The discovery at Nag Hammadi began with an Arab villager whose name was Mohammed Ali going with his brothers on an ordinary errand. They saddled up their camels and they rode out from their village, a ...

When National Geographic unveiled the Gospel of Judas this month, the narrator in the accompanying television documentary solemnly announced: “It tells a different story. One that could challenge our ...

Timing is everything. Jesus’ fatal confrontations with religious and political authorities in Jerusalem coincided with the crowds of pilgrims arriving for Passover. Almost 2,000 years later, attentive ...

There's a useful debunking of some of the historical crapulence in the Da Vinci Code over at Slate. An important point: In Brown's scheme, the Gnostics are also the suppressed source of the true ...

This week your professor continues a very brief introduction into the early rivals of Christianity. We know of a great many religious cults which existed in ancient times, most of which have vanished ...

Imagine a Bible that begins like this: God said, “I am the Lord thy God, and there are no other gods but me.” Then a voice came out of the deepest heaven and said, “Thou liest, god of the blind!” Or ...

In exposing Gnostic beliefs, St Irenaeus (above) gave an account of early Christianity that is still freshly impressive. Credit: Photo: Alamy What did the Gnostics believe? Someone asked me that, ...