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108-630: The Carpocratians were Gnostics , believing in a dualism of evil matter and good spirit, and pursuing gnosis , the esoteric knowledge needed for salvation . As others of the belief system, they believed all beings in the world strove towards Monas, the Supreme Principle or Primal Being, whom Carpocratians called the Father of All, or the One Beginning. The visible world was created not by him but by inferior angels far removed from

216-663: A tax collector in his booth. The tax collector, called Matthew in Matthew 9:9 , and Levi in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 , is asked by Jesus to become one of his disciples. Matthew/Levi is stated to have accepted and then invited Jesus for a meal with his friends. Tax collectors were seen as villains in Jewish society, and the Pharisees are described as asking Jesus why he is having a meal with such disreputable people. The reply Jesus gave

324-628: A Gnostic, they strove to imitate him, but considered him to have been an ordinary human being, not the son of God . In the Carpocratian world view, Jesus was seen as excellent in holiness and virtue , and possessing a great elasticity of mind that enabled him to remember his (and all other humans') previous existence with the Primal Being. With his extraordinary strength of soul and through the power of contemplation, he obtained divine power to perform miracles which he then used to overturn

432-484: A different degree. This knowledge is the only one through which humans can be saved , every other moral judgment being subjective . Carpocratians rejected the material world, which they believed to have been created and ruled by evil. To prove their belonging to a superior spiritual realm, they claimed to communicate with demonic spirits . They also practiced a form of magic , making love potions and using theurgic incantantions , as they considered themselves above

540-580: A reasonably common adjective in Classical Greek. By the Hellenistic period , it began also to be associated with Greco-Roman mysteries , becoming synonymous with the Greek term mysterion . Consequentially, Gnosis often refers to knowledge based on personal experience or perception. In a religious context, gnosis is mystical or esoteric knowledge based on direct participation with

648-520: A scholarly perspective by Daniel Wallace and Michael Burer. The "seventy disciples" or "seventy-two disciples" (known in the Eastern Christian traditions as the "Seventy Apostles") were early emissaries of Jesus mentioned in the Gospel of Luke . According to Luke, the only gospel in which they appear, Jesus appointed them and sent them out in pairs on a specific mission which is detailed in

756-529: A sign of the opposition to the emerging ascetic demands of the early Christian religion. Founded in the 2nd century by Carpocrates of Alexandria, the sect's belief system and community was solidified in the writings of his son, Epiphanes. Both men were well-educated in the writings and thought of Plato, and this background informed their theology. No original writings remain from Carpocrates, but some of his rhetoric can be traced from fragments in his son's works. According to Clement of Alexandria, Epiphanes died at

864-552: A soul could only be freed if he remembered his former, better existence. Then, he could defy the evil spirits of the world and reach eternal rest in contemplating the Supreme Being. They rejected the idea of bodily resurrection , and the entirety of the Old Testament . Carpocratians revered Jesus as a man whose soul had not forgotten its origins in the higher sphere of the perfect God. Believing that Jesus had been

972-590: A stronger sense than the word messenger , and is closer to a 'delegate'. Mark 6:7–13 states that Jesus initially sent out these twelve in pairs ( cf. Mt 10:5–42 , Lk 9:1–6 ) to towns in Galilee . The text states that their initial instructions were to heal the sick and drive out demons . They are also instructed to "take nothing for their journey, except a staff only: no bread, no wallet, no money in their purse, but to wear sandals, and not put on two tunics ," and that if any town rejects them they ought to shake

1080-422: A team with Simon and Andrew. Matthew states that at the time of the encounter, James and John were repairing their nets, but readily joined Jesus without hesitation. This parallels the accounts of Mark and Luke, but Matthew implies that the men have also abandoned their father (since he is present in the boat they abandon behind them), and Carter feels this should be interpreted to mean that Matthew's view of Jesus

1188-426: A totality constitute the pleroma , the "region of light". The lowest regions of the pleroma are closest to the darkness; that is, the physical world. Two of the most commonly paired æons were Christ and Sophia (Greek: "Wisdom"); the latter refers to Christ as her "consort" in A Valentinian Exposition . In Gnostic tradition, the name Sophia (Σοφία, Greek for "wisdom") refers to the final emanation of God, and

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1296-550: A woman. Sexuality was seen as part of the material world, and the commandment against adultery a 'joke' by the God of the Jews, who first gave an urge then forbade humans from acting on it. Marriage was seen as this evil god 'forcing what is in common to be individual', taking away something from humans that he allowed all other creatures to have. Proto-orthodox Christians of the time such as Clement of Alexandria or Theodoret claimed this

1404-484: Is "built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone." All four canonical Gospels record the circumstances in which some of the disciples were recruited. According to the Gospel of John , Andrew , who was the disciple of John the Baptist , and another unnamed disciple of John the Baptist, traditionally believed to be John , upon hearing the Baptist point out Jesus as

