Jesus was not a gnostic

Ever since the second century, Greco-Hellenistic Gnostics and Hellenized Jewish mystics have been searching for a mystical interpretation of Jehoshua of Nazareth, better known as Jesus. And this even though he is sufficiently mystically described in the mainstream gospels (there are a host of others, but I'll stick with this one for now). One might say that they wanted to squeeze Jehoshua, after all really a 1st century Jew addressing his own people, into a gnostic straitjacket. Just as Woodstock goers wanted to turn him into a hippie, Ghent painters of long ago wanted to turn him into a Fleming, so people with a mystical, more India, Persia and Greece-based view of life wanted to turn him into a philosophical mystic.

Apparently, we want to transform Jehoshua into our own image before we can say “yes” to him. In this regard, it is not surprising that Revelation is often embraced because the language in it seems somewhat mystical and seems to contain all sorts of secrets. However, the fact that John (author of Revelation) writes in images has to do with the fact that he is writing under Roman occupation. Indeed, his deeper message is that the Messiah will return, thus ruling the world. By Romans, this would have been interpreted as rebellion against the emperor.

John quotes lavishly from the biblical prophets. If you are familiar with Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah, and other Old Testament books (often reviled by gnostics), you will see all the same things coming out there. You will be amazed at how clear things become.

To avoid getting into a babylonian confusion of speech about Jehoshua, I choose to use the Bible as a source, albeit as much as possible in its original languages. That does not mean that the Bible is literally true for me from cover to cover, but it does mean that I can always return to the book if I want to talk about Jehoshua and his message.

Anyone who knows the story of the magician Simon Magus, believed to be an early Gnostic, knows that the Bible has little connection to Gnosticism. So fine for people to promote Jehoshua as a gnostic, but he was not. Gnosticism so appeals to spiritualists of modern times because it emphasizes feeling and secret higher knowledge.

Those who want to understand Yeshua (Jesus) will have no trouble doing so after reading his biographies by the evangelists. Clear language, no needless mysticism to appear mysterious and profound. His message is: love your neighbor and do good.