The 1945 discovery at Nag Hammadi of thirteen papyrus scrolls uncovered new insights and excited historians and theologians around the globe. Until this time, little was known about the mysterious religion of Gnosticism. It evolved into one of the main belief systems of the 1st century and helped shape modern religious traditions, including Orthodox Christianity. The Nag Hammadi finds revealed many things about this religion, including a better understanding of the basic belief system, their view on women, and the divergence from prevalent Orthodox Christian ideas. Elaine Pagels book The Gnostic Gospels clearly outlines excellent information on these views and understandings of Gnosticism.
             The Gnostic belief system sounds absurd to the modern Christian ear. From the early pages of the introduction to the last few sentences of the conclusion, Pagels delineates major differences in the practices of Orthodox Christians and Gnostics. Gnosticism is a philosophical and religious movement whose name is derived from the Greek word gnosis (knowledge.) The very implication of this name sheds light on one of the main characteristics of the Gnostic beliefs. To these people, self-knowledge was knowledge of God; meaning the self and the divine are inseparable. Knowledge to them was not an intellectual exercise or a vague understanding of spirituality, but instead, knowledge had a liberating function that severed an individual from the confines of this world. Contrary to the Orthodox belief that one attains salvation through the acceptance of Jesus Christ, Gnostics felt that salvation is achieved through learning secret knowledge of their spiritual essence. Upon this discovery, an individual has the opportunity to escape from the prison of their body after death. The Orthodox Christians of this era viewed this belief as heresy, and aimed to annihilate all of the written records of this faith. The efforts of the majority to destroy every...