Deck 11: From Johns Jesus to the Gnostic Christ: the Johannine Epistles and Beyond

Question 1

Based on information you can glean from the Johannine epistles, who were the opponents that the community confronted?

Answer 1

First John states that the community had experienced a schism and that the individuals who left were "Antichrists" and "liars" who did not truly belong to the church. The author claims that these people denied that Jesus was the Christ. First John 2:22, 4:2-3, and 2 John 7 imply that these Christians denied the incarnation. The opening statement of 1 John underscores the author's belief in the reality of Jesus' human existence: "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life" (1:1).

Question 2

Discuss the basic framework of Gnosticism. Based on these beliefs, why might Gnostics be particularly drawn to the Gospel of John?

Answer 2

In the central myths of Gnosticism, the material world was not created by the highest God but by an inferior, ignorant deity usually identified as the God of the Old Testament. The material world is the result of a cosmic disaster, and human souls are pieces of the divine trapped in this material world. Human souls can be set free only by acquiring the secret knowledge (gnosis) of their divine identity and of how they can return to their original heavenly abode. For Christian Gnostics, that secret knowledge was revealed through Jesus Christ, who had come to earth to give the knowledge of salvation. Gnostic Christians may have favored the Gospel of John for a number of reasons: Jesus is presented as preexistent and comes to earth to save God's people, he delivers numerous discourses that explain who he is, and he claims coexistence and equality with God. The Jews are also portrayed negatively in the Gospel of John, which would be convenient for those who believed the Jews were worshiping the inferior Creator-God rather than the true highest God. A second-century Gnostic (Heracleon) wrote the first known commentary on any Christian text; it was a commentary on the Gospel of John.

Question 3

While the secessionists described in the Johannine epistles could appeal to parts of the Prologue of the Gospel of John as evidence of their docetic Christology, what parts of the Prologue would have presented difficulties for this elevated Christology?

Answer 3

The Prologue in the Gospel of John refers to Jesus as preexistent and one with the Father. Throughout the Prologue, John depicts Jesus as completely divine. This high Christology certainly led some Christians (e.g., the secessionists in the Johannine epistles) to reach the conclusion that Jesus was not human at all. The Prologue also, though, explicitly states that the Word of God became flesh and lived among his people. The insistence on the incarnation would have been problematic for Gnostics.

Question 4

What were the two most important Christian Gnostic groups? How do the Thomasine Christians relate to these groups? What characterized each group, and what were some of the differences between them?

Question 5

Valentinian Gnostics were often difficult to distinguish from proto-orthodox Christians.

Question 6

First John is better categorized as a persuasive essay than as a letter.

Question 7

Sethian Gnostics were sexually promiscuous.

Question 8

The Gnostic texts from Nag Hammadi were originally written in Coptic.

Question 9

Gnostics believed salvation involved being seree from this evil material world.

Question 10

Thomasine Christian literature is characterized by all of the following except:

A) Its narration of Gnostic myths
B) Its depiction of the material realm as a prison
C) Its declaration that Jesus is a divine messenger sent from God
D) Its rejection of the pleasures of the flesh

Question 11

Contextual analysis is most closely related to:

A) The redactional method
B) The genre-critical method
C) The socio-historical method
D) The comparative method

Question 12

The contextual method tries to:

A) Focus on the author of a book
B) Focus on the history of a community
C) Focus on the date of a book
D) Focus on the genre of a book

Question 13

The word "gnosis" means:

A) Heresy
B) To seem or appear
C) Denial
D) Knowledge

Question 14

Gnostics believed that ____________ was essential for salvation.

A) knowledge
B) belief in Jesus
C) baptism with oil
D) renunciation of material wealth

Question 15

According to Gnostics, the world was:

A) God's beautiful creation
B) The result of a cosmic disaster
C) Created by the preexistent Word
D) The location of the Kingdom of God

Question 16

Many Christian Gnostics used which of the following Gospels?

A) The Gospel of the Nazareans
B) Q
C) The Gospel of John
D) The Gospel of the Ebionites

Question 17

Throughout most of Christian history, we have known about Gnostics through:

A) Josephus
B) Proto-orthodox writings
C) Gnostic texts
D) The Dead Sea Scrolls

Question 18

The most typical proto-orthodox accusations against Gnostics included all of the following except:

A) Eating babies
B) Engaging in sex orgies
C) Strict asceticism
D) Engaging in secret nocturnal rituals

Question 19

Most of the Gnostic writings found in 1945 were probably written in:

A) The second century C.E.
B) The second century B.C.E.
C) The twelfth century C.E.
D) The fifth century C.E.

Question 20

The Gnostic writings found in 1945 were originally composed in:

A) Greek
B) Aramaic
C) Coptic
D) Hebrew

Question 21

The Gnostic cosmological myths include all of the following elements except:

A) Divine elements trapped in human bodies
B) Monotheism
C) The unknowable God
D) Sophia

Question 22

According to Gnostics, the world:

A) Was created by the preexistent Word
B) Was created by the supreme God
C) Always existed
D) Was created by an inferior, ignorant God

Question 23

One major difference between the Sethian Gnostics and the Valentinians was that:

A) Valentinian groups were larger.
B) Sethian Gnostics were more optimistic about the material world.
C) Valentinians continued to worship in proto-orthodox church communities.
D) Sethians were less ascetic than Valentinians.

Question 24

According to Gnostics, Christ:

A) Was completely human
B) Was completely divine
C) Suffered and died
D) Was created when the world was created