1512-873: Is "learned" or "intellectual", such as used by Plato in the comparison of "practical" ( praktikos ) and "intellectual" ( gnostikos ). Plato's use of "learned" is fairly typical of Classical texts. Sometimes employed in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible , the adjective is not used in the New Testament, but Clement of Alexandria who speaks of the "learned" ( gnostikos ) Christian quite often, uses it in complimentary terms. The use of gnostikos in relation to heresy originates with interpreters of Irenaeus . Some scholars consider that Irenaeus sometimes uses gnostikos to simply mean "intellectual", whereas his mention of "the intellectual sect"

1620-446: Is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge ( gnosis ) above the proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity (sometimes associated with

1728-569: Is a specific designation. The term "Gnosticism" does not appear in ancient sources, and was first coined in the 17th century by Henry More in a commentary on the seven letters of the Book of Revelation , where More used the term "Gnosticisme" to describe the heresy in Thyatira . The term Gnosticism was derived from the use of the Greek adjective gnostikos (Greek γνωστικός, "learned", "intellectual") by St. Irenaeus (c. 185 AD) to describe

1836-399: Is a valid or useful historical term, or if it was an artificial category framed by proto-orthodox theologians to target miscellaneous Christian heretics . Gnosis is a feminine Greek noun which means "knowledge" or "awareness." It is often used for personal knowledge compared with intellectual knowledge ( εἴδειν eídein ). A related term is the adjective gnostikos , "cognitive",

1944-521: Is commissioned by the Father] And I heard the voice of the Most High, the father of my LORD as he said to my LORD Christ who will be called Jesus, 'Go out and descend through all the heavens... The Shepherd of Hermas is a Christian literary work considered as canonical scripture by some of the early Church fathers such as Irenaeus. Jesus is identified with angel Christology in parable 5, when

2052-572: Is identified with the anima mundi or world-soul. She is occasionally referred to by the Hebrew equivalent of Achamoth (this is a feature of Ptolemy's version of the Valentinian gnostic myth). Jewish Gnosticism with a focus on Sophia was active by 90 AD. In most, if not all, versions of the gnostic myth, Sophia births the demiurge, who in turn brings about the creation of materiality. The positive and negative depictions of materiality depend on

2160-526: Is identified with the apostle James, son of Alphaeus . Two of the leading triumvirate, Peter and John, were additionally sent by Jesus into the city to make preparation for the final Passover meal (the Last Supper ), and were also the only two sent by the collective apostles to visit the newly converted believers in Samaria . If John is to be identified with the disciple whom Jesus loved , then it

2268-586: Is interpreted as an intermediary aeon who was sent from the pleroma, with whose aid humanity can recover the lost knowledge of the divine origins of humanity. The term is thus a central element of Gnostic cosmology . Pleroma is also used in the general Greek language, and is used by the Greek Orthodox church in this general form, since the word appears in the Epistle to the Colossians . Proponents of

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2376-603: Is not stated in the text. Another explanation is that some of the disciples may have heard of Jesus beforehand, as implied by the Gospel of John, which states that Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist , and that he and his brother started following Jesus as soon as Jesus had been baptized . Matthew describes Jesus meeting James and John, also fishermen and brothers, very shortly after recruiting Simon and Andrew. Matthew and Mark identify James and John as sons of Zebedee . Luke adds to Matthew and Mark that James and John worked as

2484-493: Is now well known: "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles is an episode in the ministry of Jesus that appears in the three Synoptic Gospels. It relates the initial selection of the Twelve Apostles among the disciples of Jesus . In the Gospel of Matthew , this event takes place shortly before

2592-457: Is one of a figure rejecting the traditional patriarchal structure of society, where the father had command over his children; most scholars, however, just interpret it to mean that Matthew intended these two to be seen as even more devoted than the other pair, or that Jesus expected the imminent coming of the kingdom. The Synoptic Gospels go on to describe that later in Jesus' ministry he noticed

2700-463: Is proof that Carpocratians were one of the best-developed among Gnostic cults, and they are known to have existed until the 6th century. Members had secret greetings, signs, and symbols , as well as a hierarchy . They might have been branded with a hot iron behind the right ear with a special mark. Gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek : γνωστικός , romanized : gnōstikós , Koine Greek : [ɣnostiˈkos] , 'having knowledge')

2808-419: Is sometimes ignorant of the superior god, and sometimes opposed to it; thus in the latter case he is correspondingly malevolent. Other names or identifications are Ahriman , El , Satan , and Yahweh . This image of this particular creature is again identified in the Book of Revelation as such: Now in my vision this is how I saw the horses and their riders. They wore red, blue, and yellow breastplates, and

2916-583: Is still being explored. The very few women in most Gnostic literature are portrayed as chaotic, disobedient, and enigmatic. However, the Nag Hammadi texts place women in roles of leadership and heroism. In many Gnostic systems, God is known as the Monad , the One . God is the high source of the pleroma , the region of light. The various emanations of God are called æons. According to Hippolytus , this view

