The document outlines the characteristics and beliefs of Gnosticism, emphasizing its focus on secret knowledge, dualism, and an unconventional understanding of Jesus and salvation, contrasting it with traditional Christianity. The Gnostic gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas, discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, present Jesus in ways that diverge from the canonical gospels, depicting him as a figure who imparts esoteric revelations rather than as the savior known in orthodox Christianity. It argues that these writings reflect a heretical movement that arose in the second century, challenging the foundational teachings of the Christian faith, as articulated by apostles like John and Timothy.

1. Gnostic Gospels
Do they help us get closer to understanding
Jesus?

2. What is Gnosticism?
At the most basic level, the terms
Gnostic and Gnosticism refer to a belief
that is rooted in special knowledge. The
term gnosis is where we get the
English word knowledge from.
Gnosticism in its broadest sense is
about a religious view based on a claim
about knowledge.

3. Gnostic Characteristics
1. Dualism: this means that there is both in the
creation and in man and in man a mix of good
and evil that is distinguishable, at they exist side
by side. I.e. God is seen as being two different
god’s. There is a god who created, then there is
a secret god who is unknowable.
2. Cosmogony (Origin of the universe): In creation
there is a contrast of spheres, often called light
versus darkness, spirit versus flesh, and
knowledge versus ignorance. Immaterial is good
(Spirit), material (flesh) is bad.

4. Gnostic Characteristics
3. Soteriology (or salvation): Salvation and
redemption are understood primarily in terms of
secret knowledge. Salvation of the spirit within a
person is what matters, not salvation of the flesh. In
fact, the flesh is not redeemable. There is no
resurrection of the body from the dead.
4. Eschatology (or the teaching about the last
things): The only important matter is someone
understands leaving the flesh (material) behind.

5. The Gnostic
gospels were
discovered in Nag
Hammadi, Egypt,
near Cairo in 1945
and translated into
English in 1977.
The Gospel of
Thomas (140–
170) has 114
“secret sayings” of
Jesus.
Where do these
texts come
from?

6. The Findings of Nag Hammadi
• In the Nag Hammadi materials we find new,
intriguing titles, some gospels and some not.
Such titles include Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of
Philip, Gospel of Mary, Acts of John, Testimony
of Truth, Pistis Sophia, Wisdom of Jesus Christ,
and many others. Their dates range from the
second to the third century a.d.
• The bulk of this material is a few generations
removed from the foundations of the Christian
faith, a vital point to remember when assessing
the contents.

7. When did this movement start?
This movement had “bad seeds”
(Acts 8, 1 Tim. 6:20, 1 John) in the
first century, but it “grew” in the
second century as a heretical
movement against true
Christianity.

8. One more Distinctive
The Person of Jesus, the Work of
the Cross, and Salvation: An
unorthodox feature of Gnosticism
involved how Jesus was
understood in His person,
suffering, and work of salvation.
Here we consider the of
Apocalypse of Peter 81:4–24.

9. Apocalypse of Peter 81:4–
24
I saw him apparently being seized by them. And I
said, “What am I seeing, O Lord? Is it really you
whom they take? And are you holding on to me?
And are they hammering the feet and hands of
another? Who is this one above the cross, who is
glad and laughing?” The Savior said to me, “He
whom you saw being glad and laughing above the
cross is the Living Jesus. But he into whose hands
and feet they are driving the nails is his fleshly part,
which is the substitute. They put to shame that which
remained in his likeness. And look at him, and [look
at] me!

10. Examining the Gospel of Thomas
Why look at the Gospel of Thomas: This is the most
popular of the findings. It has the most verses and it
is the most complete of the manuscripts.
Thomas is also a “fan” favorite among liberal
scholars. Some feel that we should get rid of all the
gospels and base out faith on this gospel alone.
Our best defense against these people is simply to
see what the text says for itself, and show them how
the text is not the same as the bible.

11. Gospel of
Thomas
A supporter for the
Gospel of Thomas is
Elaine Pagels: She
said, “the discovery of
Thomas's gospel
shows us that other
early Christians held
quite different
understandings of “the
gospel." We should
read the gospel not as
something wrong,
rather as unfamiliar to
us, getting a chance to
know it more.”

13. The Discovery of the Gospel of
Thomas
In 1945, two years before the Dead
Sea Scroll were discovered, some
Bedouin workers were digging for
fertilizer near a cliff a few hundred
kilometers south of Cairo stumbling
across some manuscripts in a jar. The
unique thing about these manuscripts
were them being in “book form”
already.

14. The Discovery of the Gospel of
Thomas
Prior to this find some of the early
church fathers, (Origen, Ambrose,
Jerome) were already condemning
the writing in the 3-4 century. No
one knew where it was until many
years later.

15. Questions Raised By
Thomas
• The Gospel of Thomas is not a narrative
gospel like our four gospels in our bible.
Unlike Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John the
Gospel of Thomas is a string of sayings—
114 in all—that Jesus supposedly said.
• There are no travel scenes, no mention of
Galilee or Jerusalem or any other city, no
miracles, no healings, no exorcisms—just
sayings.

16. Questions Raised By
Thomas
The prologue and the first saying
set the stage for the whole gospel:
“These are the secret sayings that
the living Jesus spoke and
Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.
And he said, “Whoever discovers
the interpretation of these sayings
will not taste death.”

