Neo wrote: ↑May 10th, 2019, 7:08 am
The Gnostic gospels are false, and are not consistent in doctrine with the real Bible. They try to imitate the Bible, but very soon after you start reading, if you know enough about the Bible, it becomes clear.
But they ring true with a lot of people. And the theology in them makes more sense than the standard Christian theology. You do know that the mainstream Christian theology makes no sense and contains countless contradictions right? Many critics of the Bible, not just atheists, have pointed that out, including great writers like Mark Twain, Thomas Paine, etc. Because Christianity makes no sense when taken literally, for many reasons that no Christian can refute. The Bible is certainly not infallible either - that's a modern American teaching that is only a century old, and not part of traditional Christianity even. Ask any European historian about that. The Christianity you were raised with is an AMERICAN invention and not the Christianity of the last 2000 years. In fact, for the first 75 percent of Church history, Christians did not even have any Bible to worship. They tried to find the God or Jesus within themselves, or through the Church.
My point is that since mainstream Christian theology, especially the one created by Paul, makes no sense at all and is full of contradictions that cannot be resolved, there is nothing wrong with looking at alternative forms of Christianity or spirituality, such as Gnosticism. Especially when Gnosticism makes more sense in some ways. It has an explanation why this world is unfair and is a prison planet of suffering. The orthodox Christian theology does not, except to claim that it's all because of the Fall in the Garden of Eden just because Adam and Eve ate the wrong fruit, which makes no sense, and must be metaphorical.
So you cannot claim that your religion is true either, anymore than Gnosticism can. Gnosticism makes more sense in many ways. It also does not contain a hateful judgmental God that sends people to hell either. It's also more fair in its treatment of women either. And acknowledges mother nature as a goddess or divine too. It also acknowledges reincarnation too, which is supported by many modern documented cases that cannot be dismissed. So in many ways, Gnosticism better fits reality than mainstream Christian theology does.
Something to consider and keep in mind.
You can't just reject something just because it doesn't fit your beliefs. That's closed minded and fundamentalist.