3024-533: Is written in the book of Psalms , "Let his habitation be made desolate, Let no one dwell therein", and, "Let another take his office"... So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day he was taken up from us, must become with us a witness to his resurrection. So, between the Ascension of Jesus and

3132-465: The Devil , or 'the accuser', dragged souls to the highest 'builder', who then gave them over to a messenger angel. This being imprisoned souls in bodies until they 'paid the uttermost farthing' ( Matthew 5:26 , King James Version ), won freedom and re-joined God. Every imprisoned soul retained the capacity for remembering their natural state ( Greek : ἀνάμνησις , romanized :  anamnesis ) to

3240-816: The Raising of Jairus' daughter , the Transfiguration , and the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane . At the time of the Early Christian Church as a leading trio among the apostles were recognized Peter, John and James, brother of Jesus , known collectively as the three Pillars of the Church . According to the tradition of the Catholic Church based on the writing of Jerome this James

3348-540: The Sermon on the Mount , where Jesus preached that '[t]ruly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny' (Matthew 5:26, English Standard Version ). Carpocratians professed that nothing was inherently good or bad, and that questions of right and wrong depended entirely on human opinion. Because of this belief, they were accused by members of other Christian groups of living debauched lives, and given

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3456-744: The Synoptics . Gnosticism was a mix of Jewish and early Christian religious ideas. Gnostic writings flourished among certain Christian groups in the Mediterranean world around the second century, when the Fathers of the early Church denounced them as heresy . Efforts to destroy these texts proved largely successful, resulting in the survival of very little writing by Gnostic theologians. Nonetheless, early Gnostic teachers such as Valentinus saw their beliefs as aligned with Christianity. In

3564-601: The Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve ), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament . During the life and ministry of Jesus in the 1st century AD , the apostles were his closest followers and became the primary teachers of the gospel message of Jesus. There is also an Eastern Christian tradition derived from the Gospel of Luke that there were seventy apostles during

3672-695: The apostle of the Gentiles. According to Paul's account in his Epistle to the Galatians , James, Peter and John in Jerusalem accepted the "grace" given to Paul and agreed that Paul and Barnabas should go to the Gentiles (specifically those not circumcised ) and the three apostles who "seemed to be pillars" to the circumcised. Despite the Little Commission of Matthew 10 , the Twelve Apostles did not limit their mission to solely Jews as Cornelius

3780-514: The apostles . The natural-born son of Joseph and Mary , Jesus was known by them to have been raised among Jews, but they held that he detested them. They might have believed that Jesus had studied at the Temple of Isis in Egypt for six years, learning gnosis there, which he then taught to the apostles, ordering them to disseminate it among the 'worthy and believing'. Their founder, Carpocrates,

3888-431: The biblical deity Yahweh ) who is responsible for creating the material universe . Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance , but with illusion and enlightenment . According to James Dunn ,

3996-489: The gnostikos Valentinus (c.   170) or the Nag Hammadi texts (3rd century) is not supported by modern scholarship, although Elaine Pagels called it a "possibility". The Syrian–Egyptian traditions postulate a remote, supreme Godhead, the Monad . From this highest divinity emanate lower divine beings, known as Aeons . The Demiurge arises among the Aeons and creates the physical world. Divine elements "fall" into

4104-401: The horses’ heads were like heads of lions , and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and sulfur. By these three plagues of fire, smoke, and sulfur that came out of their mouths a third of the human race was killed. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like snakes , with heads that inflict harm." This is corroborated in the article above quoting

4212-469: The miracle of the man with a withered hand . In the gospels of Mark and of Luke, it appears shortly after that miracle. Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew

4320-551: The "Lamb of God", followed Jesus and spent the day with him, thus becoming the first two disciples called by Jesus. For this reason the Eastern Orthodox Church honours Andrew with the name Protokletos , which means "the first called". Despite Jesus only briefly requesting that they join him, they are all described as immediately consenting and abandoning their nets to do so. The immediacy of their consent has been viewed as an example of divine power, although this

4428-535: The "longer ending" of Mark) and in Luke 24:9,33 . In Acts 1:26 they are "the eleven apostles", in Matthew 28:16 they are "the eleven disciples". When Jesus had been taken up from them, in preparation for the coming of the Holy Spirit that he had promised them, Peter advised the brethren: Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus... For he was numbered with us, and received his portion in this ministry... For it

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4536-580: The 'builders'. This also gave them the power to exorcise, understand dreams, and cure disease. For worship , they erected statues and painted brightly coloured icons of Christ, the apostles, and other eminent men such as Plato , Pythagoras , and Aristotle , becoming the first known Christians to depict Christ. They honoured these figures in a temple on Cephalonia . They professed the transmigration of souls ( Greek : μετεμψύχωσις , romanized :  metempsychosis ) , which they might have lifted from Indian or Pythagorean sources, believing that

4644-468: The 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and North America, including some that explicitly identify themselves as revivals or even continuations of earlier gnostic groups. Dillon notes that Gnosticism raises questions about the development of early Christianity . The Christian heresiologists , most notably Irenaeus , regarded Gnosticism as a Christian heresy. Modern scholarship notes that early Christianity

