What success did the early church have against gnosticism?

Answer 1

A:The relative strengths of the two main branches of Christianity in the early years is uncertain. One of the earliest known gospel, the Gospel of Thomas, is a mildly gnostic work and seems to have been written in the middle of the first century. Many scholars also see evidence of gnosticism in Paul's thinking. So, gnosticism probably had a much earlier beginning than was once thought. During its peak, in the second and third centuries, gnosticism may have encompassed as much as half of all Christians.

In the early fourth century, when Emperor Constantine required restitution to the Christian Church for property appropriated by the temples, he intended this to apply only to the Catholic-Orthodox branch and not to the Gnostics. When he granted privileges and patronage to the Christian Church, this was granted only to the Catholic-Orthodox church, while the gnostics suffered discrimination and persecution. Throughout the fourth century, gnosticism sufferred a continuing decline that had probably already begun before Constantine. When Theodosius declared Christianity the state religion of empire in 381, he stated this applied to Christianity "as taught by the bishops of Rome and Alexandria." Gnosticism was thereby illegal.

At its peak, Gnosticism was a powerful force in Christianity. When Armenia adopted gnostic Christianity, it had become the first wholly Christian kingdom in history. By the fifth century, remnants of the once great faith were restricted to the edges of the eastern empire. Gnostic tests were burnt, along with pagan ones. The discovery of the Nag Hammadi scriptures, hidden in jars, is evidence that a successful pogrom had been conducted against gnosticism.

A later resurgence saw the Cathars, followers of a gnostic faith, occupy southern France and parts of Spain. However, a Catholic crusade and the Inquisition saw this last bastion destroyed.