The Emergence of Different Sects of Christianity in the Late Second Century
Prior to the creation of the currently accepted standard form of Christianity, there was a time period of pivotal decision making in which many sects were fighting for authority. Just as Orthodox Christianity gained authority as containing “true” Christian teachings, opposing groups such as Gnosticism gained followers which posed threats to the stability of the Orthodox Church. The tumultuous and unstable background of the time period is reflected in the variety of religious scriptures at this time period. This is most clearly seen in the opposing views of Judas between the synoptic and gnostic gospels which portray very different accounts of the immediate events surrounding …show more content…
This made the credibility of the apostles as his successors and closest disciples even more important so that Christianity could continue to spread in his absence. This is because in order to convert more people, the message of the disciples needed to be trusted as an authentic source. However, the Gospel of Judas was particularly threatening and considered blasphemy because of the fact that it tainted the reputation of the disciples through dreams in which they are “commit[ing] a multitude of sins and deeds of lawlessness” and speaks of their inability to understand Jesus’ true teachings (Gospel of Judas 3). Gnostic gospels such as the Gospel of Judas posed a large threat to orthodox Christianity due to the fact that there were many different sects emerging after the death of Christ as seen in the vast expanse of scriptures in the Nag Hammadi Library of Christian origin (Frankfurter, 174). Considering that the Nag Hammadi library was reserved for hidden documents that were banned, Orthodox Christianity felt threatened by the Gospel of Judas to the point that it needed to destroy it. This reaction to early divisions of Christianity emerging in opposition to Orthodox teachings demonstrates the precarious situation of early Christianity and the growing opposition “between Gnosticism and the orthodox, patriarchal branch of the early Church between 2nd and 4th centuries C.E.”