Thursday, January 26, 2012

Origin of the New Testament pt. 2

B. Gnostic books

Gnosticism was a religious movement that emerged in the Roman world shortly after the birth of Christianity. It competed with Christianity for converts. Gnosticism drew its beliefs from a combination of Greek philosophy, mythology, and mystery cults. One brand of Gnosticism presented itself to the world with the façade/mask of being Christian. The name “Gnosticism” comes from the Greek word gnosis, which means "knowledge.” Gnosticism taught that the material/physical world was by nature evil and the spirit was pure and good. One attained salvation from evil not through the death and resurrection of Jesus but by learning secret knowledge (gnosis) – understanding of the “true God,” Jesus’ purpose for coming to earth, humanity’s divine origins, good and evil. Without this secret knowledge, a person would continue to live in bondage to ignorance and enslavement to the evil material world. At death, his/her spirit will not know unity with the Supreme God.

Some interesting Gnostic beliefs:

1) The God of the Old Testament was a lesser, inferior god that “emanated” from the Supreme God. This God was responsible for creating the evil physical world and imprisoning the “good” spirit of humans in evil flesh.

2) Gnostics venerated/held in high esteem the Serpent in the Garden of Eden. Why? They did not view the snake as a seducer who led the first couple into sinful behavior. Rather, they saw him as a liberator who brought knowledge to Adam and Eve by convincing them to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

3) Jesus came to earth to bring salvation not through his death but by spreading knowledge which would free individuals from evil.

4) Gnostics rejected the Christian belief that Jesus was fully God and fully man. He was not God in flesh. Some Gnostics believed that Jesus was actually a divine spirit who only appeared to be physical. His body was not flesh, but the illusion of flesh. A divine spirit would not lower itself to put on evil physical flesh. Moreover, Gnostics did not believe Jesus to be God but a lesser spirit sent by the Supreme God to be a messenger to humanity.

Gnosticism gained a widespread following throughout the Roman empire from about 60 A.D.-300 A.D. Reasons – 1) curiosity factor: what is the secret knowledge? 2) People could relate to the concept of the physical world being evil and bringing nothing but pain and sorrow. 3) Gnostic beliefs were based on reason and knowledge. Christian beliefs were based on faith. Knowledge is more measurable than faith. How does one know if they have enough faith to attain salvation? 4) Gnostic writings that had similar language as Christian writings and claimed to be authored by followers of Jesus just like the Christian writings. These writings were falsely ascribed to Mary, Thomas, James, Peter, etc., to give them greater authority among Christians. Collectively, they are known as the Gnostic Gospels. Some examples of Gnostic Gospels include:

Gospel of Mary
Gospel of Truth
Gospel of Philip
Gospel of Judas
Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel of Thomas begins, "These are the secret sayings that the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas recorded … Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death." Thus it is not by faith in Jesus, but by knowing the true meaning of his teachings, that the believer will enter into eternal life.

How could so many people believe such nonsense? Present day examples:
Mormon church – Plan of salvation: Before we were born on the earth, we lived in the presence of our Heavenly Father as one of His spirit children. Knowing that you could not progress continually if you remained in the pre-mortal world, Heavenly Father sent you to Earth, much as a parent sends a child to school.
Lessons you must learn here in mortality include how to:

•Be humble, obedient, and kind.
•Love and serve Him and His children.
•Devote your life to doing good and helping His other children to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ.
•Overcome the appetites of the flesh and follow the promptings of the spirit.

You make many choices every day. Whatever you choose—good or bad—you also choose, knowingly or not, the consequences of your choices. Lasting happiness and progression come from choosing to do what God wants you to do. In this premortal existence, we attended a council with Heavenly Father's other spirit children. At that council, Heavenly Father presented His great plan of happiness (see Abraham 3:22–26).

In harmony with the plan of happiness, the premortal Jesus Christ, the Firstborn Son of the Father in the spirit, covenanted to be the Savior (see Moses 4:2; Abraham 3:27). Those who followed Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were permitted to come to the earth to experience mortality and progress toward eternal life. Lucifer, another spirit son of God, rebelled against the plan and "sought to destroy the agency of man" (Moses 4:3). He became Satan, and he and his followers were cast out of heaven and denied the privileges of receiving a physical body and experiencing mortality (see Moses 4:4; Abraham 3:27–28).

Throughout our premortal lives, we developed our identity and increased our spiritual capabilities. Blessed with the gift of agency, we made important decisions, such as the decision to follow Heavenly Father's plan. These decisions affected our life then and now. We grew in intelligence and learned to love the truth, and we prepared to come to the earth, where we could continue to progress.

