No, I have read translations of gnostic writings found at Nag Hammadi and Qumran.

And the Jesus of gnosticism IS diametrically unlike the Jesus of the Bible.

Gnosticism claims man is a divine spark trapped in matter (the body), and that the purpose of gaining knowledge, of evolving, is to shed that matter and release the divine spark so that it can travel back to God, being a part of God in the first place.

Christianity, on the other hand, says that man is not divine and cannot be. In addition to not being divine, man is fallen, his original parents having chosen to rebel against God's direction and protection, going it on their own, having been enticed to believe God was being stingy when he said they could have the bounty of all the trees in the garden of Eden except one (which the serpent twisted to say that Didn't God say you couldn't eat of the tree...?, as if God was treating A&E poorly, or not in their best interest).

Gnostics believe they can reach "the light" on their own, and that this light is the divine.

Christianity says there is only one way to the Father, that is through Jesus.

You can either believe the God of creation or you can reject what he says. Apparently you reject what he says.

There is a vast chasm of difference and consequence between believing oneself a divine spark trapped in the body, able to eventually transcend the body and return to a divine state, and believing that one is not God, but that God is infinitely trustworthy, and here to help and guide one.

Part II

Isaiah 55:89:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts.

Compare with:

The [Gnostic] Gospel of Thomas:

These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke
...:

And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these
sayings will not experience death."
Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he
finds. When he finds...he will rule over the all."

_________

2 Peter l:9-l0...:

But these...speak evil of the things that they understand not;
and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;...Spots they
are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings
while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that
cannot cease from sin....

...I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. That ye
may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the
holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of
the Lord and Savior: Knowing this first, that there shall
come in the last days, scoffers....

See also:

l John 3:8:

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth
from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Compare with:

The [Gnostic] Gospel of Mary:

Peter said to him, "...tell us this also: What is the sin of the world?" The Savior said, "There is no sin...."

I reiterate -- there is the word of God, and there are other words that oppose it. The work of God (doing his work) is to believe the one he sent.

If someone says "Jesus says" and the content of what he/she says is
diametrically opposed to what the Bible says Jesus said, then I
contend that the message of the former is "anti-Christ" or opposed to
what Jesus came to say and do on earth for humans. Further, the human consequences are vastly different (for part III).

Braindrain,

Please answer this question:

"By the fourth century the Romans who crucified Christ were long dead. Romans involved in compiling (not editing) the Bible were a subset of pious Christians from around the world. Constantine converted and stopped the Christian persecution by Romans."

Why would Jesus set up a Church, bless it with His Holy Spirit and then let it fall apart in the 4th Century by allowing something to happen that would mean that almost any non-conspiracy theorist Christian would be led into error? Does that make sense to you? (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

You said:

"The words of Jesus contained therein are true."

Thus why do you jump to the conclusion that some gnostic myth that clearly conflicts with them must be correct and adopt this conspiracy theory that amount to God abandoning His people? Please apply Thessalonians 5:21 and reconsider.

Part 3 of 3

In this sense ‘we’ are God. By chosing to deny such (we can only do this in our physical form) we do the work of the devil.. Satan did not desire to BE God, he sought (the same) power AS God. Understand the difference, it is important. God Created Satan – he had to or there could be no ‘free will’. If Satan does not exist what choice is there? On Earth we can choose ‘rightly’ or ‘wrongly’ Once we die that is impossible – we remember from whom we all came.

We do not perform miracles such as turning water to wine – God does that through our faith and our request. That we do not possess true faith is the reason we do not live up to Jesus’ instruction he gave to us through his disciples as quoted before.

Because the church would not have us own such power for ‘ourselves’ but rather have us give it only to them is part of the evidence I need to establish that the church and the Bible have been corrupted and you both follow incomplete teachings. Satan is truly IN the church. His fruits are everywhere. He uses God’s work to achieve his own ends (The Usurper).

Again I urge you to open your minds to the truth. Denounce evil and lies and truth contrived to fit another plan. Look into why I might be right and then explain why and if you still think me wrong. I have no doubt from what you have written so far that I am in any way wrong. How can there be so much that is wrong with this world (and His church) 2000 years after God sent His son to redeem us if christianity is right?

I have more challenges to those you make but the theme should be obvious… remove your bias imposed by those other than yourself and look for the truth in more than the one source you have been allowed to see thus far.

Again – another discussion so we don’t bore anyone here?

Why is there so much evil in the world? Humans choose it, following their fallen natures, and tempted to follow always by the Devil.

God is not responsible for evil. Humans are -- humans choose it...the Cain thing (murder), the Jezebel thing (theft, murder, false witness, deception).

The purpose of sending the Holy Spirit to those who agree to be born again, is to give them the opportunity of relying on the spirit for their choices. This choice of being born again, of admitting one's sins, then of choosing to follow Jesus is a choice that is declined by many.

To THINK GNOSTICALLY that man can achieve good by himself because he is a divine spark (godlike)is to be in denial about man's natural bent towards selfishness (bent out of fear that God cannot and will not provide). GNOSIS is based on an insufficient view of who God is, encouraged by the Devil, as in the garden (God is stingy and unreliable according to the serpent; man can provide).

Jesus described himself for our benefit, if we would hear and understand: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." He WAS -- before time itself. Were we?

Matthew 22:37-40: Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment [i.e. understand who God is].

"And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

Follow God's Word with all your mind. Do not depart mind-first into gnosis by mistaking man's capacities, and therefore mistaking who God is and why he makes his offer of salvation (which we desperately need). Adam and Eve had blurred vision/mis-perception of themselves and of God, their MINDS misled and enticed by the serpent, the most subtle (most intelligent) animal in the garden). We are not the most intelligent creatures God created....

Mjpb

Answer: once Jesus left his disciples (you shall not have me with you always) the entire Earth and man on it again came under the dominion of the Fallen one. Satan is not God but has power over men on earth, power to corrupt their minds and deceive. He does this best when he convinces them they do God’s work while they do the devil’s.

The Church of Jesus (on Earth) is NOT the church of Rome.

Jesus knows God (‘is’ God) Those men who truly follow Jesus know it is as his Father commanded in the 6th commandment. They understand it is better to die on Earth keeping your faith in God than to kill in God’s name.

Did christianity become the church of Rome by killing and conquest? What happened after Rome took over Jesus’ church – Death unto this day (will you tell George Bush it is wrong to kill in the name of God or should I? (At least I have tried Have you?))

In the 16th century the Pope had put to death those heretics who claimed the Earth was not the centre of the Universe and it rotated around the sun – is that Jesus’s church – or man’s (the devil’s)?

In the 20th century Catholics and Protestants kill each other in Ireland and elsewhere.

Which exactly IS God’s church? Catholicism? Protestantism? Anglicanism? Baptism? The Church of JC and the Latter Day Saints? Islam? Judaism?

To the 2 of you.

You are completely unqualified to know the will and minds of Gnostics. Your untruths prove this.

There are none so blind as those who will not see. You see only that you wish to see ( like most christians of whom Bush is a typical example – he leads others to sin as himself.)

Jesus is in my heart. I speak his words truly (wherever they are written) I do not listen to man’s church on earth but that of Jesus in my heart.

Do as you will.

I do not deny what you say about Jesus .