What are the Gnostic gospels?

Answer

The Gnostic Gospels are writings by early “Christian” Gnostics. After the first century of Christianity, two primary divisions developed – the orthodox and the Gnostics. The orthodox Christians adhered to books now present in the Bible and to what is currently considered orthodox theology. The Gnostic Christians, if they can indeed be labeled as Christians, held a distinctly different perspective on the Bible, Jesus Christ, salvation, and nearly every other major Christian doctrine. However, they lacked any writings by the Apostles to validate their beliefs.

This is the reason and method behind the creation of the Gnostic Gospels. The Gnostics deceptively attributed the names of well-known Christians to their writings, such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, the Gospel of Mary, etc. The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library in southern Egypt in 1945 marked a significant find of Gnostic Gospels. These Gnostic Gospels are often referred to as alleged “lost books of the Bible.”

So, what should we understand from the Gnostic Gospels? Should some or all of them be included in the Bible? No, they should not. Firstly, as mentioned earlier, the Gnostic Gospels are fraudulent, falsely penned in the names of the Apostles to confer legitimacy upon them in the early church. Fortunately, the early church fathers were nearly unanimous in identifying the Gnostic Gospels as promoting erroneous teachings on almost every fundamental Christian doctrine. There are numerous discrepancies between the Gnostic Gospels and the authentic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Gnostic Gospels can serve as a valuable resource for studying early Christian heresies, but they should be categorically rejected as not part of the Bible and not representative of genuine Christian faith.