25 Jan Who were the Gnostics? Why is our understanding of this group important to the larger understanding of the development of Christianity?
Address the issue of the great variety of Christian scriptures that do not make it into the Bible we use today. Who were the Gnostics? Why is our understanding of this group important to the larger understanding of the development of Christianity? What were some of the scriptures that did not survive the test of time (you may need to do a bit of outside research on this), why were they not included in the canon, and what type of pictures did they paint of Jesus? (one of the Part II segments: 7, 8, 10 of the online version or one of the Part IV segments: Paganism and Ancient Rome, Discovery at Nag Hamadi, Bishop Irenaeus and the Canonical Gospels in the video version.)
