One of the most important movements to understand the history of Christianity, especially for the second and third centuries, is that of Gnosticism. Gnosticism is one of those things that many have heard about but few know what it really means. In this episode, we look at some of the beliefs and possible origins. For … Read More “Episode 42 – Getting to Know the Gnostics” »
Tag: Gnosticism
Book Reviews, Heresies
Who are the Gnostics and where did they come from? Often they are thought of as a Christian heresy but it may be more complicated then that. Carl Smith looks at these questions in his book No Longer Jews: The Search for Gnostic Origins. The title gives it away that he sees a Jewish connection. … Read More “No Longer Jews – Review” »
Heresies, New Testament
One of the greatest and earliest challenges to what would become orthodox Christianity was Gnosticism. But where did Gnosticism come from and how does it relate to the New Testament. Pheme Perkins, author of Gnosticism and the New Testament, is a New Testament scholar. She argues that there was a pre-Christian form of Gnosticism that … Read More “Gnosticism and the New Testament” »
The Gospel of Thomas is probably the extra-canonical gospel that most people have heard of but do not know anything about. In this episode, we take a look at the Gospel of Thomas. In this episode, I refer to a Stanford article about Elaine Pagels. You can find it here. You can find the online … Read More “Episode 37 – The Gospel of Thomas” »
Book Reviews, Heresies
There seems to be a lot of interest in what are known as the “Gnostic Gospels.” People are drawn to these mysterious books that never made it into the New Testament. One of the most well known authors in this area is Elaine Pagels. Beyond Belief is supposedly focused on the Gospel of Thomas. Although … Read More “Beyond Belief – Review” »
Heresies
Docetism was a doctrine in the early years of the Christian church that claimed that Jesus didn’t have a physical body. The name comes from the Greek dókēsis which means “to seem.” It refers to the belief that Jesus only seemed to have a physical body. This seems to be present very early on. This may be … Read More “What is Docetism?” »
New Religions
Heresies have been connected to Christianity from the beginning. Because this is a historical more than theological blog, I’m defining a heresy as a smaller group breaking off from the main group with significantly different doctrines. Some time ago I taught a course on what are often called cults or sects. I was amazed at … Read More “Heresies: Now and Then” »