Blessings through Knowledge of the Plan of Salvation - A testimony of the plan of salvation can give us hope and purpose as we wrestle with the challenges of life. We can find reassurance in the knowledge that we are children of God and that we lived in His presence before being born on the earth. We can find meaning in our present life, knowing that our actions during mortality influence our eternal destiny. With this knowledge, we can base important decisions on eternal truths rather than on the changing circumstances of life. We can continually improve our relationships with family members, rejoicing in the promise that our families can be eternal. We can find joy in our testimonies of the Atonement and the Lord's commandments, ordinances, covenants, and doctrines, knowing that "he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come"

The Book of Mormon is a powerful witness of Jesus Christ. It helps us understand His teachings, including those in the Bible.

Spirit prison is a temporary state in which spirits will be taught the gospel and have the opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation that are performed for them in temples.

Baptism of the dead - Jesus Christ taught that baptism is essential to the salvation of all who have lived on earth (see John 3:5). Many people, however, have died without being baptized. Others were baptized without proper authority. Because God is merciful, He has prepared a way for all people to receive the blessings of baptism. By performing proxy baptisms in behalf of those who have died, Church members offer these blessings to deceased ancestors. Individuals can then choose to accept or reject what has been done in their behalf. Because He is a loving God, the Lord does not damn those people who, through no fault of their own, never had the opportunity for baptism. He has therefore authorized baptisms to be performed by proxy for them. A living person, often a descendant who has become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is baptized in behalf of a deceased person. This work is done by Church members in temples throughout the world. Some people have misunderstood that when baptisms for the dead are performed, deceased persons are baptized into the Church against their will. This is not the case. Each individual has agency, or the right to choose. The validity of a baptism for the dead depends on the deceased person accepting it and choosing to accept and follow the Savior while residing in the spirit world.

Church of Scientology - Core teachings of Scientology correspond with Gnostic teachings: a) people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature, b) purity of the spirit versus the evil of the material world, c) attainment of knowledge to improve spiritual status.

Gnostic beliefs posed a threat to Christianity during its infancy. Gnostic followers who called themselves apostles of Jesus went to Christian communities to spread their teachings. Paul and John in their epistles exhorted Christians to reject such false teachers and their doctrine. As the early Church became more organized, Christian leaders declared Gnostic teachings to be heretical (against accepted Church doctrine.) Gnostic leaders were expelled from the Church and Gnostic writings were destroyed. Afterwards, Gnosticism began to wane as a popular mass movement.

Gnosticism experienced something of a renaissance during the mid-twentieth century with the discovery of a number of Gnostic writings in Egypt in 1945. Afterwards, conspiracies began to develop by modern day Gnostics that Gnosticism had the true message of salvation and that Christianity was the lie. They argue that early Christian leaders were fearful of the growing popularity of Gnostic teachings. They actively suppressed Gnosticism and in the process denied humanity knowledge of the “real truth” as found in Gnostic teachings. Some believe this conspiracy began with the Apostle Peter. The Gospel of Mary insinuates that Peter was jealous of Mary Magdalene’s close relationship with Jesus, specifically that Jesus imparted knowledge to her that He did not share with Peter and the other disciples. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter and the other male disciples pushed Mary into the background. Consequently, the knowledge that Jesus imparted to Mary Magdalene was lost for over thousand years until her “gospel was rediscovered in 1896.

In recent years Gnosticism has become popular topic in fictional novels, the most famous being the Da Vinci Code.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Origin of the New Testament pt. 1

No other ancient text is substantiated by such a wealth of ancient textual witnesses as the New Testament. About 5,500 separate ancient manuscript copies of the New Testament exist in various forms from the entire New Testament to a fragment of an entire verse. No original copies of the books that make up the New Testament exist. The oldest known copy of any portion of the New Testament is a fragment of the Gospel of John chapter 18 that is dated to about 125 A.D. That would put it only about 30 or 40 years after the Apostle John died. The oldest complete text of the New Testament as we have it today dates to about 350 A.D. which would be about 275-300 from which the original books were written. In contrast, the earliest existing copies (fragments and/or complete texts) of classical works of Greek and Roman writers such as Homer, Aristotle, Plato, etc., on average date to 1,000 years after they lived.

The New Testament consists of 27 books written between 45 and 100 A.D. They were written in Greek which was the common language of the day. The books are actually letters written by the authors to the first and second generations of Christians to educate them in the life and teachings of Jesus (the Gospels), the history of the early church (Acts), Christian doctrine (epistles), and the return of Jesus to earth (Revelation). These letters were read in meetings of the early Christians. Copies were made to be read in other churches.

