Gnostic Gospels

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The Gnostic Gospels are a class of writings about the life of Jesus which are associated with the early mystical trend of Gnostic Christianity. They are not accepted by mainstream Christianity as authentic, and are therefore declared heresy and not included in the standard Biblical canon. Rather, they are part of the so-called New Testament apocrypha.

The Gnostics were named after the term "Gnosis", a Greek word for knowledge. Gnostic philosophy and religious movements began in pre-Christian times. After the Crucifixion, the name "Christian Gnostics" came to represent a specific section of the Christian community who believed that the path to spirituality was not by simply worshipping Christ, but in each person gaining knowledge and insight of the spiritual nature within themselves, thus gaining a spiritual enlightenment. This community blends the teachings of Jesus Christ with a variety of other beliefs.

The documents known as the Gnostic Gospels were not discovered as a complete book, but rather through a number of various finds. The Nag Hammadi Library was discovered accidentally by two farmers in December of 1945 and was named for the area in Egypt where it was discovered. Other documents are also included in what are now known as the "Gnostic Gospels", but were found at different times or in different locations, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, which was recovered in 1896 as part of the Akhmim Codex and published in 1955. Some documents were duplicated in different finds, and for others, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, only one copy is currently known to exist.

Though there are many documents that could probably be referred to as Gnostic Gospels, the term most commonly refers to one or more of the following:

Gospel of Mary (recovered in 1896)
Gospel of Thomas (versions found in Oxyrhynchus, Egypt in 1898, and again in the Nag Hammadi Library)
Gospel of Truth (Nag Hammadi Library)
Gospel of Philip (Nag Hammadi Library)
Gospel of Judas (recovered via the antiquities black market in 1983, and then reconstructed in 2006)

[edit] References in popular culture

The Gnostic Gospels received widespread attention after they were referred to in the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code, which mentioned them as part of its backstory. The novel used a great deal of artistic license in describing the gospels, which generated considerable confusion considering that the book also claimed to be presenting "factual" history. As a result, many debunking books and video documentaries were made, which made the term "Gnostic Gospels" quite well-known in popular culture.