How did gnosticism affect New Testament literature?

Answer 1

A:

The branch of Christianity that was the forerunner of the Catholic-Orthodox Churches and eventually came to dominance, at least in the second century if not before, chose the books that it would include in its New Testament. In doing so, it excluded all Christian scriptures that were recognisably gnostic in nature. The Gospel of Thomas, probably written around the middle of the first century but eventually not included in the New Testament, shows that gnosticism was not such a late development as once thought.

Moreover, some scholars say there is a suggestion of gnosticism in Paul's epistles, and that he might have represented an early form of gnostic Christianity. We see from his references to 'false apostles' and even his sarcastic comments about 'super apostles' that there was division within Christianity in his day, but it is now almost universally assumed that he belonged to the Catholic-Orthodox branch. Against this, Paul was such a towering figure in early Christianity that the dominant Church simply had to claim him as its own, whether or not this was true. It is noticeable that Acts of the Apostles, actually written anonymously around the turn of the century, seems to compare the apostles Peter and Paul in such a way as to show Peter to be the more worthy apostle. On this evidence, the author of Acts might have been concerned at the influence that Paul, and therefore gnosticism, continued to have on Christian doctrine.

Like all the New Testament gospels, John's Gospel was originally anonymous, until attributed to the apostle John later in the second century. Scholars who specialise in the study of this gospel believe that it was originally written in a gnostic community. The epistle known as First John provides evidence of a acrimonious split in the community, with one part joining a more distinctively gnostic sect, and the other joining the Catholic-Orthodox branch. At this stage, it appears that John's Gospel was amended to remove some of the more clearly gnostic material, although it can still be identified with the Christian gnostic movement.