledge

Gnosis n Ignorance n Spark of Divine

Jesus – Man or God? n Reject Jesus’ divinity n Reject Resurrection n Divine spirit

Gnosticism v. Christianity n Gnosticism not as popular n Jesus n Personal error n Elitism

The Challenge of Gnosticism n Alternate path n Gnosis contradicted the Church institution

The Gnostic Gospels n Written 150 -300 years after Jesus’ death n Not important for historical records n Theological notions

First Gnostic Reference “The cover read: The Gnostic Gospels. Teabing heaved it open, and Langdon and Sophie joined him. Sophie could see it contained photographs of what appeared to be magnified passages of ancient documents – tattered papyrus with handwritten text. ‘These are photocopies of the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea scrolls, which I mentioned earlier, ’ Teabing said. ‘The earliest Christian records. Troublingly, they do not match up with the gospels in the Bible. ’” Chapter 58, p. 245 -246

Mistakes in the Section n Calls Nag Hammadi documents “scrolls” n Should not be titled “The Gnostic Gospels” n Not “earliest Christian records”

Lutzer, Edward n Ecumenical point of view n Discussion of Gnostic Gospel of Philip

Lutzer’s Interpretation of Philip “The companion is Mary of Magdala. Jesus loved her more than his students. He kissed her often on the ______, cheek mouth hand face more than all his students, and they said, ‘Why do you love her more than us? ’”

Brown’s Interpretation of Philip “And the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us? ’” Chapter 58, p. 246

Lutzer’s Interpretation: Implications n Blank where scholars fill in face n Implies that Jesus kissed the other disciples in the same way

The Aramaic Problem “The words surprised Sophie, and yet they hardly seemed conclusive. ‘It says nothing of marriage. ’ ‘Au contraire. ’ Teabing smiled, pointing to the first line. ‘As any Aramaic scholar will tell you, the word companion, in those days, literally meant spouse. ’” Chapter 58, p. 246

The Aramaic Problem n Brown’s claims about Aramaic scholars, “companion” n Gnostic Gospels are written in Coptic n Differences between Aramaic and Coptic

The Word “Companion” n “any Aramaic scholar” could not tell a Coptic word n “companion” frequently used for friendship

Gnosticism and The Da Vinci Code

Brown’s Claims About Hieros Gamos n Alleged sex rite Sophie witnesses n Male was incomplete without knowledge of sacred feminine n Hieros Gamos to achieve gnosis

The Truth About Hieros Gamos n “Sacred marriage” - Greek n Success and fertility of the land n Only proper name for agricultural areas who reenact n Inconsistent with Gnostic beliefs

Misinterpretations n Apparent expertise n Some believe Brown is Gnostic n Little serious research