Were the New Testament Gospels
chosen over more than eighty
others?
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No. The NT Gospels were honored by the church as the
authoritative accounts of Jesus long before the so-called
apocryphal gospels were written.
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Were the Gnostic gospels rejected
at the Council of Nicea?
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No. They were not even discussed. The Gnostic gospels were
never seriously considered for inclusion in the canon since
they contained doctrines at odds with the teachings of Jesus
and the apostles.
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Are the Dead Sea Scrolls “lost
gospels”?
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No. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a library of books that were
collected by the Jewish community at Qumran near the Dead
Sea.
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What are the “lost books” of the
New Testament?
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The New Testament Apocrypha is the name given to books
written under assumed names (pseudepigraphically) after
the NT period.
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Gnosticism was a second century rival to Christianity which
claimed that salvation was achieved through special gnosis
(“knowledge”) of one’s true spiritual identity.
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What is the Nag Hammadi Library?
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A collection of mostly Gnostic writings discovered in 1945 in
Egypt. They confirm and expand upon our knowledge of this
2nd century religious movement.
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Are the Gnostic Gospels the
earliest Christian records?
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No. The earliest ones likely date to the mid-2nd century. All
the NT Gospels can be confidently dated to the 1st century.
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Do the Gnostic Gospels reveal a
merely human Jesus, as DVC
asserts?
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No. The Gnostic books, though diverse, have a strong
“docetic” tendency, which means they claim Jesus was a
spirit being who only appeared to be human.
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Do the NT Gospels suppress the
humanity of Jesus?
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No. The NT Gospels present a much more human Jesus than
the later apocryphal or Gnostic Gospels.
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Was Jesus a Gnostic teacher?
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No. Jesus was a 1st century Jew, and the NT Gospels
accurately portray him in this Palestinian Jewish context.
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Was Gnosticism liberating and
feminist?
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For the most part, no. Although women may have served in
some limited leadership roles in Gnosticism, there were also
anti-female trends. The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas claims that
females must become males to enter the kingdom of God
(Thomas, saying 114).
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