4752-599: The Centurion is widely considered the first Gentile convert and he was converted by Peter, and the Great Commission of the resurrected Jesus is specifically to "all nations". As the Catholic Encyclopedia states, "It is at once evident that in a Christian sense, everyone who had received a mission from God, or Christ, to man could be called 'Apostle ' "; thus extending the original sense beyond

4860-518: The Church administered and prescribed the correct behavior for Christians, while in Gnosticism it was the internalised motivation that was important. Ptolemy's Epistle to Flora describes a general asceticism, based on the moral inclination of the individual. For example, ritualistic behavior was not seen to possess as much importance as any other practice, unless it was based on a personal, internal motivation. The role women played in Gnosticism

4968-569: The Gnostic Christian tradition, Christ is seen as a divine being which has taken human form in order to lead humanity back to recognition of its own divine nature. However, Gnosticism is not a single standardized system, and the emphasis on direct experience allows for a wide variety of teachings, including distinct currents such as Valentinianism and Sethianism . In the Persian Empire , Gnostic ideas spread as far as China via

5076-586: The Gnostic emphasis on an inherent difference between flesh and spirit represented a significant departure from the teachings of the Historical Jesus and his earliest followers. Some scholars say Gnosticism may contain historical information about Jesus from the Gnostic viewpoint, though the majority predominantly conclude that apocryphal sources, Gnostic or not, are later than the canonical ones and that many, such as Thomas , depends on or harmonizes

5184-617: The Godhead emanates two savior aeons, Christ and the Holy Spirit ; Christ then embodies itself in the form of Jesus, in order to be able to teach humans how to achieve gnosis, by which they may return to the pleroma. The term demiurge derives from the Latinized form of the Greek term dēmiourgos , δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker". This figure is also called "Yaldabaoth", Samael ( Aramaic : sæmʻa-ʼel , "blind god"), or "Saklas" ( Syriac : sækla , "the foolish one"), who

5292-778: The Mandaeans likely have a historical connection with John the Baptist's inner circle of disciples. Charles Häberl, who is also a linguist specializing in Mandaic , finds Palestinian and Samaritan Aramaic influence on Mandaic and accepts Mandaeans having a "shared Palestinian history with Jews". In 1966, at the Congress of Median, Buddhologist Edward Conze noted phenomenological commonalities between Mahayana Buddhism and Gnosticism, in his paper Buddhism and Gnosis , following an early suggestion put forward by Isaac Jacob Schmidt . The influence of Buddhism in any sense on either

5400-431: The Nag Hammadi texts. Since the 1990s, the category of "Gnosticism" has come under increasing scrutiny from scholars. One such issue is whether Gnosticism ought to be considered one form of early Christianity , an interreligious phenomenon, or an independent religion. Going further than this, other contemporary scholars such as Michael Allen Williams, Karen Leigh King , and David G. Robertson contest whether "Gnosticism"

5508-511: The Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas , then to the twelve" (1 Cor 15:3–5). If the first view is correct then Paul may be referring to a female apostle  – the Greek name (Iounian) is in the accusative and could be either Junia (a woman) or Junias (a man). Later manuscripts add accents to make it unambiguously Junias; however, while "Junia"

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5616-497: The aeons are the various emanations of the superior God or Monad. Beginning in certain Gnostic texts with the hermaphroditic aeon Barbelo , the first emanated being, various interactions with the Monad occur which result in the emanation of successive pairs of aeons, often in male–female pairings called syzygies . The numbers of these pairings varied from text to text, though some identify their number as being thirty. The aeons as

5724-411: The age of seventeen, after already having authored his books, and was subsequently worshipped as a god. This was refuted as a legend by 19th century scholars who argued that the cult of a local moon god (theos epiphanes) was mistakenly applied to him. While Philip Schaff's religious encyclopædia disputes this claim, its writers agree that Epiphanes had to have been an important writer of the sect. There

5832-531: The angel Christology of some early Christians, Darrell Hannah notes: [Some] early Christians understood the pre-incarnate Christ, ontologically, as an angel. This "true" angel Christology took many forms and may have appeared as early as the late First Century, if indeed this is the view opposed in the early chapters of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Elchasaites , or at least Christians influenced by them, paired

5940-581: The apostles commissioned during the life of Jesus, Paul, a Jew also named Saul, claimed a special commission from the post-ascension Jesus as "the apostle of the Gentiles ", to spread the gospel message after his conversion . In his writings, the epistles to Christian churches throughout the Levant , Paul did not restrict the term "apostle" to the twelve, and often refers to his mentor Barnabas as an apostle. In his writings , Paul, although not one of

6048-595: The apostles. The Apostles' Creed , popular in the West , was alleged to have been composed by the apostles themselves. Bishops traced their lines of succession back to individual apostles, who were said to have dispersed from Jerusalem and established churches across great territories. Christian bishops have traditionally claimed authority deriving, by apostolic succession , from the Twelve Apostles. Early Church Fathers who came to be associated with apostles – such as Pope Clement I with St. Peter – are referred to as

