One of the most substantial challenges to early Christianity was the movement known as Gnosticism, whose amorphous and syncretistic nature was very appealing to all kinds of audiences. There were a few commonly held beliefs by the Gnostics:
- A spirit-matter dualism where all materiality was considered evil
- A convoluted system of myriads of divine spirits populating the many spheres of the heavenly realm
- The human need for salvation from the evil of materiality
- The belief that salvation came through the receiving of a secret "gnosis" or knowledge
Gnosticism became a more significant threat to the early church when a movement developed that combined Gnostic beliefs with Christian beliefs. These are the very beginnings of the Gnostic Gospels as we know them today.
A variegated "Christian-Gnostic" movement gained strength in the second century. They held to a strong dualism of spirit versus matter, with high regard for the "spiritual" reality. They were uncomfortable with the belief that Jesus had a human body subject to human weaknesses and offered other theories such as Jesus appearing to have a body or having a supernatural body. They held Jesus in high contrast to Yahweh, who was thought to be an inferior and even immoral deity. To them, salvation was liberation from slavery to the body and the material world. They believed that they possessed the secret saving knowledge or information that Jesus had given to the apostles. A Christian-Gnostic body of literature appeared, the Gnostic Gospels. They claimed these Gospels had apostolic authorship including Peter, Phillip, Thomas and Judas.
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