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Gnostic Versus Christian Orthodox Views
In the Second Treatise of the Great Seth (a text discovered at Nag Hammadi), the narrator explains how he (presumably Jesus Christ speaking as Seth) came to earth, endured the crucifixion, and returned to the Pleroma. Scholars say that the narrative is both a Christian work and a Gnostic polemic. It agrees with parts of the New Testament, but states that the way to salvation is through gnosis. It refutes the claim by orthodox believers that their church is the “true church.”
Diversity and Intolerance
The orthodox Christians believed that Jesus died so that his death and resurrection could bring salvation to humanity. The Second Treatise of the Great Seth (along with many of the Gnostic Gospels and other writings) maintains that salvation was possible not through Jesus' death but through the secret knowledge that he brought. The narrator of the Second Treatise of the Great Seth spoke of the orthodox Christians as those who hated the “perfect and incorruptible ones” (the Gnostic believers), while they were themselves empty, ignorant, incapable of understanding (the Gnostic way) and thought they were “advancing the name of Christ.”
The minority viewpoints in early Christianity did not receive much coverage in the narrative of the church. Biblical scholars and theologians have known about the diversity of the early Christian groups from the writings of orthodox leaders who penned polemics against them, but they haven't had much of an in-depth view from the other side. The Nag Hammadi discovery has helped rectify that imbalance. Scholar Elaine Pagels has pointed out in her writings that while the orthodox scriptures speak of sin and redemption, the Gnostic texts address illusion and enlightenment, and also that Jesus came not to die for humanity's sins but to bring knowledge and access to spiritual enlightenment.
Within the diversity of the early Christian communities, those leaning toward more literalistic (what some might call orthodox) views gained dominance through intolerance to Sethian Gnosticism and other points of view — not just pagan and the mystery traditions, but also other Christian sects whom the orthodox hated for their heresies. They branded as heresy any works divergent from their views and destroyed the offending material. After the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, the orthodox leaders had the power of Emperor Constantine and the state behind them. As history has shown, orthodox Christianity prevailed while other Christian sects declined or died out due to persecution.
Compilations from Oral Traditions
Before sects had texts, they had stories. The stories from the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament derive from stories about Jesus' life and times that were handed down orally from one generation to the next. Later stories recounted the acts of the Apostles and their martyrdoms. Itinerant preachers, teachers, and others carried the stories to distant lands. The stories may have changed (it is unlikely that they would have been memorized verbatim), but they still maintained the central idea.
Knowledge of self was central to Gnostic thinking about God and cosmology. The Gnostic stories were filled with revealers, saviors, and personifications of the Divine as mythical religious archetypes dished up in wisdom tales, proclamations, poems, sayings, and sacred hymns.
Because the stories in the New Testament came first out of oral tradition and later from the written gospels, their historical accuracy is questionable. Oral storytellers could have added elements that reflected their own interpretation of the story or changed the meaning when they changed any of the words. Translation of the stories from one language to another necessarily meant meaning could have been lost. The gospels, which came after the earliest Christian writings and after the life and death of Jesus, disagree on many points.
Defining Heresy Within Christianity
The squabbling that went on between sects of Christians with the orthodox early fathers foreshadowed internecine troubles that would plague the church for centuries. The orthodox fathers formulated the Nicene Creed to clarify for all time their articles of faith, or at least they hoped for such an outcome. In fact, a long string of disagreements and councils followed. The creed became a safeguard against sects, such as the Arians, spouting beliefs opposed by the orthodox Christians. The creed described Jesus Christ as “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God.” This essentially stated his divinity. In order to assert his divine eternalness and that a lesser God did not make him nor was he a lesser God, the following words were chosen: “begotten, not made.”
Two terms: homoousios and homoiousios , from the Greek root ousia (substance or essence), were at the heart of the pre-Nicene controversy. Bishop Alexander and his followers espoused homoousios (Son and the Father were the of the same substance and co-eternal). The Arians and others claimed Father and Son were not identical. The Homoiousians compromised, saying that the essence of Father and Son were similar.
In the final blow directly aimed at countering what the orthodox fathers saw as Arian heresy, they added: “one substance of the Father.” Thus, the majority of the church leadership in attendance defined the divinity of Jesus and formulated a profession of faith that specifically expressed the beliefs that the bishops held in common. The church, which had been diverse and pretty much inclusive, eventually excluded those (the Gnostics and other groups) who could not profess the faith as laid out in the Nicene Creed. The dominant orthodox faction of the church had the power of the state to aid in enforcement. But the Nicene Creed did not stop the infighting, nor did it put an end to heresy as the orthodoxy desired.