6156-910: The author mentions a Son of God, as a virtuous man filled with a Holy "pre-existent spirit". In the 1880s Gnostic connections with neo-Platonism were proposed. Ugo Bianchi, who organised the Congress of Messina of 1966 on the origins of Gnosticism, also argued for Orphic and Platonic origins. Gnostics borrowed significant ideas and terms from Platonism, using Greek philosophical concepts throughout their text, including such concepts as hypostasis (reality, existence), ousia (essence, substance, being), and demiurge (creator God). Both Sethian Gnostics and Valentinian Gnostics seem to have been influenced by Plato , Middle Platonism , and Neo-Pythagoreanism academies or schools of thought. Both schools attempted "an effort towards conciliation, even affiliation" with late antique philosophy, and were rebuffed by some Neoplatonists , including Plotinus. Early research into

6264-487: The broad category of Gnosticism, viewing materiality as being inherently evil, or as merely flawed and as good as its passive constituent matter allows. In late antiquity some variants of Gnosticism used the term archon to refer to several servants of the demiurge. According to Origen 's Contra Celsum , a sect called the Ophites posited the existence of seven archons, beginning with Iadabaoth or Ialdabaoth, who created

6372-612: The capricious nature of the form (calling itself many different names) and of Gnosticism founder, Simon Magus, whom in the Biblical Narrative the Acts of the Apostles is quoted as being a magician or sorcerer able to perform great tasks with his mouth but not with the Holy Spirit of YHWH the same Spirit of Yeshuah of Nazareth and Simon Peter, Simon Magus' opponent. Moral judgements of the demiurge vary from group to group within

6480-659: The day of Pentecost , the remaining apostles elected a twelfth apostle by casting lots , a traditional Israelite way to determine the will of God (see Proverbs 16:33 ). The lot fell upon Matthias according to Acts 1:26 . Paul the Apostle, in his First Epistle to the Corinthians , appears to give the first historical reference to the Twelve Apostles: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with

6588-601: The development of Gnosticism: During the first period, three types of tradition developed: The movement spread in areas controlled by the Roman Empire and Arian Goths, and the Persian Empire . It continued to develop in the Mediterranean and Middle East before and during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but decline also set in during the third century, due to a growing aversion from the Nicene Church, and

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6696-412: The divine source, known as the 'fabricating powers' or the 'builders'. Human souls existed before being trapped in material bodies, orbiting around a 'spiritual sun' on the 'plain of truth'. After initially working with God, souls were imprisoned by the 'builders' in bodies and can only be free after living every form of life and committing every possible act. Based on Luke 12:58, Carpocrates said that

6804-481: The divine. In most Gnostic systems, the sufficient cause of salvation is this "knowledge of" ("acquaintance with") the divine. It is an inward "knowing", comparable to that encouraged by Plotinus ( neoplatonism ), and differs from proto-orthodox Christian views. Gnostics are "those who are oriented toward knowledge and understanding – or perception and learning – as a particular modality for living". The usual meaning of gnostikos in Classical Greek texts

6912-407: The dust off their feet as they leave, a gesture which some scholars think was meant as a contemptuous threat. Later in the Gospel narratives, the Twelve Apostles are described as having been commissioned to preach the Gospel to "all the nations," regardless of whether Jew or Gentile . Paul emphasized the important role of the apostles in the church of God when he said that the household of God

7020-406: The economic and cultural deterioration of the Roman Empire. Conversion to Islam, and the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229), greatly reduced the remaining number of Gnostics throughout the Middle Ages, though Mandaean communities still exist in Iraq, Iran and diaspora communities. Gnostic and pseudo-gnostic ideas became influential in some of the philosophies of various esoteric mystical movements of

7128-468: The evil religion and break free from the control of the Jewish God who had dictated it. It was taught that anyone could become equal to Jesus with enough effort, and that he could even be excelled by someone with an even purer soul, or who despised the material world even more than he had. Every Carpocratian believer was thought to resemble Jesus to a large degree, and it was claimed that their best believers attained his level of transcendence and rose above

7236-441: The father of both James, son of Alphaeus and Matthew is named Alphaeus , according to the tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church the two were brothers as well. According to the tradition of the Catholic Church based on the writing of the Apostolic Father Papias of Hierapolis the apostles James, son of Alphaeus , and Thaddaeus were brothers and sons of Alphaeus (named also Clopas ) and his wife Mary of Clopas who

7344-462: The first Apostle to die in c.  AD 44 is described in the New Testament . ( Acts 12:1–2 ) Matthew 27:5 says that Judas Iscariot threw the silver he received for betraying Jesus down in the Temple, then went and hanged himself. Acts 1:18 says that he purchased a field, then "falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out". According to the 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon , early Christians (second half of

