l of Mary, the Gospel of Truth, the Treatise on the Resurrection and the Hymn of the Pearl. Most Gnostic books show Christ to be of heavenly origin. The books either explicitly say that he is from the father and heaven above or imply it by saying that he descended into earth. He is part of the "…heavenly triad with the Father and the Mother…"(Franzmann, 39). In the Second Treatise of the Great Seth, the author who is supposedly Christ says, "I am from above the heavens" (Ehrman, 231). He is also sometimes described as a heavenly light, "I am the light which is above all of them: I am All. The All came forth from me and the All reached me" (G of Th., v.77). Many people, however, look at Christ's incarnation in different ways. According to some Gnostic thought Christ comes to our earth and puts on Jesus' human body so that he may walk among us. "I visited a bodily dwelling" (Ehrman, 231). Some of the Gnostic writings show Jesus as an earthly being with a heavenly nature, while others show Jesus as a purely heavenly being with a lack of earthly context. In the Second Treatise of the Great Seth, Christ's incarnation was into Jesus' body in which he cast out the original occupier (Franzmann, 75). Christ's arrival on earth in the Gospel of Thomas is described in a docetistic way, "I stood in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh" (G. of Th, v.28). He is said to appear to them in flesh only in outward appearance (Franzmann, 78). The Gospel of Truth describes Jesus as "a fruit of knowledge" that when eaten gives people gnosis (Ehrman, 161). This Gnostic text shows Christ as a revealer. He is referred to as the book or logos, which reveals to us all that is unknown (Ehrman, 162). He put on the book, was nailed to a tree and published the edict of the father on the cross (Ehrman, 162). These actions say that by dying on the cross, which in this text is not in flesh, he is helping people receive gnosis. Many Gnostic views have implied a hatred of the body. The body is what is keeping people from realizing their origin (G. of Thomas, v.29). For Christ to have a human body seems strange because he has gnosis. "Woe to the flesh which depends on the soul; woe to the soul which depends on the flesh" (G of Th, v.112). According to the Hypostasis of the Archons, the body is just a shell for the spirit. "Locked within the material shell of the human race is the spark of this highest spiritual reality which (as one Gnostic theory held) the inept creator accidentally infused into humanity at the creation -- on the order of a drunken jeweler who accidentally mixes gold dust into junk metal" (Groothuis). Our spirit is trapped in our bodies and the only way to free ourselves is through gnosis. "After the spirit came forth from the Adamantine Land; it descended and came to swell within him, and that man became a living soul" (Hyp of Arc, 164). Anything that happens in this realm of matter is insignificant only when we find the kingdom or when we finally have gnosis, will we actually begin to live (Hyp of Arc, 167-8). All matter is a veil over the truth (Hyp of Arc, 167). Jesus strips himself of his "perishable rags" or "dirty clothes" as he ascends back to heaven (Ehrman, 162, 186). Jesus' purpose while on earth is to reveal to his people the true nature of their being. Jesus enlightens and imparts knowledge. His job is to give us gnosis so that we may return to our heavenly home. "If woman or man truly came to gnosis of this spark, she understood that she was truly free: Not contingent, not a conception of sin, not a flawed crust of flesh, but the stuff of God, and the conduit of God's immanent realization" (Gnostic Society). Spirit is good and desirable; matter is evil and detestable. According to the Hypostasis of the Archons, there are two heavens, an outer realm and an inner realm. The creation of the earth and humans was flawed. The god of the outer realm created the archons who did not have spirit, while the people created

Some topics in this essay:
Christianity Christ's, Hymn Pearl, Hyp Arc, , Hypostasis Archons, Gospel Truth, Magdalene Christ, Orthodox Christians, Treatise Seth, Mary Christ's, outer realm, inner realm, hyp arc, gospel thomas, christ's resurrection, dirty clothes, forty days, treatise seth, hypostasis archons, according hypostasis archons, kingdom father, outer realm inner, realm inner realm, return heavenly home, mary christ's crucifixion,