[kosta50]

Which Gnostic books "were destroyed by the Church"? And, why is it that what the Fathers said about the Gnostic can't be trusted?

Not just Gnostic books, Teofilo, all non-orthodox books. There are no Arian writings that survived, no Pelagian manuscripts. We only know about Arian beliefs and Pelagian heresy from their accusers, as they paraphrased them. The Book of Enoch, which was originally red in churches and was very popular among early Christians (and is in fact part of the canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church) has been destroyed to the last copy at least in Greek and Latin versions, etc.

Even Gospels whose versions did not conform to the 4th century orthodoxy as established by the First and Second Ecumenical Councils and the subsequent late 4th century Christian canon, have disappeared. We know they existed indirectly from quotes of various Christian writers who quote from Gospel versions no longer extant. An example is Eusebius, who quoted Matthew's Great Commission no less then 17 times without the Trinitarian formula prior to the First Ecumenical Council and five times with Trinitarian formula following the Council.

Thanks for the links. I will review them.

[Teófilo]

...Even Gospels whose versions did not conform to the 4th century orthodoxy as established by the First and Second Ecumenical Councils and the subsequent late 4th century Christian canon, have disappeared...

There were, in fact, 40 other writings which where called "Gospels." I've read a bunch of them. They are clearly pseudoepigraphical and dependent on the four canonical Gospels. They are also very arid reading.

We know they existed indirectly from quotes of various Christian writers who quote from Gospel versions no longer extant. An example is Eusebius, who quoted Matthew's Great Commission no less then 17 times without the Trinitarian formula prior to the First Ecumenical Council and five times with Trinitarian formula following the Council.?

Isn't that an argument from silence? Just because Eusebius didn't quote it doesn't mean he didn't know about it. The verse is quoted by other Fathers before Eusebius.

And to my knowledge, there are several Pelagian manuscripts, just not contemporary with the controversy. Most Augustinianists know and quote from them. I believe that a bibliography of them is contained in Peter Brown's Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New Edition, with an Epilogue). You are right on the Arian books, I can't think of any right now. But the assertion that there was a systematic book-burning by the Catholic/Orthodox Church is one that needs to be substantiated to my satisfaction. After all, we still have those books around.

-Theo