Chapter 6 Summary

In the traditional Gospel of John, Jesus responds to Thomas' passionate request for directions to the next level, the level to which Jesus is about to embark, by telling him, ."..no one comes to the Father, but by me." It is partly because of this small phrase that this Gospel, so attractive to the Gnostic, also became a major pillar of the orthodox canon. This saying, suggesting a very strict and narrow road to God, only through Jesus Christ, was an important doctrine, one that underscored the role of belief, rather than gnosis, in the Church. This doctrine persists to this day as the very foundations of evangelical belief.

Some of the Gnostic texts provide other answers to the same question- how do we get where Jesus is going? In the Dialogue of the Savior, Jesus says, when you get to "the place...