17. Questions Raised by
Thomas
The opening lines raises three Questions:
1. This gospel is one of secret sayings.
2. Salvation is achieved by knowledge—by
understanding the meaning of sayings rather
than by faith.
3. Thomas, the twin, may well be considered Jesus’
twin brother in this work. (No scholar believes
this gospel was written by Thomas, the disciple
of Jesus.)

18. When was the Gospel of Thomas
Written?
The predominant view is that
Thomas was written in the first half
of the second century, probably
between AD 120 and 140. Some
even argue for a date of AD 180.
The date is important because…

19. When was the Gospel of Thomas
written?
Some people like to mention this writing during the
time of the apostles. But this is a weak argument,
because:
(1) If it was written during the time of the apostles,
there would have been mention of it in the
second century.
(2) The literary writing styles are completely different
than the gospels we have in our bible today.
(3) Rather it is easy to see that someone from the
second century, copied the Gospels creating a
false gospel to make conflict within the church.

20. What Does Jesus Say In The Gospel Of
Thomas?
The gospel of Thomas is really big
on Jesus revealing secret sayings
to Thomas. And such sayings, if
understood properly, will bring
eternal life.

21. Thomas: 13
Jesus said to his disciples, “Compare me to someone and
tell me whom I am like.” Simon Peter said to him, “You are
like a righteous angel.” Matthew said to him, “You are like
a wise philosopher.”
Thomas said to him, “Master, my mouth is wholly incapable
of saying whom you are like.” Jesus said, “I am not your
master. Because you have drunk, you have become
intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have
measured out.”
And he took him and withdrew and told him three things.
When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him,
“What did Jesus say to you?” Thomas said to them, “If I tell
you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up
stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the

22. Gospel of Thomas
This picture diverges from the portrait of Jesus we
see in the gospels from the bible in some important
ways.
1. It contradicts Peter’s confession of Jesus in the
bible. Here Jesus is not the Messiah; he isn't
even a teacher.
2. It puts Thomas against the other disciples,
putting him in a superior position because of his
special knowledge.
3. What Thomas knows cannot be disclosed.

23. Thomas:70
Jesus said, “That which you have will
save you if you bring it forth from
yourselves. That which you do not have
within you [will] kill you if you do not
have it within you.”
This is wrong because: Salvation in
Thomas seems to focus on what is in a
person rather than our trust in a savior.

24. Thomas:18
The disciples ask Jesus, “How will our end
come? Jesus responds, “Have you found the
beginning, the, that you are looking for the
end” You see, the end will be where the
beginning is.”
This is wrong because: The Jesus of
Thomas does not know the future, or better
the end times.

25. Thomas 52.1-52.2
His disciples said to him, “Twenty-four
prophets spoke in Israel, and all of them
spoke in you.” He (Jesus) said to them, “You
have omitted the one living in your presence
and have spoken (only) of the dead.”
This is wrong because: Jesus is denying
the OT prophets regarding the coming f the
Messiah.

26. Thomas:77
Jesus said, “It is I who am the light which is
above them all. It is I who am the all. From
me did the all come forth, and unto me did
the all extend. Split a piece of wood, and I
am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find
me there.”
This is wrong because: Jesus sound like
he is a pantheist.

27. Thomas:114
Simon Peter said to them, “Let Mary leave us, for
women are not worthy of life.”
Jesus said, “I myself shall lead her in order to make
her male, so that she too may become a living spirit
resembling you males. For every woman who will
make herself male will enter the kingdom of
heaven.”
This is wrong because: Because Peter turns into
every women's nightmare, along with the non-
comforting words of Jesus. It also is just wrong!

28. Conclusion on Thomas
Thomas along with all the other Gnostic
gospels portray Jesus in a non-biblical
light. Thomas portrays Jesus is a way
that brings unhealthy tension to the true
bible. Thomas’s Jesus performs no
miracles, does not speak prophetically,
does not die for anyone’s sins, and
does not accept faith in himself, let
alone worship.

29. What does the Bible say?
NT Writings

30. The Apostle John
The Letter of 1 John, the apostle is addressing this
class of people. The Gnostics professed to know
the truth, but John here sets forth the true facts of
the Christian Faith, which can be known with
certainty.
He describes God as light (1:5); love (4:8, 16);
truth (5:6); and life (5:20). This does not mean that
God is not a Person, but rather that God is the
source of these four blessings.

31. 1 John
According to John, a person either is a
child of God or he is not; there is no in-
between ground. That is why this
Epistle is filled with such extreme
opposites as light and darkness, love
and hatred, truth and lie, death and life,
God and the devil. John uses the word
“know” a great many times.

32. 1 Timothy 6:20
Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you.
Avoid the irreverent babble and
contradictions of what is falsely called
“knowledge”…
• The word knowledge in this verses
means, a strange variety of knowledge.
• Esoteric (for a few select people) knowledge
(primarily philosophical and religious), with the
implication of its being heretical and contrary to
the gospel—‘esoteric knowledge.’

33. Colossians
Most scholars agree that the letter to
the church at Colossae was written to
disapprove the ideas of Gnosticism to
Hellenistic philosophies and mysteries
to apocalyptic and mystical Judaism to
various amalgams thereof.
This is all of chapter 2 in the letter.

34. Conclusion