Theodosius Tries to Eradicate Heresy
Emperor Theodosius in A.D. 381 convened a second council at Constantinople. He wanted to unite the eastern bishops and desired to condemn all versions of pagan and Gnostic belief, in particular those sects that were resistant and rapidly spreading, including Arianism (especially the extreme form known as Eunomianism), Apollinarianism, and Macedonianism. Theo-dosius sought to establish the pre-eminence of the Constantinople bishop behind the bishop of Rome, and Constantinople as the New Rome. The Emperor, before closing the council, issued an order that those errant bishops who would sincerely confess their belief in the equal divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit could return to their churches. Still, the factions could not agree.
Theodosius convened another council in A.D. 382 and again in A.D. 383. He particularly sought to unite all the various groups of Christians through the teachings of the orthodox early church fathers whose leadership produced the Nicene Creed. But, from among the eastern churches, a group of Arians resisted all efforts toward reconciliation with the orthodoxy. Their extreme brand of Arianism became known as Eunomianism, after their leader Eunomius. He served as Bishop of the Orthodox See of Cyzicus in Mysia for a time before being deposed and exiled. His sect was subjected to persecution after being excluded from the edict of religious tolerance.
Athanasius, who opposed Arianism, became known as the Father of Orthodoxy. He was the first individual to establish the twenty-seven books of the New Testament that became the canon. His was the first surviving list identical to that used today. He set forth the list in his Easter letter of A.D. 367.
Emperor Theodosius eventually turned to brutality and extreme measures to eradicate the heresies of paganism, Arianism, Gnosticism, and other spiritual beliefs and practices he thought undermined orthodox Christian beliefs. His representative traveled through Asia Minor, Egypt, and Syria to destroy temples and disband unorthodox religious groups. The persecution drove some unorthodox groups underground and obliterated others, but accusations of heresy among groups of Christians persisted.
Further Persecutions
The orthodoxy, having gained the dominant position in Christianity and with the power of the political authority behind it, hurled accusations of heresy against other Christians who remained outside of the now well-established church. Such sects included:
- Apollinarianism: This fourth-century sect was founded by Apollinarius the Younger, who served as bishop of Laodicea in Syria. Apollinarius asserted that the divine and human could not coexist in one being; that, in turn, jeopardized the doctrine of incarnation, death, and atonement, bringing upon the sect formal condemnation in A.D. 381.
- Neoplatonism: Plotinus was the founder of this third-century Roman sect that believed that Jesus was born human but ascended through mystical levels of being until he reached deification. That type of thinking evolved into a Christian mystic spiritualism in the fifth century under Dionysius the Pseudo-Aeropagitem, against whom some levied charges of Pantheism.
- Nestorianism: The Patriarch of Alexandria Nestorius espoused the belief that Jesus was two persons, one human and the other divine. The sect was condemned in A.D. 432 at the Council of Ephesus. Nestorianism was branded heretical and was anathematized.
- Monophysitism: This fifth-century sect believed that Jesus possessed only one nature and it was divine. Leo the Great at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451 condemned the sect and its founder Eutyches.
The Spanish Have Their Say
Spanish Christians in A.D. 447 inserted a three-word phrase known as the “filioque clause” into the Nicene Creed. The phrase, consisting of the words “and the Son,” entered the creed as a way to counter the Arian Christian heresies. The use of the clause spread to France, where the Arians flourished. The manner in which the filioque clause was inserted (against the rules of the canon of the Third Ecumenical Council in A.D. 432) brought charges of heresy in the tenth century from the Patriarch of Constantinople against the Pope in Rome. Despite a concerted effort by the Christian orthodoxy to stamp out Arianism, it continued through the Middle Ages and into the Reformation.
The Canonical Standard
At some time in the Christian historical narrative, twenty-seven books of the New Testament became the chosen texts to convey the accepted teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. The literature about early Christianity suggests that many of these texts were already in use by the early orthodox fathers. They gave weight to both oral and written revelation and proclamation. The Gnostics used many of the same texts; however, they interpreted the scriptures in different ways, according to their “fuller” understanding of Jesus' teachings within the Gnostic tradition. It seems that Jesus, in his references in the Old Testament to the many Hebrew scriptures, signaled his acceptance of the texts and their usage. But he had already died before the writings of the New Testament took place. So when and how was the canon established and by whose authority? Can it ever be changed? These are questions that some theologians and biblical historians still consider worth discussing.
After the Apostolic Age, no decisive list of sacred texts that constituted a canon for the orthodoxy existed — or if it did, it did not survive. As mentioned in a previous chapter, the Gnostic Marcion in the second century gathered together sacred texts into his version of a canon that included the Gospel of Luke, which he edited, and ten of Paul's letters (excluding the first and second pastoral Epistles of Timothy and Titus, plus the letter to the Hebrews). Marcion excluded any texts with which he disagreed. In their rejection of Marcion and his Gnostic theology, the early church fathers were forced to think about their own beliefs and to clarify them for their Christian churches and communities. Paramount among their concerns were the sacred texts that were circulating (which ones were acceptable and which ones weren't), the relationship between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians, and heretics and their heresies, as well as reliability of sources (texts versus inspired dialogues, visions, etc.) for information about Jesus.
