Gnosticism

by T.M. Hyland, Birkenhead | Category: Departure From The Faith | Mar 1972

Last month we gave a short account of the early threat from obsolete Judaism to the Christian Faith. We saw that the attack came not only from enemies outside' the churches in the form of distortion and persecution, but also, in a more subtle and dangerous form, from persons within. Paul's account of his confrontation with his fellow-apostle Peter (Gal. 2) indicates the strength of the challenge and its grave menace to the truth of the Gospel. Had the false teachers succeeded in this pernicious campaign the Christian Faith would have become a mere appendage of Judaism. The challenge was faced and defeated at the historic meeting of apostles and elders at Jerusalem (Acts 15). The glorious truth of salvation by grace through faith was vindicated and, free from the shackles the Judaisers would have imposed, the Gospel went forward on its liberating, conquering way.

We pointed out that although the apostles were enabled to safeguard the truth of the Gospel against this deadly error, the underlying heresy of the Judaisers-salvation by works remains a power to be reckoned with. It is firmly entrenched in some of the sects of Christendom and also in the heretical cults which are flourishing around us today. The doctrine of salvation by grace, abhorrent to human pride, is the very heart of the Christian message. It is man's only hope. We must therefore guard it tenaciously and preach it vigorously. Any gospel based on human merit is a sham and a delusion.

We now turn to consider another phase of the conflict waged against error by the apostles and their fellow-workers. The Christian Faith made so great an impact on the Graeco-Roman world that the exponents of near Eastern and Greek

philosophy, prominent at that time, were compelled to notice it seriously. Greek philosophers, groping in the dark, propounded a variety of mystical theories about God, and speculations about nature, which became the subject of ardent discussion. Most of their systems borrowed ideas from both Jewish and pagan sources. Because 'knowledge' was virtually their idol the title 'Gnostics' (gnosis is the Greek word for 'knowledge') has been applied to them. "Gnosticism is the comprehensive name used to embrace a large body of widely ramified sects on the borderland between Christianity and heathenism" (Hastings Dic. of the Bible). It is now generally held by competent Christian scholars that Gnosticism came into clear prominence in the second century A.D. but there is no doubt that the early Fathers were right in discerning in certain passages in the writings of the apostles a vigorous attack on Gnostic heresies' and Gnostic ways of thinking which threatened the purity of Christian doctrine. To appreciate the concern of the apostles to counteract this menace one needs some knowledge of the labyrinth of heretical and blasphemous fables of the Gnostics. Those wishing to become acquainted with early Gnostic writings which were known in the apostolic age and the century following are referred to two studies of the subject by R. M. Grant, Gnosticism and Early Christianity (Oxford University Press, 1959) and Gnosticism: An Anthology (London: Collins, 1961).

"Defining Gnosticism is an extraordinarily difficult task" (R. M. Grant). There were, however, certain elements common to all the systems. Gnosticism despised the world of matter and sought salvation by way of emancipation from the flesh. In this respect Gnostic thought has many points of contact with modern Theosophy and Christian Science. The insistence that all matter was evil had various consequences in terms of human conduct. From this basic error some Gnostic teachers insisted that all bodily appetites were evil and must therefore be severely suppressed, while others, on the same ground, justified sins of impurity by asserting that acts of the body could not contaminate the soul. There is evidence that on both these counts Gnostic philosophy was seeking to subvert the practice of pure Christianity. Paul warns of the former in his later epistles. To the Colossians he wrote,

"Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil

of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ" (2:8).

He then goes on to expose the errors of the Gnostic philosophers and condemns them as "the precepts and doctrines of men" puffed up in their fleshly minds; and concludes:

"Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh" (2:23).

Similar teachings are under fire when Paul wrote to Timothy of certain evil men who were influenced by seducing spirits and doctrines of demons. Such were,

"Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe and know the truth" (1 Tim. 4:3).

The converse error of those Gnostics who justified loose morals is the subject of severe censure in several New Testament passages. In the Ephesian epistle (chap. 5) Paul names and drags into the light certain immoral practices and then adds the warning:

"Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience" (v.6).

In Peter's epistles there are references to this subtle attack on the pure morality which is an essential feature of the Christian Faith. The apostle cites certain false teachers who were bringing in destructive heresies promising their hearers liberty while they themselves were "bondservants of corruption" (2 Pet. 2:1,19). Similarly Jude refers to ungodly men who "crept in privily" and who were "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness" (v.4). In the letters to the churches in Asia in the book of Revelation there is mention of the Nicolaitans (a Gnostic sect) and of a prophetess who is named Jezebel and who "teacheth and seduceth My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols" (2:6,15,20). These references will suffice to show how necessary it was for the early Christians to be fortified against the subversive teachings of these Gnostics who arrogantly claimed superior knowledge of spiritual matters and yet whose philosophy was utterly opposed to the revelation of divine truth communicated by our Lord to His apostles.

