The Gnostic Gospels and the Establishment of Christianity

The discovery of the ancient scrolls at Nag Hammadi sent the calendar rolling back to the earliest struggles of Christianity; struggles between the various sects to unify the new religion into one vision and one voice. Since the victory of what would become the orthodox Catholic Church over the so-called heretics, and the successful eradication of most of the so-called heretical texts, Christianity has been for the most part unified in its vision. Some may question that claim in light of the multitudes of denominational differences and the enormous upheaval that took place after the Reformation, but in fact denominations as varied as Lutherans, Baptists and Mormons all agree on the basic tenets of the original Catholic canonical texts. This unification of belief stands in stark relief to the early struggles to define that consistency, and as well to contemporary arguments and debates taking place since the discovery of texts that have raised serious questions about the authority of the New Testament. History, of course, can never be unraveled to fulfill a pure truth, because-as the saying goes-it is always written by the winners. Christianity may never have developed into the unified, universal religion it became had the struggle among its multiple sects not eventually been won. In particular, if the sect known as the Gnostics had been capable of organizing as well as the Catholic sect, Christianity could well have become just another ancient religious cult falling by the wayside due to its inability stand united.