Editing Gnosticism (section)

==Relation with early Christianity==
{{Historical Christian theology}}
Dillon notes that Gnosticism raises questions about the development of [[early Christianity]].{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=36}}

===Orthodoxy and heresy===
{{See also|Diversity in early Christian theology}}
The Christian [[Heresiology|heresiologists]], most notably [[Irenaeus]], regarded Gnosticism as a Christian heresy. Modern scholarship notes that early Christianity was diverse, and Christian orthodoxy only settled in the 4th{{nbsp}}century, when the Roman Empire declined and Gnosticism lost its influence.{{sfn|Pagels|1979}}{{sfn|Magris|2005|p=3519}}{{sfn|Perkins|2005|p=3529}}{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=36}} Gnostics and proto-orthodox Christians shared some terminology. Initially, they were hard to distinguish from each other.{{sfn|Perkins|2005|pp=3529–3530}}

According to Walter Bauer, "heresies" may well have been the original form of Christianity in many regions.{{sfn|Bauer|1979}} This theme was further developed by Elaine Pagels,{{sfn|McVey|1981}} who argues that "the proto-orthodox church found itself in debates with Gnostic Christians that helped them to stabilize their own beliefs."{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=36}} According to Gilles Quispel, Catholicism arose in response to Gnosticism, establishing safeguards in the form of the [[Episcopal polity|monarchic episcopate]], the [[creed]], and the [[Christian biblical canons|canon]] of holy books.{{sfn|Quispel|2004|p=9}} 
On the other hand, [[Larry Hurtado]] argues that [[proto-orthodox Christianity]] was rooted into [[Christianity in the 1st century|first-century Christianity]]:
<blockquote>...to a remarkable extent early-second-century protoorthodox devotion to Jesus represents a concern to preserve, respect, promote, and develop what were by then becoming traditional expressions of belief and reverence, and that had originated in earlier years of the Christian movement.  That is, proto-orthodox faith tended to affirm and develop devotional and confessional tradition [...] Arland Hultgren<ref>''The rise of normative Christianity'', Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.</ref> has shown that the roots of this appreciation of traditions of faith actually go back deeply and widely into first-century Christianity.{{sfn|Hurtado|2005|p=495}}</blockquote>

===Historical Jesus===
{{See also|Jesus in comparative mythology|Christ myth theory}}
The Gnostic movements may contain information about the historical Jesus, since some texts preserve sayings which show similarities with canonical sayings.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|pp=31–32}} The [[Gospel of Thomas]] in particular has a significant amount of parallel sayings.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|pp=31–32}} Yet, a striking difference is that the canonical sayings center on the coming endtime, while the Thomas-sayings center on a kingdom of heaven that is already here, and not a future event.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=32}} According to [[Helmut Koester]], this is because the Thomas-sayings are older, implying that in the earliest forms of Christianity, Jesus was regarded as a wisdom-teacher.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=32}} An alternative hypothesis states that the Thomas authors wrote in the second century, changing existing sayings and eliminating the apocalyptic concerns.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=32}} According to [[April DeConick]], such a change occurred when the end time did not come, and the Thomasine tradition turned toward a "new theology of mysticism" and a "theological commitment to a fully-present kingdom of heaven here and now, where their church had attained Adam and Eve's divine status before the Fall."{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=32}} According to scholar-priest [[John P. Meier]], scholars predominantly conclude that the gospel of Thomas depends on or parallels the Synoptics.{{sfnp|Meier|1991|pp=135–138}} Meier has repeatedly argued against the historicity of the Gospel of Thomas, stating that it cannot be a reliable source for [[The Quest of the Historical Jesus|the quest of the historical Jesus]] and also considers it a Gnostic text.{{sfnp|Meier|1991|p=110}} He has also argued against the authenticity of the parables found exclusively in the Gospel of Thomas.{{sfnp|Meier|2016|p={{page needed|date=July 2021}}}} According to [[James Dunn (theologian)|James Dunn]], the Gnostic emphasis on an inherent difference between flesh and spirit represented a significant departure from the teachings of the [[Historical Jesus]] and his earliest followers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dunn|first=James|author-link=James Dunn (theologian)|year=2017|title=Who Was Jesus? (Little Books of Guidance)|publisher=Church Publishing|page=9|isbn=978-0898692488}}</ref>

