General Introduction

There are a number of writings that were rejected by the Catholic and Protestant Churches as being doubtful, or even heretical. I have looked at these writings myself and have judged that they are sound – as is every Christian’s prerogative to do (1 Corinthians 2:15). This blog contains these scriptures for everyone to see, and to support my other blog (P. Douglas) which expounds on them, and many things written in the Bible.

First of all, I'd like to say that I reject the judgment of the Catholic Church regarding the authenticity of early Gnostic, and many other scriptures. The Catholic Church has been apostate since the end of the Early Church, and this fact is borne out by its practice of doctrines that violate Galatians 5:4, and the fruits it has borne throughout history. Galatians 5:4 warns that anyone who pursues the law (i.e. works of righteousness) directly, (rather than have faith alone – Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 3:28) forfeits his salvation. The Catholic Church has not only pursued works of righteousness as a means of achieving / maintaining justification, it teaches everyone to do so. Further, the Catholic Church has been known to be guilty of hideous crimes that took place during its crusades and throughout history, and to this day has issues with its priests and sex. Matthew 7:15-20 warns that because of these things, the Catholic Church cannot possibly be of God, and hence does not, and never had real faith. Now if someone does not have real faith, he does not have the Spirit of God (Galatians 3:14), and hence cannot distinguish things that come from God, from things that do not come from God (1 Corinthians 2:14). It is because of this, I have determined that the judgment of the Catholic Church on many of the scriptures in this blog, is of no value. (You can see a discussion I have had with others on this topic here.)

The following are some of the criteria I have used to judge Gnostic and other scriptures in this blog sound:

1) The character of the writings. These texts have the same straightforward, non-boasting style as scriptures in the Bible - such as Paul's epistles. This is consistent with Matthew 7:15-20.

2) The texts show real (spiritual) intelligence - consistent with what you see in Paul's epistles, and other scriptures in the Bible. In other words, these texts aren't stitched-up, regurgitated pieces of knowledge, that show no real understanding on the part of the writers.

3) These texts are highly consistent with many things written in the Bible. (They may appear superficially inconsistent in a number of areas, but when examined closely [much like Paul's writings], they are seen to be in fact consistent with scriptures found in the Bible.)

4) Gnostics texts generally recognize that a legitimate relationship with God is centered around praying and fasting.

5) Accounts of the behavior of the Gnostics, showed that they in fact bore tell-tale good fruits such as humility and straightforwardness. In fact Gnostics were condemned for this behavior by the ones who accused them of heresy after the end of the early church. E.g. Gnostics' accusers condemned them for the way they drew lots to see how the various roles in a meeting should be distributed among the participants in the meeting. Gnostics' accusers insisted that roles members played during meetings should be constant: they had no confidence in the reliance of lots - something that the apostles used during their time.

(You can read a discussion on the soundness of Gnostics works I had here.)

Everyone has to have faith correctly and make judgments about everything - including words that suggest that they have truly been inspired by God. All I can tell you is that I have not compiled these texts lightly, and that my conscience is clear that I have done what the Spirit wants me to.

(Please read here, here, and here, for additional proof, that the general exclusion of texts by the Catholic and Protestant Churches, has no Biblical or spiritual foundation.)