Expert: DEWnada - 12/18/2009

Question
Hi there! Well im 19 years old, and kind of starting to want answers. I thought the other day, the only Christianity I've ever known comes from the books the Church chose. How credible are the Gnostic Gospels, are there other books that are reliable besides the new testament? If you could answer these two questions it would really help me out. Thanks

Answer
deep peace to you:
sorry for the delay in answering. i was on retreat.
the Nag Hammadi Gnostic texts are an excellent source of information on the ancient Gnostic versions of Christianity.  As far as whether they are reliable as far as actually recording the historical words and deeds of Jesus the Nazorean, that depends on which texts. The Gospel of Thomas is the best Gnostic text for learning Jesus' actual wisdom teachings.  The Shepherd of Hermas is one of the most ancient and reliable texts from the early Christian community too although not Gnostic.  I recommend starting with that one and meditating upon it deeply.  Of course there is wisdom and truth to be found in all the world's sacred scriptures.  Although it is Orthodox and not Gnostic, I would say the Philokalia reliably represents the spiritual tradition of the earliest Christian monks. also check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_apocrypha to see the many other very interesting texts of Christianity. If you want to know about the historical Jesus study the works of the many contemporary scholars from the Jesus Seminar and others who like Robert Eisenman and Dominic Crossan. Feel free to ask follow-up questions
Merry Xmas