What is the original type of Christianity?

Answer 1

A:

In the earliest days of Christianity, we did not have Roman Catholics, Orthodox or Protestants. We did have the forerunner of all these, which can if you wish be called 'Christianity', but which many scholars prefer to call 'Catholic-Orthodox'. This was one branch of Christianity, but there was another branch that is now known as Gnostic Christianity. Gnosticism never seems to have been unified and Gnostics did not even spend much effort on achieving unity, seeing diversity as a means of achieving the ultimate truth.

The earliest firm evidence we have for the presence of Gnosticism is the Gospel of Thomas, which many scholars believe was written at least as early as the Gospel of Mark, the oldest gospel in the New Testament. Paul's epistles show some evidence of gnosticism, and some scholars believe his teachings might have been closer to the Gnostics than to what were to become the more dominant Catholic-Orthodox.

We can never be sure what form of Christianity predated Paul, and the Gospels of Thomas and Mark. Burton L. Mack (Who Wrote the New Testament) suggests an early 'Christ cult', identifiably different from another 'Jesus movement'. On his view, these proto-Christianities merged, before once again splitting into the Gnostic and Catholic-Orthodox movements. On the other hand, John Dominic Crossan (The Birth of Christianity) sees a centrist Common Sayings Tradition from which gnostic thought split in one direction and the New Testament tradition in another.

We do know from the epistles and from the gospels that early Christianity was characterised by rivalries, schisms and quite divergent teachings. Writers wrote in derogatory terms of their rivals as false apostles and the like. After the time of Emperor Constantine, one form of Christianity seems to have become dominant - the Catholic-Orthodox tradition, with Gnosticism given no state support. Even then, the Church was split between the followers of Arian and those who opposed his teachings. By the end of the fourth century, Gnosticism and Arianism were made illegal, along with all other heretical and non-Christian teachings. However, Gnosticism continued for several centuries in the more remote reaches of the eastern part of the empire, reemerging in modified form as Catharism in southern France around the end of the millennium.