7452-521: The form we now call Gnostic, and it may well have existed some time before the Christian era." Many heads of Gnostic schools were identified as Jewish Christians by Church Fathers, and Hebrew words and names of God were applied in some gnostic systems. The cosmogonic speculations among Christian Gnostics had partial origins in Maaseh Breshit and Maaseh Merkabah . This thesis is most notably put forward by Gershom Scholem (1897–1982) and Gilles Quispel (1916–2006). Scholem detected Jewish gnosis in

7560-424: The gospel does not present any elaboration of who these twelve actually were, and the author of the Gospel of John does not mention them all by name. There is also no separation of the terms "apostles" and "disciples" in John. According to the New Testament there were only two pairs of brothers among the Twelve Apostles: Peter and Andrew , the sons of Jonah, as well as James and John , the sons of Zebedee. Since

7668-458: The highest and most important of the first created archangels, a view similar in many respects to Hermas' equation of Christ with Michael. Finally, a possible exegetical tradition behind the Ascension of Isaiah and attested by Origen's Hebrew master, may witness to yet another angel Christology, as well as an angel Pneumatology. The pseudepigraphical Christian text Ascension of Isaiah identifies Jesus with angel Christology: [The Lord Christ

7776-740: The imagery of merkabah mysticism , which can also be found in certain Gnostic documents. Quispel sees Gnosticism as an independent Jewish development, tracing its origins to Alexandrian Jews , to which group Valentinus was also connected. Many of the Nag Hammadi texts make reference to Judaism, in some cases with a violent rejection of the Jewish God. Gershom Scholem once described Gnosticism as "the Greatest case of metaphysical anti-Semitism". Professor Steven Bayme said gnosticism would be better characterized as anti-Judaism . Research into

7884-526: The male Christ with the female Holy Spirit, envisioning both as two gigantic angels. Some Valentinian Gnostics supposed that Christ took on an angelic nature and that he might be the Saviour of angels. The author of the Testament of Solomon held Christ to be a particularly effective "thwarting" angel in the exorcism of demons. The author of De Centesima and Epiphanius' " Ebionites " held Christ to have been

7992-513: The material realm, and are latent in human beings. Redemption from the fall occurs when the humans obtain Gnosis, esoteric or intuitive knowledge of the divine. Gnostic systems postulate a dualism between God and the world, varying from the "radical dualist" systems of Manichaeism to the "mitigated dualism" of classic gnostic movements. Radical dualism, or absolute dualism, posits two co-equal divine forces, while in mitigated dualism one of

8100-526: The myth's depictions of Sophia's actions. Sophia in this highly patriarchal narrative is described as unruly and disobedient, which is due to her bringing a creation of chaos into the world. The creation of the Demiurge was an act done without her counterpart's consent and because of the predefined hierarchy between the two of them, this action contributed to the narrative that she was unruly and disobedient. Sophia , emanating without her partner, resulted in

8208-699: The name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who

8316-435: The name of 'libertine Gnostics'; however, this accusation is not found in the oldest source on the sect, an account by Irenæus . Since Carpocrates and his followers rejected private property, they also held that women should be shared by all men of the community for procreation . Epiphanes taught that God's righteousness was a 'communion together with equality', and this ideal would have been offended by privately 'possessing'

8424-617: The origin of Mandaean Gnosticism in Mazdean (Zoroastrianism) Zurvanism , in conjunction with ideas from the Aramaic Mesopotamian world. However, scholars specializing in Mandaeism such as Kurt Rudolph , Mark Lidzbarski , Rudolf Macúch , Ethel S. Drower , James F. McGrath , Charles G. Häberl , Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley , and Şinasi Gündüz argue for a Judean–Israelite origin. The majority of these scholars believe that

8532-440: The original twelve, described himself as an apostle . He was called by the resurrected Jesus himself during his Road to Damascus event. With Barnabas, he undertook the role of apostle in the church. Since Paul claimed to have received a gospel not from teachings of the Twelve Apostles but solely and directly through personal revelations from the post-ascension Jesus, after Jesus's death and resurrection (rather than before like

8640-628: The origins of Gnosticism proposed Persian origins or influences, spreading to Europe and incorporating Jewish elements. According to Wilhelm Bousset (1865–1920), Gnosticism was a form of Iranian and Mesopotamian syncretism , and Richard August Reitzenstein (1861–1931) situated the origins of Gnosticism in Persia. Carsten Colpe (b. 1929) has analyzed and criticised the Iranian hypothesis of Reitzenstein, showing that many of his hypotheses are untenable. Nevertheless, Geo Widengren (1907–1996) argued for

8748-463: The origins of Gnosticism shows a strong Jewish influence, particularly from Hekhalot literature . Within early Christianity, the teachings of Paul the Apostle and John the Evangelist may have been a starting point for Gnostic ideas, with a growing emphasis on the opposition between flesh and spirit, the value of charisma, and the disqualification of the Jewish law. The mortal body belonged to

