The gnostic christ
This, therefore, is the true testimony: When man comes to know himself and God who is over the truth, he will be saved, and he will crown himself with the crown unfading. —The Testimony of Truth
The Savior said to them: "I want you to know that all men born on earth from the foundations of the world until now, being dust, while they have inquired about God, who he is and what he is like, have not found him. … But to you it is given to know; and whoever is worthy of knowledge will receive (it) … " —The Sophia of Jesus Christ
But I [Christ] was not afflicted at all. Those who were there punished me. But I did not die in reality but in appearance … it was another, Simon, who bore the cross on his shoulder. It was another upon whom they placed the crown of thorns. But I was rejoicing in the height over all the wealth of the archons and the offspring of their error, of their empty glory. And I was laughing at their ignorance." —The Second Treatise of the Great Seth
[Jesus said to Judas:] "But you will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me. … Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star." —The Gospel of Juda
By Various gnostic sources
[Christian History originally published this article in Christian History Issue #96 in 2007]
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