I'm no scholar, you'll be able to tell by this question which is very basic. How do ideas change? The comments were that Gnosticism came about because of dissatisfaction with Jewish belief. How did that occur? Do teachers begin having different ideas because of their dissatisfaction? Were books/scrolls written even back then to offer different ideas?

This fascinates me. Today, I think I can see how things change. IE McLaren is dissatisfied with the way Christianity is portrayed and he has thought of some different ideas, maybe talked to people, starts preaching different ideas, writes books, etc. People are interested, they jump on his ideas. Then someone adds or deletes, etc etc.

Is this how changes occur?

Thank you,
Kathy