8856-518: The production of the Demiurge (Greek: lit. "public builder"), who is also referred to as Yaldabaoth and variations thereof in some Gnostic texts. This creature is concealed outside the pleroma; in isolation, and thinking itself alone, it creates materiality and a host of co-actors, referred to as archons. The demiurge is responsible for the creation of humankind; trapping elements of the pleroma stolen from Sophia inside human bodies. In response,

8964-461: The related movement Manichaeism , while Mandaeism , which is the only surviving Gnostic religion from antiquity, is found in Iraq , Iran and diaspora communities. Jorunn Buckley posits that the early Mandaeans may have been among the first to formulate what would go on to become Gnosticism within the community of early followers of Jesus. For centuries, most scholarly knowledge about Gnosticism

9072-517: The same four apostles in each group. Each group is always led by the same apostle, although the order of the remaining three names within the group varies. Thus, Peter is always listed first, Philip is always listed fifth, and James, son of Alphaeus is always listed ninth. Judas Iscariot is always listed last. Unlike the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John does not offer a formal list of apostles. Although it refers to "the Twelve",

9180-499: The same. Others believed Jesus was divine, although did not have a physical body, reflected in the later Docetist movement. Among the Mandaeans , Jesus was considered a mšiha kdaba or " false messiah " who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John the Baptist . Still other traditions identify Mani , the founder of Manichaeism, and Seth , third son of Adam and Eve , as salvific figures. Three periods can be discerned in

9288-794: The school of Valentinus as he legomene gnostike haeresis "the heresy called Learned (gnostic)". The origins of Gnosticism are obscure and still disputed. Gnosticism is largely influenced by platonism and its theory of forms . The proto-orthodox Christian groups called Gnostics a heresy of Christianity, but according to the modern scholars the theology's origin is closely related to Jewish sectarian milieus and early Christian sects. Some scholars debate Gnosticism's origins as having roots in Buddhism , due to similarities in beliefs, but ultimately, its origins are unknown. Some scholars prefer to speak of "gnosis" when referring to first-century ideas that later developed into Gnosticism, and to reserve

9396-404: The second century and first half of the third century) believed that only Peter, Paul, and James, son of Zebedee, were martyred. The remainder, or even all, of the claims of martyred apostles do not rely upon historical or biblical evidence, but only on late legends. Relics of the apostles are claimed by various churches, many in Europe. By the 2nd century AD , association with the apostles

9504-465: The six that follow: Iao, Sabaoth , Adonaios, Elaios, Astaphanos, and Horaios. Ialdabaoth had a head of a lion. Other Gnostic concepts are: Jesus is identified by some Gnostics as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnōsis to the earth, while others adamantly denied that the supreme being came in the flesh, claiming Jesus to be merely a human who attained enlightenment through gnosis and taught his disciples to do

9612-420: The tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve:[b] Simon (to whom he gave

9720-586: The term "Gnosticism" for the synthesis of these ideas into a coherent movement in the second century. According to James M. Robinson , no gnostic texts clearly pre-date Christianity, and "pre-Christian Gnosticism as such is hardly attested in a way to settle the debate once and for all." Contemporary scholarship largely agrees that Gnosticism has Jewish Christian origins, originating in the late first century AD in nonrabbinical Jewish sects and early Christian sects. Ethel S. Drower adds, "heterodox Judaism in Galilee and Samaria appears to have taken shape in

9828-521: The text. In Western Christianity , they are usually referred to as disciples , whereas in Eastern Christianity they are usually referred to as apostles. Using the original Greek words , both titles are descriptive, as an apostle is one sent on a mission (the Greek uses the verb form: apesteilen ) whereas a disciple is a student, but the two traditions differ on the scope of the words apostle and disciple . Although not one of

9936-611: The time of Jesus' ministry. The commissioning of the Twelve Apostles during the ministry of Jesus is described in the Synoptic Gospels . After his resurrection , Jesus sent eleven of them (as Judas Iscariot by then had died ) by the Great Commission to spread his teachings to all nations. In the Pauline epistles , Paul , although not one of the original twelve, described himself as an apostle, saying he

10044-453: The twelve), Paul was often obliged to defend his apostolic authority ( 1 Cor. 9:1 "Am I not an apostle?" ) and proclaim that he had seen and was anointed by Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Paul considered himself perhaps inferior to the other apostles because he had originally persecuted Christ's followers while thinking he was not in the least inferior to those "super-apostles" and not lacking in "knowledge". Paul referred to himself as

10152-424: The twelve. Of the Twelve Apostles to hold the title after Matthias' selection, Christian tradition has generally passed down that all of the Twelve Apostles except John were martyred . It is traditionally believed that John survived all of them, living to old age and dying of natural causes at Ephesus sometime after AD 98, during the reign of Trajan . However, only the death of his brother James who became

10260-475: The two principles is in some way inferior to the other. In qualified monism the second entity may be divine or semi-divine. Valentinian Gnosticism is a form of monism , expressed in terms previously used in a dualistic manner. Gnostics tended toward asceticism , especially in their sexual and dietary practice. In other areas of morality, Gnostics were less rigorously ascetic, and took a more moderate approach to correct behavior. In normative early Christianity,