It will be apparent from our treatment of the subject thus far that Gnosticism presented a twofold 6hallenge to the Christian Faith: firstly, by absorbing Christian ideas and doctrines, perverting them, and then setting itself up as a rival faith; and, secondly, by infiltrating its teachings into the early churches in order to corrupt them from within. The latter was by far the most serious and damaging activity of these false teachers. Discerning their growing challenge the apostle Paul solemnly charged his son in the Faith, Timothy, to beware of "oppositions of the knowledge (Greek gnosis) which is falsely so-called; which some professing have erred concerning the Faith" (1 Tim. 6:21).

Certain other Gnostic theories advanced by false teachers in their attempt to harmonize pagan philosophy with Christian revelation are mentioned in Colossians and in the Pastoral epistles. The Gnostics were the rationalists of those days "There is a good deal of resemblance between gnosis and existentialism" (R. M. Grant). There can be no doubt that some doctrines and practices devoid of Scripture authority which are seen in Christendom today can be traced back to this early incursion of Gnostic heresies.

Before summarizing the lessons to be learnt from these early attacks on the Christian Faith we should notice the terrible errors which were propounded when the Gnostics attempted to apply their philosophical speculations to the doctrine of our Lord's Person. As we have already observed, it was basic in their thought that all matter was evil and that man's salvation was to be sought by way of emancipation from the flesh. They argued that since Christ came to deliver man from the thraldom of the flesh He could not Himself have had any flesh - it only seemed that He had. His body was a phantom which only seemed to exist. This view subverted the Christian doctrine of the Incarnation. Christianity is a historic Faith rooted, not in legend, but in historical fact. Gnosticism would rob history of its significance. To impugn the true Manhood of our Lord is to undermine the whole fabric of His redemptive work.

This Gnostic theory of our Lord's Person stands utterly refuted in the four Gospel narratives. We refer briefly to the apostle John's narrative because he was familiar with the heresies we have been discussing. John lived to a great age, outliving all the other apostles, and before his death bequeathed to us under the guidance of the Spirit of God his record of our incarnate Lord-the authentic Christ. By personal experience he knew his Master to be a real man, and this he asserts with all the certainty of apostolic authority. He tells us that "the Word became flesh" (1:14): the term 'flesh' implying human nature in its reality and completeness. A real incarnation is plainly declared. In John's narrative our Lord is referred to as 'man' sixteen times. He was subject to physical weariness and weakness (4:6;19:28) and to human emotions (11:33,35; 12:27;15:11), differing from other men only in that He was without sin (8:46;14:30).

In John's epistles we find very strong evidence of the apostle's concern about Gnostic theories of our Lord's humanity. These false teachers and their destructive heresies are roundly condemned and exposed:

"Many false prophets are gone out into the world ... every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit which confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist" (1 John 4:1-3).

"Many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist" (2 John 7).

There is massive confirming evidence to the reality of our Lord's humanity in the epistles of Paul and other New Testament writings. The teaching of the apostles is one, there is never any discordance among them on fundamental doctrines of the Faith. We have not referred at this stage to the complementary truth of the essential Deity of our Lord; this will come under review in a later article in this series.

The apostles of our Lord were faithful to the trust He committed to them, and they have given to us in the New Testament writings a complete answer to these destructive heresies. On the one hand, they withstood the strong challenge of Judaism with its error of 'salvation by works', and, on the other, the onslaught of Gnosticism with its heresy of 'salvation by knowledge'. Under God we owe them a great debt. Nothing but divine power enabled them to stand against these powerful foes. "When we contemplate these heresies which beset the apostolic Church, we cannot but acknowledge that it needed all those miraculous gifts with which it was endowed, and all the inspired wisdom which presided over its organization, to ward off dangers which threatened to blight its growth and destroy its very existence. In its earliest infancy, two powerful and venomous foes twined themselves around its very cradle; but its strength was according to its day; with a supernatural vigour it rent off the coils of Jewish bigotry and stifled the poisonous breath of heathen licentiousness; but the peril was mortal, and the struggle was for life or death" (Conybeare).

Earlier in this series we referred to the formulation of Creeds as confessions of faith. The earliest of these - The Apostle's Creed - reads (in part):

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord;

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

Born of the Virgin Mary;

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell;

The third day He rose from the dead;

He ascended into heaven.

This includes a simple confession, without elaboration, of certain historical facts concerning our Lord, and there can be no doubt that it was hammered out in opposition to the teachings of the Gnostics.

In concluding this short study we suggest some lessons to be learnt from it:

(1)Our complete dependence on the written revelation of Holy Scripture for the pure doctrine of the Lord, and our need for the enlightenment of the Spirit of God in apprehending it.

(2)The infinite wisdom of God in giving us such a revelation.

(3)The need for childlike, unquestioning faith in our attitude to divine revelation.

(4)Our responsibility to be diligent in assimilating what is written, yet for disciplined minds not to venture beyond

it.

(5)The grave danger of human philosophical speculation distorting divine truth and passing into the realm of mere conjecture.

(6)That early heretical teaching is perpetuated in some doctrines and practices prevalent in Christendom. