Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What if I told you that for 1,600 years, a radically different version of Christianity was just buried in a jar under a cliff in the middle of nowhere? And we're not talking about like a slightly different translation of the Bible. This is a version where God has a mother.
Chapter 2: What is the Nag Hammadi Library and why is it significant?
The creator of this world is actually an arrogant monster. The Garden of Eden was all a setup and that Jesus didn't suffer on the cross. He stood off to the side, floating in spirit form and laughed at the Romans for thinking that they could kill him.
I know that this sounds crazy, but for centuries, the church told us that the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are the only ones that we need to look at as biblical canon.
But in 1945, a peasant looking for fertilizer accidentally smashed open a clay jar and unleashed a library that showed that many of the thoughts around early Christianity and all the Abrahamic religions was far more diverse than the later church leaders admitted. He found what they call the Apocrypha.
The books later church leaders would condemn as heresy and excluded from scripture for very obvious reasons.
Chapter 3: What are the beliefs of Gnostic Christianity?
This is the story of the Nag Hammadi Library.
Chapter 4: What is the Apocryphon of John and its key themes?
If you are interested in early religious texts, what people were talking about at the time of the death of Christ, and all the different competing theories that were going around in the region, this is the episode for you. So sit back, relax, and welcome to Religion Camp. What's up, people, and welcome back to Religion Camp.
My name is Mark Gagnon, and thank you for joining me in my tent, where every single Sunday, we explore the most interesting, fascinating, and controversial stories from every religion from around the world from all time.
Chapter 5: What insights does the Gospel of Thomas provide?
That's right, right in this very tent. Every single Sunday, I like to do deep dives. I grew up, you know, Catholic, so I'm interested in what people believe.
Chapter 6: How does the Gospel of Philip challenge traditional views?
And I always say on this show, it's not possible to understand a people without understanding the God inside. that they worship.
Chapter 7: What is the Apocalypse of Peter and its controversial claims?
I truly love humanity and I love connection with my fellow mankind and womankind on this planet. And I think one of the best ways to do that is to understand the culture that they grew up and how religion interface with that culture. So I'm trying to figure out what everyone believes out here.
Chapter 8: How was the Biblical canon created and what texts were excluded?
And this is my attempt to do just that. And oh boy, we got an interesting one. But before that, I just want to thank you guys for being a part of what we're building over here, Religion Camp. Truly, we're almost at 100K. Almost.
Are we getting there?
Or maybe we already are. I don't know. Middle of the charts, right where we like to be. Exactly. That's my sweet spot. You know what I mean? You don't want to be too big, but you don't want to be too small. You know what? Once we hit 100K, unsubscribe. Who cares, right? Nothing matters. You know what I mean? Please don't. I won't get paid. Also that. By the way, guys, we have Christos here.
How are you, pal? We've heard enough from you. Okay, Christos, you snuck in there early, dude. You snuck in early. I didn't even think it, man. I just heard your sultry voice and I was like, oh, it's nice to be in the tent with Christos. Well, I'm glad we got that out of the way. We're talking about the Nag Hammadi Library. Now, let me just say a few things. One, I find these texts fascinating.
As a Catholic and someone that grew up religious, I don't subscribe to them in a literal basis, but I do think it gives an interesting look to the competing theories that existed around the formation of the early church, and I just love ancient documents. I don't know what it is, dude. Just holding an old... Actually, you know what? I have an ancient document right here.
This was given to me by the one and only Wes Huff. Do you know what this is? This is Nag Hammadi Codex 2. This is the end of the Apocryphon of John and the beginning of the Gospel of Thomas. How much does that go for? Well, this is a replica. Okay. So, but it was hand done and created by the legendary Wes Huff himself. Yes.
Wes literally made this by hand, got the ancient papyrus that I think he either bought old papyrus or he formed it himself. I don't even really know. And he hand scribed this just as they would have done, you know, 1500 years ago. Pretty crazy. Awesome. What a legend. And no better time to bring that up than today while we're diving into it.
Now, if you don't know anything about the Nakamate Library, if you don't even know what that is, if you think it's an actual library with a bunch of books somewhere in Cincinnati, you're wrong. But don't worry. That's what I thought too. And I'm going to be breaking down exactly what it is and what's actually in some of these old ancient pots and what the text actually says.
What you do with that information...
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