Gnostic Gospels - In 1945, 52 texts that came to be known as the Gnostic Gospels were discovered at Nag Hammali in Upper Egypt. These cryptic ancient papyrus manuscripts were hidden to avoid destruction by the Orthodox Christians. Gnostic Christian monks hid them sometime between 120 and 400 A.D. These heretical texts criticize key Orthodox Christian beliefs ----> eg. the virgin birth, divinity of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ. These views were profoundly dangerous challenges to the very survival of the early Orthodox faith. There was originally high interest in the Gnostic views, but over time the Orthodox Christians were able to violently crush these views. The Gnostic worldview was mostly lost until the 52 texts were found in 1945. In its place has been the more fundamentalist supernatural worldview <----> a worldview that has had a huge impact on current Christian theological dogma. Two key Gnostic rediscovered views were: 1.) Jesus did not come to judge sin but to help us with harmatia ---> getting our life back on track. Jesus came as a messenger, mentor, and guide and not as a condemning judge, and 2.) Know by experience --> Gnosticism is about experiential knowledge that comes from our experiences in life. Knowing by experience includes experiential awareness of truths and what reality is. Gnosticism values and respects a person’s knowledge gained through experiences, and not being told what to believe by an external source.