The Muratorian Canon was a list of sacred texts compiled, possibly in Rome, by an unknown individual just before the end of the second century, although some argue that the Muratorian Canon is actually a fourth-century list. The canon bears the name of L. A. Muratori, the Italian scholar who discovered the canon. Found in the eighteenth century in a library in Milan, the document includes all of the books of the New Testament as being canonical with the exception of Hebrews, James, and the second book of Peter. The Apocalypse of Peter, a Gnostic text, was included but later was rejected.
Not until the fourth century did the term “canon” come into usage as a religious term to refer to the sacred texts of both the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) and the New Testament. By then, the early church fathers perceived a need for an authoritative corpus of writings to support the church's religious rules on issues relating to faith and practice.
The word “canon” derives from the Greek kanon , meaning “rule” or “standard.” This word appears in Paul's writings in the New Testament but he does not use the word in reference to the scriptures. The Apostles expected the end-time within their lifetimes. They probably never considered the need for a canon.
By the latter half of the century, after John, the last Apostle, had died, the Christian fathers recognized the importance of two groups of documents: Paul's letters and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These items must have carried great significance as authoritative texts. But the four gospels could be said to be for a Jewish audience (especially Matthew) while the Pauline letters targeted the Gentile communities of Christians. It was the Acts of the Apostles, the second of Luke's two-volume work, that bridged these the four gospel accounts with Paul's letters. Luke stressed in Acts that Christianity, like Judaism, deserved Rome's fair treatment and tolerance. The following is a timeline for the New Testament.
| Approximate Composition Dates of New Testament Texts | |
|---|---|
| Date | Book of the New Testament |
| Circa A.D. 49 | Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians |
| Circa A.D. 51 | Paul's letter to the Galatians |
| Circa A.D. 52 | Paul's second letter to the Thessalonians |
| Circa A.D. 55–56 | Paul's first and second letters to the Corinthians |
| Circa A.D. 59–63 | Paul's letter to the Philippians |
| Circa A.D. 59–63 | Paul's letters to the Colossians and Ephesians |
| Circa A.D. 60–63 | Paul's letters to the Romans and Philemon |
| Circa A.D. 63–67 | Pastoral Epistles (attributed falsely to Paul): books 1 and 2 of Timothy, Titus, book 1 of Peter, and Hebrews |
| Circa A.D. 65 | Q, or the Sayings Gospel Q, source for Matthew and Luke |
| Circa A.D. 70 | Gospel of Mark |
| Circa A.D. 80–100 | Gospel of Matthew |
| Circa A.D. 85–95 | Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles |
| Circa A.D. 95 | Revelation |
| Circa A.D. 100–125 | Gospel of John |
| Circa A.D. 150 | The four Gospels gathered together as an embryonic canon |
| Circa A.D. 367 | Thirty-ninth Festal Letter of Athanasius offers a list of texts for the New Testament canon |
Polemics Against Gnosticism
The orthodox polemics against the Gnostics had a threefold effect: it pushed the Gnostics away from the Christian congregations, destroyed their writings and sacred texts, and effectively dispersed and disbanded their sects. The orthodox Christians excluded and reviled their Gnostic brethren. The patristic fathers used the power of their oratory and their writings to destroy any interpretation of the sacred texts and the Christology of Jesus that the Gnostics espoused when it went against the orthodox position.
The heresiologist Origen launched point-by-point, page-by-page refutation of Gnostic heresy that seems excessive to modern readers, but he wasn't alone. The orthodox father Hippolytus of Rome wrote the ten-volume Refutation of All Heresies to expose the heresies of his day that he perceived as coming out of Greek philosophy (philosophers are known as “lovers of wisdom”). Irenaeus of Lyons wrote five volumes titled Against Heresies . Tertullian wrote five volumes titled Against Marcion (a well-known Gnostic), and a single volume against each of the other heretics that he despised. The dogmatic and practical Origen needed eight volumes to dispute the assertions of Celsus, a second-century author of The True Word and an opponent of Christianity.
Celsus accuses Jesus of having “invented his birth from a virgin,” and upbraids Him with being “born in a certain Jewish village, of a poor woman of the country, who gained her subsistence by spinning, and who was turned out of doors by her husband … she disgracefully gave birth to Jesus, an illegitimate child … ” — Contra Celsus 1:28
Celsus had knowledge of Gnosticism and the Gnostic sects. He was also aware of Marcion and his writings as well as the Christians and their differences, and used his knowledge in his own polemic against Christianity. What scholars today know of Celsus, they have learned by reading Origen's polemic Contra Celsus (Against Celsus) in defense of Christianity. Origen provides Celsus's words almost verbatim.