How did these 27 letters come together to become the New Testament and be on equal par with the Old Testament Scriptures, i.e., be regarded as inspired Word of God?

65 A.D. – The Apostle Peter places Paul’s letters on the same level of authority as the Old Testament Scriptures:

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (II Peter 3:14-16)

Over time, early Christians during public worship read copies of letters that would become the New Testament as well as Scriptures from the Old Testament.

150 A.D. – An early church leader named Justin Martyr wrote a description of Christian worship services he attended in Rome. He wrote that the leader of the worship service read from the “prophetic word” (Old Testament) and the “memoirs of the Apostles” (New Testament.) At this time, the church in Rome was the leading church in Christianity being located in the capital of the Roman empire. Given that the church in Roman regarded the letters of the Apostles to be on par with the Old Testament books one can conclude the other churches in the empire did as well.

150-400 A.D. – Church leaders put together lists of what books should be included in the New Testament.

About 210 A.D. – The Christian scholar Tertullian is the first to use the terms “old testament” and “new testament.”

About 310 A.D. – The Christian scholar Lactantius wrote:

“But all Scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets—is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of the New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ …”

326 A.D. – Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea wrote Church History: it includes a list of 27 New Testament books he regarded as canonical (having authority.) They are the 27 found our Bibles.

367 A.D. – Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria wrote an Easter letter to the churches under his authority which listed 27 books he regarded as Church authorized. He used the word “canonized” (Church authorized) in relation to these books.

393 A.D. – The Synod of Hippo – a conference of Church leaders who approved the 27 books that make up the New Testament.

382-410 A.D. – Jerome was commissioned by the pope who was the leader of the Church to translate the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into Latin, the predominant language in the world at that time. The Latin Vulgate was THE official Bible of the Church and would be for the next thousand years. It is still the Bible used by the Catholic Church today and would be the template for future bible translations. The New Testament in the Vulgate Bible included the 27 books regarded at the time to be the New Testament adding greater authority to the 27.

Late 1400’s-early 1500’s A.D. – The Protestant Reformation era. The Church divides between Catholic led by Pope in Rome and Protestant led by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others. Protestant leaders reexamine/call into question decisions/church rules made by the papal led Church during the past one thousand years including the books that made up the Old and New Testament.

1522 A.D. – Martin Luther completes his German translation of the New Testament. He kept the 27 books that were recognized as the New Testament by the Church a thousand years earlier. Luther did question the veracity of several New Testament books - Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation – because they did not conform to his understanding of justification by faith and in the case of Revelation it was just weird with all its allegory/symbolisms. However, Luther included all these books in his translation of the New Testament. Why? I believe the Holy Spirit convinced Luther to leave these books in the New Testament. The Luther Bible would go on to have a huge impact on the development of Christianity after the Protestant Reformation.

1546 A.D. – The Roman Catholic Church confirmed the 27 books of the New Testament as part of its Biblical canon.

III. Criteria for a New Testament book to be canonical

a. The author was an eyewitness of Jesus, lived during the birth and early development of Christianity (33-100 A.D.), and/or churches named in the New Testament (Ephesus, Corinth, Laodicea, etc.) were known to have existed (ex. Revelation)

b. Consistency in doctrine/teachings with other accepted NT books

The New Testament was to include the earliest, most accurate accounts of Jesus and the early Church by selecting texts that had been written either by the apostles themselves or by those closely associated with them (Mark, Luke.) Texts claiming apostolic authorship were critically inspected and if the authorship claim was suspect they were rejected. (ex. Gospel of Thomas, Epistle of Barnabas.) Books written after the Apostolic Age (after 100 A.D.) that many church leaders held in high esteem and argued should be included in the New Testament (I and II Clement, Shepherd of Hermas) were rejected. These books were not condemned as heretical (against accepted Church doctrine.) They were good to read for personal devotions and church history (similar to the Old Testament Apocrypha.) They were regarded as helpful in assisting new converts to understand Christian teachings. But they were not to have the same authority as the 27. They were not to be regarded as canonical.
IV. New Testament Apocrypha and Gnostic books

A. New Testament Apocrypha

These books were written after the Apostolic Age (after 100 A.D.) that many church leaders held in high esteem but were not included in the New Testament because they did not meet the criteria for being canonical. Church leaders did not discourage the reading of these books. They were considered by the church as useful, but not divinely inspired. A few of the more popular New Testament Apocrypha books read in the early Church include I and II Clement, Ignatius, the Didache, Shepherd of Hermas, and Polycarp.