The Gnostic Gospels

Early Christian sources like the Gospels agree that Jesus was crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judaea. While gnostic texts do not doubt that the crucifixion occurred, many suggest that Jesus himself was not actually crucified, since “he was a spiritual being who adapted himself to human perception” (73). For orthodox authors, a central tenet of Christian faith is that Jesus, while the Son of God, was also a human being who suffered and died from crucifixion.

The importance of the question of Jesus’s crucifixion was interwoven, Pagels argues, with the persecution Christians themselves suffered from Roman authorities. There are many historical accounts of Christians being persecuted, like the executions of the philosopher Justin and his students. While Roman officials tried to convince arrested Christians to recant and avoid torture and death, some Christians preferred martyrdom over abjuring their beliefs. Other Christians “considered martyrdom foolish, wasteful of human life, and so, contrary to God’s will” (82). Orthodox authorities who had experienced persecution themselves were the most supportive of martyrdom, with a few orthodox Christian authorities like Justin Martyr and Tertullian being inspired to convert to Christianity by seeing the martyrdom of others.