Religion and Theology

Both Gnostics and more orthodox Christians were around at the same time and in the same places during the churches early centuries. There were similarities. Both called themselves Christians and both  believed in God, but while both Jews and Christians believe that created humanity is of necessity separated from its creator, by the very nature of their being s and that God, due to his special characteristics, is wholly other. Gnostics would contradict this view. They held instead that self- knowledge is knowledge of God and that man and God are one.
According to the Gnostic gospels Jesus, instead of preaching about sin and repentance as described in the New Testament gospels, in Gnostic texts speaks instead about illusion and enlightenment. They see Jesus, not as a Savior from sin, but as a guide to deeper and greater spiritual understanding. However when this enlightenment has taken place they claim that  Jesus is no longer the spiritual master, but rather that master and former disciple have equal knowledge and so have become equal, even, as described by Elaine Pagels, have become identical. She goes on to point out  how mainstream Christians believe that Jesus the  unique and only Son of God and, although for a time he took human form, as described in the ancient hymn quoted  in Philippians 2, yet  he remains eternally distinct, from the rest of mankind  for whose salvation he came.. Pagels tells how, in Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, as soon as Thomas recognizes Him Jesus  says to Thomas that they  both have received their being from an identical  source. The implication is that they are equal and are therefore both created beings, whereas John 1 teaches in its first verses that the Word, i.e. Jesus Christ, was there from the beginning and The Word was with God, and the Word was God. Gnostics considered themselves to be Christians, but without doubt held and expressed ideas that the majority abhorred. For example, some of these Gnostic texts celebrate the feminine element in the divine, that is they thought of God both as Father and Mother. They also suggested in some that the resurrection of Christ  was to be understood as symbol and not as literal fact, whereas the New Testament speaks of a very real death and resurrection and as this being  a promise of Christians also, on e day, receiving the gift of eternal life as in Romans 10 v 9.
Some of the writings even denounce non-Gnostic Christians themselves as heretical because they did not have the same understanding of the mysteries that the Gnostics had an understanding that the Gnostics believed belonged to them alone.
Over the centuries Christianity has become diverse, Roman Catholics, the various Orthodox churches and Protestism, but in some things they are more united than were believers in the early years. What ever the differences, especially in practice amongst these various groups they do all accept the canon of the New Testament and share in common the Apostolic creed as a basis of belief, but these only  came about  in their present and final  form towards the close of the second century C.E.
The Gnostic Gospels
In Upper Egypt in 1945 The Nag Hammadi Library was discovered. This is a collection of thirteen ancient codices made up of over fifty texts including the Gnostic gospels of Thomas, Phillip and the Gospel of Truth. These writings were known to have existed from early references to them in Christian writings, but it was previously thought  to have been destroyed during the Churches early years when it was still  struggling to divine itself and its beliefs. These documents are very early. The web page of the Gnostic Society Library The Gospel of Thomas Collection claims that it is possible that Thomass gospel may even have been written before the works of the four gospel writers included in the New Testament. They make claims to Apostolic authority as in The Gospel of Thomas and that entitled The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles. Many of the claims included seem quite reasonable as when Thomas claims to have had private conversations with Jesus , something that surely did occur during the three years they spent in each others company, or when the Acts of Peter has in its first paragraph the words-
    And in our hearts, we were united. We agreed to fulfill the ministry to which
 the Lord appointed us. And we made a covenant with each other.
 When the Canon of New Testament writings was finally settled the word canon literally meant  a guideline , that is a plumb line against which to measure both doctrine and church practices. The Gnostics on the other hand seemed to make things up as they went along to a certain extent. Pagels quotes ( page 33) Tertullian of Carthage, born late in the second century who, describing the Gnostics, said -
Every one of them, just as it suits his own temperament, modifies the traditions
he has received, just as the one who handed them down modified them, when he shaped them according to his own will.
And so things the church held as true were gradually distorted, as speech is  in a game of Chinese whispers.
The books now included in the New Testament were not included simply because of who wrote them but because the church looked upon them as being divinely inspired. Their innate spiritual worth as well as the facts they contained was recognized. The Gnostic texts were well known, as Irenaeus, an early church historian stated, but were not generally considered to be of similar worth and so they were not included and eventually disappeared. The idea that authority  was passed down the church over the years , and that this originated from the apostles who witnessed the Resurrected Christ and were commissioned by Him to spread the Gospel, ( Matthew 28 v 18-20) was vital to the integrity of  the structure of the church. Having people who called themselves Christians, yet  who openly claimed that the Resurrection did not really occur and who described it, according to Pagels ( pages 10, 11 as the gospel of fools made life very difficult for the church. Also there would have been those who believed the Gnostic teaching, but were unable, for whatever reason, to live the Gnostic life, and so must have felt that their faith was second rate. They were relying upon the works or practices of man such as ceremonial washing and fasting, rather than accepting the power of God for their salvation. Yet Paul says in Galatians 2 v 16 , and in many other places that only by faith in Jesus as Savior can a man be justified.
The Implications of Mortal Man Having Divine Knowledge.
God  has many attributes  as described in the pages of the Bible  - Omnipresence, ( Isaiah 66 v 1)omnipotence ( Luke 1 v 37), impartiality ( Job 34 v 19) and so on. One of these attributes is Gods Omniscience ( Hebrews 4 v 13). All knowledge  it seems impossible that any mere human mind could cope with all the knowledge that God has  knowledge that transcends time. Such a person would have a knowledge of the future as well as the past. They would know everything about everyone and every atom.   This is impossible. What the Gnostics were perhaps referring to was knowledge of God, rather than knowledge as God This, in Christian circles, is a gradual awareness that grows over time, but on earth will always be incomplete.. Gnostics on the other hand implied that this sort of knowledge could be obtained as long as one followed certain practices. This idea that they had special knowledge would have made them feel superior to everyone else,  that their way was better than that of mainstream Christianity and would ultimately have a negative effect if  all believers felt that they could only progress in their faith by following Gnostic practices. This negativism would eventually also affect the Gnostics when they finally realized their own mortality.
Can modern Christianity benefit from Christian mysticism
The term Christian  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiMysticism o Mysticism mysticism refers to the deliberate  pursuit of communion with the Christian God. Some however would claim that mysticism aims at unity with God though some great spiritual experience, but this would be a minority view. Mysticism  usually centers upon practices designed  to nurture such experiences of God such as   HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiChristian_meditation o Christian meditation meditation, fasting and   HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiContemplation o Contemplation contemplation of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. This approach to Chrisitanity  and lifestyle is helpful to many on their spiritual path through  life , but few modern day Christians would claim that any insight gained means that they are so united with God that they become part of him, become gods in fact. Such ideas are not taught in Christian  scriptures, where  the Lordship and special nature of Christ are emphsized and men and women are described as the children of God. In Romans 4 v 11 God is described as the Father of us all and in I John 3  v1 believers are described as children of God. The New Testament does not promise unity with God