between the years 150 and 250.

Why were exclusion of the Gnostic writings on the

they not included in the Bible? They were "patriarchical" Church, instead of
The Gnostic Gospels
not included for three primary reasons: admitting the real reasons stated above.
First, their origin could not be traced to the They even try to pervert the study of Fr. William P. Saunders, PhD
apostolic age and genuine apostolic Sacred Scripture to meet their needs, for
authorship. Second, they were not example, stating that the gospels were not The Gnostic gospels are attributed to the
permitted to be read at Mass. For example, written until after the legalization of work of a community known as the
none of these Gnostic writings appeared Christianity in 313 to support a "Gnostics," which existed in the early
in the Muratorian Fragment (155), one of hierarchical Church. Once again, the Church. (Gnosis in Greek means
the earliest attestations of the books of Gnosticism tries to disguise itself as "knowledge.") However, before
Sacred Scripture which were permitted to legitimate Christianity. addressing the issue of the Gnostic
be read at Mass. Third, these Gnostic gospels, we must first understand more
writings were condemned for their St. Irenaeus taught, "It is possible, then, about the Gnostic community and the
heretical teachings. Even though they had for everyone in every Church, who may heresy entitled "Gnosticism."
elements of genuine Christianity, their wish to know the truth, to contemplate the
substance was heretical. Great Church tradition of the Apostles which has been The origins of Gnosticism are unclear.
authors such as St. Justin Martyr, Origen, made known throughout the whole world" The first traces of Gnosticism arise
St. Hippolytus, St. Irenaeus — to name a (Adversus haereses, 3, 3, 1). Read the centuries before Christianity and are
few — identified the errors and Bible. Read the Catechism. Read the rooted in the ancient religions of Syria,
condemned the works as heretical. Church Fathers and the great saints. Babylonia, Phoenicia and Persia, and in
Therefore, for these three reasons, none of Forget the Gnostic gospels. the Greek Platonic schools of philosophy.
these Gnostic writings has ever been Gnostic communities existed throughout
included in the canon of Sacred Scripture the Roman Empire, and because of the
defined and affirmed repeatedly by the religious apathy toward traditional religion
Church. Copyright © Arlington Catholic Herald, Inc. and the fascination with mystery cults,
All rights reserved. Used with permission. they caused some curiosity. In a sense,
The Gnostic writings have received more Printed with ecclesiastical approval. they were like the "new-agers" of today’s
attention lately because they support a new society. With the founding of our Church
form of Gnosticism — a radically feminist and the spread of Christianity, the
form of Christianity, which is really Gnostics incorporated elements of
nothing more than neo-paganism. This Christianity into their beliefs. Keep in
movement uses the teachings found in mind that each Gnostic leader supplied his
Gnostic writings to support their desire for own nuances to the Gnosticism.
female priesthood, contraception, abortion, Nevertheless, the basic points are as
Pope John Paul II Society of Evangelists
and deviant lifestyles. They focus their P. O. Box 5584, Bakersfield, California 93388
follows:
worship on Sophia, the feminine god, not e-mail: info@pjpiisoe.org Phone: 661 393-3239
the Heavenly Father or Jesus, true God www.pjpiisoe.org
Gnosticism is a dualistic theological
who became true man. They blame the Donation Welcome and Appreciated system. God is all good and the source
Pamphlet 053
 of all goodness. Everything spiritual is • According to the Gnostics, individuals In the end, universal salvation will come
of God and therefore good. Light too is fall into three categories: the when the pneumatikoi achieve
of God and therefore good. pneumatikoi are influenced by the redemption, the Demiurge is conquered
spirit, have the necessary gnosis, and and the material world destroyed.
• Equal to God but diametrically opposed are assured salvation; the psychikoi
is the devil who is evil and the source may be saved; and the hylikoi are so One last point: the Gnostics also had the
of all evil. Everything material is of the influenced by matter that they have no Sophia or Wisdom myth. Sophia
devil and therefore evil. Darkness too is hope of salvation. represented the supreme female principle.
of the devil and therefore evil. In some of the myths she was once a
The Gnostic version of Jesus is not the virgin goddess who fell from her original
• Regarding creation, the Gnostics Jesus of Christianity. For the Gnostics, an purity and is the cause of the sinful world.
rejected Christian teaching. Instead, aeon united itself with the human person In other myths, she is simply Wisdom.
they posited that a series of aeons Jesus (just a regular human being for the Here is Gnosticism in a nutshell. Does this
emanate from God in descending order. Gnostics) at the time of his baptism at the sound like Christianity to you? I hope not.
These aeons are paired, being called Jordan. The Gnostics thereby denied the Sure, there are hints of Christian themes
"syzygies," in almost a male-female mystery of the incarnation, that Jesus is like body and soul, light and darkness,
sense: so the aeons depth and silence one divine person with a divine nature God and the devil. However, the Gnostics
produce mind and truth, which produce and a human nature. Instead, the aeon corrupted genuine Christian belief,
reason and life, which produce man and united with the human Jesus, appeared as denying fundamental truths, such as the
state. All together they form the human, and revealed the gnosis needed goodness of creation; the saving actions of
"pleroma." for redemption. At the crucifixion, the our Lord’s incarnation, passion, death, and
human Jesus died on the cross while the resurrection; and the sacramental system.
• As these aeons recede from God, they aeon departed; in other words, the human Rightly, the Gnostics were condemned by
become less perfect. The last aeon, the Jesus suffered and died, while the divine the early Church as heretics. The great
Demiurge, creates the material world escaped. Redemption then is freeing the defender of the faith was St. Irenaeus (140
due to some flaw, sin or passion. Man soul from the body using the gnosis. This -202), who decimated the heresy in his
is created, but because of some form of Gnosticism is called docetism. work "Adversus haereses" or "Detection
primordial fault, his soul has fallen to and Overthrow of the Gnosis Falsely So-
this world and is imprisoned in the This teaching impacted their morality. On called."
physical body. While his physical being one hand, since material things were
is corrupt, his spiritual soul is good. In considered evil, many Gnostics refrained Now let’s address a few questions: What
a sense, the good soul is the prisoner of from eating meat, marriage and conjugal are the Gnostic gospels? The Gnostics did
the evil body; therefore, redemption is love (because one would not want to produce writings, some of the more well
to release the soul from its bodily imprison another soul). On the other hand, known being the Gospel of St. Thomas,
prison. To release the soul necessitates since a person who had the gnosis and the Gospel of the Birth of Mary, the
awakening the "gnosis," (the wisdom) was under the influence of the spirit was Gospel according to the Egyptians, the
within, a gnosis which "has fallen assured salvation, some Gnostics lived Gospel of St. Peter, Acts of Peter, and
asleep" in physical matter. licentious lives of debauchery. Acts of Andres. These books were written