Essay Questions

What prevented Gnosticism from becoming one of the dominant religious institutions in the modern world?

Elaine Pagels contends that Gnosticism was a religious grouping that did not believe in the ancient Orthodox doctrines. Most of the Gnosticism leaders and followers were victimized in the second century and most of their religious teachings were smashed. According to Pagels, the goal of the Gnostic people was to disdain the church’s pyramid as the supreme institution and form a new religious institution. The church saw this as a menace because many people were beginning to believe Gnosticism. The clergy realized that their revenue was declining due to the reducing number of followers. Therefore, the church which was powerful during the time did everything within its power to destroy Gnosticism, otherwise, it could be famous today that the church.

How does Elaine portray the Orthodox Church as corrupt and manipulative?

The reader notices that the church leadership is the most unethical body. In the second century, the Orthodox Church was powerful and it did everything possible to silence Gnosticism. It goes beyond the expectation of the reader that the church that purports to be a branch of Christ can victimize those against the church doctrines. The Orthodox religious leaders persecuted Gnostic leaders and their followers because they did not believe in Orthodox doctrines. Similarly, the Orthodox church leaders were annoyed by the fact that their profit margins declined due to the influence of Gnosticism. This paints a bad picture of the church because it is portrayed as a revenue making machine. To respond to this, the church killed Gnostics and destroyed their teachings to reduce their influence.

After reading The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels, do you think that the modern church is different from the ancient Orthodox behavior?

Astonishingly, the modern church oppresses the anti-Christ movements and other formations that critique the church beliefs. It is not astounding that the church even today disregards even other Christian groupings that tend to deviate from the ancient Christian norms. For instance, the modern Catholic church does not recognize the religious groupings led by the married priests. Orthodoxy beliefs are applied by the modern church to judge those of the contrary opinion regarding faith. Atheists even find themselves in trouble because they argue that there is no God. They are condemned by the church as evil with satanic intentions to bring down the church. Therefore, in terms of beliefs and ways of doing things, the modern church is not different from the ancient orthodox conventions.