History buffs???

[powderman]

A friend was asking me about the Gnostics and Hamadi manuscripts. I didn't know  anything about it but from what he told me there was some pretty far out stuff there. Anybody Christians know anything about this? POWDERMAN. 

[PowPow]

You can google "Gospel of Thomas", "Gospel of Mary Magdalene" and "Nag Hammadi" to find out more.
I have read the Gospel of Thomas and it sounds like he did not get it, or had a hard time remembering what he heard.
Its like a collection of sayings, not really an account of Jesus' ministry and teachings.
There are a lot of gaps in these manuscripts where you have to fill in the blanks, but the blanks are too big to fill in.
There is a series on Nat Geo or History channel called "Banned from the Bible" that covers the topic pretty well.

[powderman]

POWOW. Thanks. The guy I talked to had some pretty far out ideas, like conspiracy type stuff. POWDERMAN. 

[yellowtail3]

Nag Hammadi find/library, found in Egypt in 1945 or 46... stuff from early church before the canon was settled upon. A diverse bunch, theologically speaking, those early Christians.

[subdjoe]

Many of the gnostic texts were declared heretical shortly after they were written.  All the hoorah about the gospels of Mary Magdaline, Thomas, Judas, etc were tossed even before the First Ecumenical Council.  so the recent "discoveries" of them are not discoveries.  More like the professional doubters and nay sayers trying to discredit Christianity.  They point to the stuff that wasn't included and shriek "SEE!  They tried to suppress the REAL truth!"  And go off on some vast conspiracy engineered by people who wouldn't be around for another 500 years or more.

[yellowtail3]

Many of the gnostic texts were declared heretical shortly after they were written.  All the hoorah about the gospels of Mary Magdaline, Thomas, Judas, etc were tossed even before the First Ecumenical Council.  so the recent "discoveries" of them are not discoveries. 

Sure they're real discoveries, as most of the originals and copies were destroyed once canon settled upon.

[S.S.]

There was a tremendous amount of information left out of the canon. Was it a conspiracy?
Absolutely it was. Many of the things would have brought up many unwanted questions.
For instance, Many have asked about who Cain Married? Well he married his younger sister
Luluwa. He did so while Adam and Eve were grieving the loss of Able. Was Luluwa the reason
Cain Killed Able? Might have been one of the reasons. Did the early church really want folks knowing this?
I think not. If you really want some fascinating reading, Get a copy of the "Lost Books of the Bible and the Forgotten Books of Eden." Dig Deeper than what the early church wanted you to know. You must remember
that the early church also wanted to "Control" their congregations too so this was another reason things were left out or possibly altered to mean something else. Power and corruption go hand in hand and the early church
wielded tremendous power.

[PowPow]

...the early church also wanted to "Control" their congregations too so this was another reason things were left out or possibly altered to mean something else. Power and corruption go hand in hand and the early church wielded tremendous power.

It did not start out that way:

Acts 2:41-47 (New International Version, ©2010)
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The early church was made up of folks who really knew Jesus. "Church services" consisted of listening to Peter or other disciples talk about things they had seen or that Jesus had said a few months or years earlier. The teachings were told and re-told, and then finally written down years later. Not everything titled "Gospel of..." at the time was necessarily inspired by the Spirit.

[williamlayton]

The Gnostics deny the Diety of Christ and introduce heresies which would deny the effectual fogivness of sin by the propietation of Christ.
The others are a collection of false gospels--not written by the Apostles.
If you know the truth it will set you free.
If you don't know the truth you are in bondage.
Blessings