Religion and Theology

The process of scriptural canonization is based on the following criteria 1) the scripture must have been written during the time of the apostles, 2) it must contain the basic tenets of orthodox Christianity, 3) it must have been declared by chief Church leaders as essential tools for Christian education, and 4) it must have been approved by the Roman pontiff himself. At the Council of Nicaea, Bishop Athanasius persuaded Emperor Constantine the Great to issue an edict transcribing the old apostolic books. Church officials catalogued books, writings, and other essential documents of Christian faith. St. Augustine proposed the creation of a book of books which would incorporate and consolidate the Christian faith.

The Gnostic texts (even those found in the Nag Hammadi Library) were outrightly rejected because 1) they were inherently contradictory, 2) they were written after the apostolic period, and 3) they did not conform to the essentials of faith declared in the Council of Nicaea. Followers of Gnostic Christianity, as Bishop Irenaeus argued, quarrel over the essence of Christ, while formally declaring the efficacy of the Christian religion itself. This stance was quite ridiculous for early Church Fathers. If Christianity was to prosper, it must have a unified, non-contradictory, and radical theological base. Indeed, it was not only politics which defined the rejection of the Gnostic texts, but also orthodox theology.

According to Pope Pius V, a heretic is an individual cut off from the Holy Catholic Church who does not profess the essentials of Catholic faith. Martin Luther, by abandoning the Catholic Church and faith, is cut off from the Holy Church, and therefore, a heretic. Note that in Catholic theology even a pope who professes heresy cease to be a pope and is cut off from the fruit of salvation.