The discovery of an ancient codex (book) called the “Gospel of Judas” brought National Geographic and the History Channel to bring to light an old cult in the Church that dates back as far as the 2nd century A.D. This exposure has helped give rise to the re-entry of the cultic belief of “Gnosticism” to the American people. The Gospel of Judas, which is one element of Gnosticism was introduced as an ancient book which might have some validity of truth. The story goes like this: Jesus considered Judas Iscariot His favorite disciple, so He gave him a “secret gospel” the week before He died on the cross. Jesus’ other eleven disciples were so jealous and enraged with Judas, they stoned him to death. Before he “was killed,” however, Judas passed this secret gospel on to someone who, over 100 years later, had someone else write it for others to follow.

Docetism

Since Sethianism has twists of Gnosticm, it would be helpful to have a little understanding of what Gnosticism entails. As far back as 60 A.D. a strange cult had crept into the Church at large called Docetism. Docetism, derived its name from the Greek word “dokeo” which means “to appear or seem.” As an early Christian heresy, Docetism claimed that Christ was not truly human, meaning He did not possess a physical body. What was seen of Him was only a ghost-like figure. Christ appeared as human, but in essence was simply a spirit in the form of a body1- a figment of one’s imagination. If this belief was true, Jesus then did not come in the flesh, shedding His physical blood on Calvary, because He was only a spirit. If his physical blood was not shed and He did not die, there would be no atonement for the sins of mankind. If God did not raise Jesus from the dead, there would be no salvation for mankind. Christianity would, therefore, be completely null and void because salvation only comes through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Without it, there is no eternal life. Docetism then grew into other cultic beliefs within the Church.

The Apostles Paul and John left strong words of warning with the churches in Colossae and Ephesus. These heretical beliefs had infiltrating the Church through false teachers, and not only caused division, but were pulling the Church away from the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  By doing some background study of the churches in Asia Minor during the 1st century, it becomes apparent why the Apostle Paul wrote his letters to those churches. He wrote strongly to the church at Colossae regarding a false teaching that became known as the Colossian Heresy. This heresy had its roots in Docetism. Throughout his writings (early 60s A.D.), Paul yearned for the people to turn away from this false teaching, which in essence nullified the blood sacrifice of Jesus. The same practice was going on in Ephesus with just a little different twist. The Apostle Paul wrote to his beloved followers, with whom he had spent so much time on his mission journeys and gave the simple message of the Gospel, lifting up Jesus and pleading with the people to cast aside any other teachings but that of Jesus’ shed blood and resurrection.  The Apostle John, in his last writings (around 90 A.D.), warned the Church against heresies that denied the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord. Referring to the growing cultic beliefs of Docetism, John wrote the following to the churches:

Teachings of the Gnostics

Gnosticism added to the claims of Docetism (see above), carrying earlier roots of Asian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Syrian pagan religions. It then began infiltrating itself into Judaism and Christianity. The basic fundamental belief was that Gnostics alone had secret knowledge about God, humanity and the rest of the universe, of which “other Christians and the general population were unaware.” They claimed that all matter, including the physical body was evil. Since the human body was evil, Jesus then could not have come down to earth in a body, but simply as a spirit. What was seen by man as a body only appeared to be a body. They believed His physical presence was simply His spirit, and it wasn’t real. This Gnostic belief taught that man is composed of body, soul, and spirit, which is scriptural, except that since the body and the soul are part of man’s earthly existence, they were evil. Their claim was that within man’s soul is the spirit, which is the only divine substance. The spirit within man is asleep and ignorant; therefore, needs to be awakened and liberated by knowledge. For Gnostics, salvation then can only come through knowledge. Man must be awakened and brought “to a realization of his true nature. Mankind is continuously moving toward the Omega Point, the Great day when all must graduate or fall. This day is also the Day of Judgment in which only those who have entered the Path of Transfiguration, and are being reborn, can return to the Treasury of Light.  The chief goal of the Gnostics was to become free forever from the taint of matter and the shackles of the body, and to return to the heavenly realm as Pure Spirit, totally rejecting any idea of the resurrection of the body. To be set free, Gnostics had to search Scriptures looking for hidden meanings to continuously increase their knowledge. The spirit would be awakened by this knowledge so the inner man could be released from his earthly body and return to the realm of light where the soul would reunite with God. As the soul ascends, however, it needs to penetrate through the cosmic spheres, which was separate from the heavenly destiny. Soul ascension was not an easy task. The Gnostic belief taught that the earth was surrounded by seven cosmic spheres that were ruled by archons, or spiritual principalities and powers, which guarded their spheres. Their purpose was to bar the souls who are seeking to ascend from the realm of darkness and captivity to the higher realm of light above.  To ascend through it, one must learn knowledge, and only certain formulas were revealed to the informed. (1)

The “secret gospel” of Judas encompassed some of these beliefs, and its teachings claim that Judas was “supposedly” obedient to the cosmic “stars.” This kind of belief also had its roots in Platonic philosophy1 and can be seen in Mormonism and some of the New Age teachings of today.

Gnostics considered themselves superior to other Christians; in fact, they looked down on those who didn’t believe as they did. Their condescending attitude created a variety of ethical behaviors to where some separated themselves from all evil matter so they would not be contaminated, while others adopted very liberal ethics, participating in all sorts of physical indulgences. They believed that since they received this special divine knowledge and were informed about their divine nature, they could then live as they pleased. Ireaneus, one of the earliest church fathers of the 2nd century was determined to expose any Gnostic heresy and wrote two book (called treaties) on them. He refutiated any Gnostic teachings in his two books Against Heresies and The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching. The Gospel of Judas would have been one of those heresies.

The damage that Marcion had done to the Christian Church at large was tremendous. Gnostics proudly claimed they were Christians and they alone had the corrrect doctrine. To help rid this belief system from the Church, the Roman Church headquarters, which held to the teachings of the original apostles, devised a way that would separate Gnostics from the “true Church.” A series of questions were devised that would point out “Gospel truth.” For the protection of the Church, the Roman Church put forth these questions in what was called “the Rule of Faith.” To receive water baptism and entrance into the Church, one had to respond in the affirmative to the questions of the Rule of Faith. Those questions gave distinguishing differences between those who followed the teachings of the original apostles and the Gnostics.

• Marcion had argued that Christ’s Father had nothing to do with the physical world.
   - The “Rule of Faith” called God “Ruler of all.”
• Marcion claimed that Christ was not human.
   - The “Rule of Faith” confirmed Christ’s physical birth and physical death.
• Marcion said the human body was beyond redemption.
   - The “Rule of Faith” affirmed “the resurrection of the flesh.”

The canonizing of the New Testament

If you would like to read an English version of the Gospel of Judas for yourself, it may be found on the following website: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/_pdf/GospelofJudas.pdf?fs=www7.nationalgeographic.com&fs=magma.nationalgeographic.com .  As a Christian, it is imperative to know and understand that all traditions, dogma, and doctrines had its beginnings somewhere in history, which has affected the Church at large – even today. When it affects the Church, it affects individual lives. Understanding Church history will help how we view God, the Bible, the world, and the Church. To learn more about church history during the 2nd century A.D. refer to the articles on Church History – 2nd century. Included within the series of articles is valuable knowledge from the 1st century A.D. to the 16th century A.D. Information regarding Church History from the Reformation to the present will be uploaded periodically.

End Notes