Quote Originally Posted by cherry kool aid
the gnostic gospels were around BEFORE the gnostic people, and contain such gospels as the gospel of st. thomas, the supposed spoken words of jesus directly to doubting thomas. the gnostic people are no different than catholics etc who have taken ALL OF THE GOSPELS and chosen the select few that fit their beliefs. of course if u abide by the catholic or king james bibles then the gnostic gospels would seem heritic to you as is vise versa. however, when viewing them ALL the picture is much clearer. anyone interested in religion and such, i would truely reccommend studying both, and seeing how the picture doesnt neccesary contridict each other, but coinsides to the point that one believing one to be false doctrine seems unintellegent. while there are descrepenses gospel to gospel, one must remember that each gospel is one persons account of events told or viewed, and as many cases, no one person has the full view. the main reason the catholic church denies the gnostic gospels is found in the gospel of st. thomas, as it states " the kingdom of god is not held within buildings of wood and stone"" it is in side you and all around you... split a piece of wood, and i am there, lift up a stone and you will find me" . obviously, this paints quite a different picture than the catholic belief that the church is your one way to communicate with the Almighty. thus, their exclusion from the bible. i agian recommend any true christian, to read the gnostic gospels and make their own decision.
you have to understand that at that time, there was no division in churches. the term catholic means "universal" it was only called the catholic church when the romans adopted it into their prime religion and the church split leaving the Roman catholic church and the Eastern Orthodox, which orthodox means "true teachings". the Gnostics believed that god was not able to be contained in material things that he was greater then that and that the human called jesus could not embody god because he was to great. they believe that if in fact the messiah, he was but an embodiment of the spirit of god and not a true human being. the Gnostic gospels have alwasy been around seeing as how "gospel" means good news. Many gospels existed. these gospels that the councils and compiled together were gospels of close people to jesus. these stories that the diciples spoke were their views on the teachings of god or jesus. the Gnostic gospels were in fact readings that the catholic church, not the one you think of today, thought didnt didnt agree with the "ideas" and or teachings that jesus had brought to the people