Curious Christian

Yes and No.

The DaVinci Code has stirred up a lot of popular speculation about the historical accuracy of the New Testament. Was Jesus married to Mary Magdaline? Was he inspired by pagan mystery traditions? Was there more to John the Baptist than we have been told?

If you believe the talk, there is a huge conspiracy to prevent the public knowing the truth about Jesus. And despite the best efforts of Christian leaders, the truth has now come out curtesy of intrepid investigators who have delved into the secrets of the Gnostic Gospels.

But for those who buy into this, my question is, have you ever read any of these Gnostic gospels for yourselves?

Here is an excerpt from one Gnostic text, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas:

The son of Annas the scholar, standing there with Jesus, took a willow branch and drained the water Jesus had collected. Jesus, however, saw what had happened and became angry, saying to him, “Damn you, you irreverent fool! What harm did the ponds of water do to you? From this moment you, too, will dry up like a tree, and you’ll never produce leaves or root or bear fruit.” In an instant the boy had completely withered away. Then Jesus departed and left for the house of Joseph. The parents of the boy who had withered away picked him up and were carrying him out, sad because he was so young. And they came to Joseph and accused him: “It’s your fault – your boy did this.” Later he was going through the village again when a boy ran and bumped him on the shoulder. Jesus got angry and said to him, “You won’t continue your journey.” And all of a sudden, he fell down and died. Some people saw what had happened and said, “Where has this boy come from? Everything he says happens instantly!” The parents of the dead boy came to Joseph and blamed him saying, “Because you have such a boy, you can’t live with us in the village, or else teach him to bless and not curse. He’s killing our children!”

Not exactly edifying stuff is it?

Here is an excerpt from the most popular Gnostic text, the Gospel of Thomas:

[Saying 114] Simon Peter said to them, “Make Mary leave us, for females don’t deserve life.” Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

I find it incredibly ironic that authors such as Dan Brown are using such works to ‘rediscover’ a feminist Jesus. The guy presented here is far more misogynistic than the Jesus I know from the New Testament gospels. There is no conspiracy. What there is, is a lot of confusion about what these Gnostic gospels really represent. They are a window into the early church, that’s for sure, but a window into where it lost its bearings (if you care to look at them fully and not cherry pick). They are useful for providing some historical context to early church writings but in no way should be taken as authoritative accounts of what really happened.

So why should I even consider taking this seriously? Because it acts as a mirror – highlighting the unpaid bills of the contemporary church. When people start to see this arrogant Jesus as more female affirming than the New Testament one and when this ephemeral Gnostic redeemer is seen as more down-to-earth than the man who died with blood and sweat on the cross, you have to ask yourself, why is that so? The church has so totally lost it, teaching wise. The popularity of the DaVinci Code prompts me to say, forget what misogynistic paedophile-whitewashing church authorities have said, read the New Testament afresh for yourselves. The hidden truth is more accessible than you think.