===Johannine literature===
The prologue of the [[Gospel of John]] describes the incarnated [[Logos (Christianity)|Logos]], the light that came to earth, in the person of Jesus.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=33}} The ''[[Apocryphon of John]]'' contains a scheme of three descendants from the heavenly realm, the third one being Jesus, just as in the Gospel of John. The similarities probably point to a relationship between Gnostic ideas and the Johannine community.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=33}} According to [[Raymond E. Brown|Raymond Brown]], the Gospel of John shows "the development of certain gnostic ideas, especially Christ as heavenly revealer, the emphasis on light versus darkness, and anti-Jewish animus."{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=33}} The Johannine material reveals debates about the redeemer myth.{{sfn|Perkins|2005|p=3530}} The Johannine letters show that there were different interpretations of the gospel story, and the Johannine images may have contributed to second-century Gnostic ideas about Jesus as a redeemer who descended from heaven.{{sfn|Perkins|2005|p=3530}} According to DeConick, the Gospel of John shows a "transitional system from early Christianity to gnostic beliefs in a God who transcends our world."{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=33}} According to DeConick, ''John'' may show a bifurcation of the idea of the Jewish God into Jesus' Father in Heaven and the Jews' father, "the Father of the Devil" (most translations say "of [your] father the Devil"), which may have developed into the Gnostic idea of the Monad and the Demiurge.{{sfn|Dillon|2016|p=33}}

===Paul and Gnosticism===
[[Tertullian]] calls [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]] "the apostle of the heretics",{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=107}} because Paul's writings were attractive to Gnostics, and interpreted in a Gnostic way, while Jewish Christians found him to stray from the Jewish roots of Christianity.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|pp=107–108}} In [[I Corinthians]] ({{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|8:10|NKJV}}), Paul refers to some church members as "having knowledge" ({{langx|el|τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν}}, ''ton echonta gnosin''). [[James Dunn (theologian)|James Dunn]] writes that in some cases, Paul affirmed views that were closer to Gnosticism than to proto-orthodox Christianity.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=108}}

According to [[Clement of Alexandria]], the disciples of Valentinus said that Valentinus was a student of a certain [[Theudas (teacher of Valentinus)|Theudas]], who was a student of Paul,{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=108}} and Elaine Pagels notes that Paul's epistles were interpreted by Valentinus in a Gnostic way, and Paul could be considered a [[Proto-Gnosticism|proto-gnostic]] and a proto-[[Catholic]].{{sfn|Pagels|1975}} Many Nag Hammadi texts, including, for example, the ''Prayer of Paul'' and the Coptic ''Apocalypse of Paul'', consider Paul to be "the great apostle".{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=108}} The fact that he claimed to have received his gospel directly by revelation from God appealed to the Gnostics, who claimed ''gnosis'' from the risen Christ.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=109}} The [[Naassenes]], [[Cainite]]s, and [[Valentinianism|Valentinians]] referred to Paul's epistles.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|pp=109–110}} [[The Jesus Mysteries|Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy]] have expanded upon this idea of Paul as a Gnostic teacher;<ref>Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, ''[[The Jesus Mysteries]],'' 1999</ref> although their premise that Jesus was invented by early Christians based on an alleged Greco-Roman mystery cult has been dismissed by scholars.<ref>[[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] (2012). [[Did Jesus Exist? (Ehrman)|'' Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth'']]. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 25–30. {{ISBN|978-0-06-220644-2}}</ref>{{refn|group=note|The existence of Jesus is explored in other Wikipedia articles, such as: [[Christ myth theory]], [[Historicity of Jesus]], [[Sources for the historicity of Jesus]], [[Historical Jesus]], [[Quest for the historical Jesus]]}} However, his revelation was different from the Gnostic revelations.{{sfn|Dunn|2016|p=111}}