GP006: The Gnostic Christian Scriptures
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In this episode of the Gnostic Podcast Dr. Jay Forrest explains a Gnostic perspective of the Scriptures. In the first part Jay explains common terms used in the discussion of Scripture, such as inspiration, revelation, and errancy. These concepts will effect how one treats the Scriptures and what one expects when they approach them. Jay clearly states that the Scriptures are fallible, and yet they are a reliable guide into a relationship with God. Jay explains that the purpose of Scripture is to lead us into a union and communion with God. In the second part Jay deals with the Gnostic Christian Scriptures, dividing them into Foundational Scriptures and Interpretative Scriptures. He explains that the Foundational Scriptures date from the first century and best preserve the teaching of Jesus and his apostles. Interpretative Scriptures are those writing in the second and third century that can be traced to Valentinus and his school. These writings are secondary to the Foundational Scriptures, but offer us a mystical interpretation and application of them. This podcast is an important one in understand the foundations of Gnostic Christianity.
CREDITS
Theme Music was “I believe” by Dale Rucklos
Closing Song was “That’s Why” by Jason Silver
CALL-IN LINE
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BOOKSTORE
Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible
Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
The Gnostic Gospels
In this episode of the Gnostic Podcast Dr. Jay Forrest deals with one of the most controversial question that divided the early church – the God of the Jewish Scriptures. Most people don’t know much about the Old Testament part of their Bibles…. all that is about to change. Jay reveals the God of the Old Testament in all his severity. Passage after passage reveals a God of war, and cruelty, and brutality. For many, this is very upsetting and disturbing. Passage after passage we hear Jehovah God telling the Israelites to kill men, women, and infants. He commands to destroy entire nations – complete and utter genocide. Jay then explains the options proposed by three early Christian groups: The Marcionites, who reject the entire Old Testament; the Catholic or proto-orthodox group who accepted the entire Old Testament, and the Valentinian who viewed it as a fallible patchwork of a number of sources. As you will learn, the Gnostic Christian solution is the best one once you see all the facts laid out. You can’t completely reject the Jewish Scriptures because Jesus and the apostle quoted approvingly of them, and you can’t completely accept the Jewish Scriptures because that means God approves of war, genocide, and the wholesale slaughter of infants and babies and pregnant women. This podcast is sure to be an eye opening experience, even if a little uncomfortable.
In this episode of the Gnostic Podcast Dr. Jay Forrest tackles the question of who wrote the Bible, who chose which books would be in the New Testament, and were their choices right. If you always believed that God gave us the Bible and that the New Testament always had 27 books in it, this episode may rock your world. The fact is that scholars have know for a while that there are books in the Bible that are forgeries. That is right, there are books in the Bible that scholars believe lie about their authorship. They claim to be written by an Apostle but are not. Which means that that the Bible as you have it today is wrong. Forgeries have no place in the Bible. This opens the question that if they got even one book wrong, how many other books did they get wrong? And then, what about the lost Gospels like Thomas, should they be added to the Bible? The further you study, the more you realize that you need to know for yourself the answer to these questions, because your conservative pastor is surely not going to tell you the objective truth.
In this episode of the Gnostic Podcast Dr. Jay Forrest challenges us to rethink church history. As he explains, most everything we were taught about early Christianity is false. First, we need to rethink the monolithic idea of early Christianity. Scholars are now saying that early Christianity was diverse and that there was no one church or theology in the beginning. Second, we need to rethink the idea that right always wins. Just because the Gnostics lost doesn’t mean they were wrong. Third, we need to rethink the heresy label. Fourth, we need to rethinking the selective reporting of the early heresy hunters. And finally, we need to rethink the results of the suppression and persecution of the Gnostic Christians. This episode is sure to challenge your ideas of the history of the early Christian church.
