They talk like the “Gnostic scriptures” were sitting on the same shelf as Matthew in…
Shelf · Occult, New Age & Theosophy 32 of 64
They talk like the “Gnostic scriptures” were sitting on the same shelf as Matthew in the 40s and 100s.
They weren’t.
Dr. Michael Heiser walks the dates:
Cross: 33 AD
Gospels + Acts: 50–80 AD
Presumed Gnostic originals: 100+ years later
Nag Hammadi library: 4th-century Coptic copies, found in 1945
Nobody in the 40s or the 100s is citing those books. The early writers are citing the New Testament.
Gospel of Thomas? Late, dependent on the Synoptics, never treated as Scripture. A harmony of Thomas next to Matthew, Mark, and Luke shows where it is quoting them.
Watch the whole thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs33njuvJSI
Session on the manuscripts: