reed on the point of the existence of God. The Gnostics rationalized that the god of the old testament-a god of creation and punishment was clearly a separate entity from the god of Jesus, who was a loving and forgiving god. How could such a loving god reach out to us with salvation and forgiveness be the same god who created pain, punishment and suffering. The Orthodox believed in "one god, the father almighty creator of heaven and earth." In fact this was the major claim of the creed that the orthodox Christians proclaimed as part of their faith.
             Another point of argument was how to attain salvation. Orthodox Christians felt it was necessary to proclaim, out loud, their belief in one god. This was the discerning factor that allowed them to separate themselves from the Gnostics-who were now considered heretics and a threat to the church. Gnostics believed that as long as one lived in faith and held good conduct throughout their entire life they would achieve salvation. Gnostics felt their approach was superior to that of the Orthodox Christians because even hypocrites could proclaim the creed, not believe in it and still reach life eternal and salvation.
             After Jesus died, both Orthodox Christians and Gnostics claimed to witness the resurrection of Christ. The orthodox claimed that they saw the physical reappearance of Jesus Christ and expressed the importance of this type of sighting as the truth. Gnostics had the belief that the relationship between salvation and themselves was on a more personal level. Gnostics insisted that it was merely an encounter between the witness and the spirit of Christ that had been transformed. This follows the Gnostics belief that religious enlightenment came from introspect and self-knowledge. Once one had achieved this gnosis they were considered to be of mature knowledge and a member of an elite group ready to receive the secret knowledge of the spirit. Gnostics believed that th...