From their writings it is clear that the orthodoxy must have genuinely feared their Gnostic opponents. Whether the heresiologists were tearing apart a Gnostic myth for its literalism (even though the Gnostics did not treat their myths and legends as literal) or attacking the concept that the God of the New Testament was superior to the God of the Old Testament (such as Marcion believed), they used every weapon available to them, including logic, sarcasm, ridicule, outrageous accusations, and suggestions that Gnostic ideas contaminated the true Christian message.
God's Special Revelation or Man's?
The ancient Christian legacy is a set of common beliefs: one God who created heaven and earth, whose Son Jesus was both human and divine and whose death and resurrection (as foretold by Old Testament prophecies) brought salvation. It is a belief held by many modern Christians as well as those of ancient times that the one God of all inspired the sacred writings of the Hebrew scriptures and the New Testament. These beliefs belong to the orthodoxy (which means “right belief”), and the holy books they use and revere are those that survived the conflicts among the many early versions of Christianity. The sacred texts of other unorthodox Christian sects, such as the Gnostics, did not make it into the canon.
Some modern Christians swear that every word in the Bible is the true word of God and that it contains no errors. Yet Biblical scholars note that no original manuscripts of any of the gospels exist. There is no proof that the Apostles wrote them. The gospels that exist today are several generations of texts removed from the authors whose names they bear.
Even fewer fragments and pages of Gnostic texts survived. The Gnostic Gospel of Peter, Secret Gospel of Mark, Dialogue of the Savior, and Egerton Gospel each exist in only a single manuscript, although fragments of the Gospel of Mary survive in both the Coptic and Greek versions (no complete version of that gospel exists). While the entire Gnostic Gospel of Thomas is preserved, it exists only in the Coptic, although three Greek fragments make it likely that it was originally a Greek composition.
The earliest fragment of the New Testament that survives today is the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, also known as Saint John's fragment. It contains lines from the Gospel of John, 18:31–33, written in Greek, and it dates between A.D. 125 and A.D. 160. Another fragment from the Gospel of Mark (7Q5, found at Qumran) may date to no later than A.D. 68, although this dating is debated.
Jesus and his Apostles spoke Aramaic, although some scholars say they most likely spoke Hebrew in the synagogue. The first oral stories of Jesus' life and ministry were almost certainly in Aramaic. Paul, a Hellenistic Jew, spoke and wrote Greek, and his letters, the earliest writings of the New Testament, were written in Greek. So what theologians, biblical scholars, and historians have to work from are mostly translated copies or fragments. Some are in Greek, but many are in the Egyptian Coptic language that has been described by some ancient language experts as a kind of shorthand for translating Greek into an Egyptian language with Greek characters. Christian missionaries used the Egyptian Coptic to evangelize Egyptian peasants, so many of the sacred texts they used were translated into that language.
Scholars say there is no evidence that Jesus ever wrote anything for his disciples or for posterity. Some who believe that the New Testament literally contains the word of God sometimes refer to 2 Peter 1:21: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” and also 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” While some Christians believe that every word contained in the New Testament is the infallible word of God, others point out that the process of choosing those New Testament texts took centuries. They were chosen amid an ongoing conflict between those who believed the orthodox texts represented Jesus' words and deeds, while others, the Gnostic Christians, were just as certain that orthodox writings had an inferior understanding of the true knowledge Jesus brought. Most modern scholars hold the opinion that Jesus' words and teachings were disseminated orally for decades before others began writing them onto papyrus or in codices (leather-bound books).
Why did the Gospel of Peter not make it into the canon?
There are several possible reasons why this popular gospel, mentioned by the orthodox second-century fathers, was rejected by Seraphim of Antioch and others: it contained anti-Jewish accusations, included Docetic inferences (which cast doubt on Jesus' suffering on the cross), and glossed over Pilate's role in the crucifixion.
As the conflict raged on, the scriptures were translated, copied, recopied, widely circulated, and passed down through generations. Human error accounted for mistranslations, misspellings, and omissions. When mistakes were caught and corrections made, the attempt (for example, words out of sequence) sometimes changed the meaning of the entire sentence.
Scholars say there are even forgeries called pseudepigrapha (“false writings”) that circulated in the ancient world and later appear in the apocrypha and even in the canonical New Testament. The latter has two — the first and second letters of Timothy and Titus (known as the pastoral Epistles). Paul supposedly wrote the letters; however, historians and Biblical scholars say that they were most certainly penned after his death.