10368-474: The view that Paul was actually a gnostic, such as Elaine Pagels, view the reference in Colossians as a term that has to be interpreted in a gnostic sense. The Supreme Light or Consciousness descends through a series of stages, gradations, worlds, or hypostases, becoming progressively more material and embodied. In time it will turn around to return to the One (epistrophe), retracing its steps through spiritual knowledge and contemplation. In many Gnostic systems,

10476-538: The world of inferior, worldly powers (the archons ), and only the spirit or soul could be saved. The term gnostikos may have acquired a deeper significance here. Alexandria was of central importance for the birth of Gnosticism. The Christian ecclesia (i. e. congregation, church) was of Jewish–Christian origin, but also attracted Greek members, and various strands of thought were available, such as "Judaic apocalypticism , speculation on divine wisdom , Greek philosophy, and Hellenistic mystery religions ." Regarding

10584-410: Was a common name, "Junias" was not, and both options are favored by different Bible translations. In the second view, it is believed that Paul is simply making mention of the outstanding character of these two people which was acknowledged by the apostles. Historically it has been virtually impossible to tell which of the two views were correct. The second view, in recent years, has been defended from

10692-472: Was also only Peter and John who followed behind Jesus after his capture in the Garden of Gethsemane , and who ran to the empty tomb after Mary Magdalene bore witness to the resurrection of Jesus . After Judas betrayed Jesus (and then in guilt committed suicide before Christ's resurrection , one Gospel recounts), the apostles numbered eleven. The group is referred to as "the eleven" in Mark 16:14 (part of

10800-447: Was believed by them to have gained his knowledge of the religion from the apostles. As Carpocratians taught that biblical laws had been imposed by the evil angels responsible for the material realm, they considered subverting them a religious responsibility. They hoped to achieve transcendence and spiritual freedom by having every possible experience, for which more than one lifetime might be necessary. They backed this claim by quoting

10908-646: Was called by the resurrected Jesus himself during his road to Damascus event. He later describes himself as "an apostle to the Gentiles ". The period and associated events in timeline of early Christianity during the lifetimes of the twelve apostles is called the Apostolic Age . The term apostle comes from the Greek apóstolos ( ἀπόστολος ) – formed from the prefix apó- ( ἀπό- , 'from') and root stéllō ( στέλλω , 'I send, I depart') – originally meaning 'messenger, envoy'. It has, however,

11016-516: Was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. Each of the four listings of apostles in the New Testament indicate that all the apostles were men. The canonical gospels and the book of Acts give varying names of the Twelve Apostles. The list in the Gospel of Luke differs from Matthew and Mark on one point. It lists "Judas, the son of James" instead of "Thaddaeus". All listings appear in three groupings, always with

11124-625: Was diverse, and Christian orthodoxy only settled in the 4th   century, when the Roman Empire declined and Gnosticism lost its influence. Gnostics and proto-orthodox Christians shared some terminology. Initially, they were hard to distinguish from each other. Apostles in the New Testament In Christian theology and ecclesiology , the apostles , particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as

11232-532: Was esteemed as an evidence of authority. Churches that are believed to have been founded by one of the apostles are known as apostolic sees . Paul's epistles were accepted as scripture , and two of the four canonical gospels were associated with apostles, as were other New Testament works. Various Christian texts, such as the Didache and the Apostolic Constitutions , were attributed to

11340-560: Was inspired by the Pythagoreans , who called the first thing that came into existence the Monad , which begat the dyad, which begat the numbers, which begat the point , begetting lines , etc. Pleroma (Greek πλήρωμα, "fullness") refers to the totality of God's powers. The heavenly pleroma is the center of divine life, a region of light "above" (the term is not to be understood spatially) our world, occupied by spiritual beings such as aeons (eternal beings) and sometimes archons . Jesus

11448-518: Was limited to the anti-heretical writings of early Christian figures such as Irenaeus of Lyons and Hippolytus of Rome . There was a renewed interest in Gnosticism after the 1945 discovery of Egypt's Nag Hammadi library , a collection of rare early Christian and Gnostic texts, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Apocryphon of John . Elaine Pagels has noted the influence of sources from Hellenistic Judaism , Zoroastrianism , and Platonism on

11556-415: Was merely an excuse for sinning. At the same time as other Christian groups embraced asceticism and celibacy in the 4th and 5th centuries, Carpocratians fostered a more liberal attitude. Their opponents therefore discredited them by accusing them of holding orgies and saying that they hoped to achieve salvation by committing every possible evil deed. Thomas Whitley characterises the Carpocratian movement as

11664-468: Was the sister of the mother of Jesus . The Golden Legend , compiled by Jacobus de Voragine in the 13th century, adds to the two apostles also Simon the Zealot . Peter , James son of Zebedee , and James's brother John formed an informal triumvirate among the Twelve Apostles in the Gospels . Jesus invited them to be the only apostles present on three notable occasions during his public ministry:

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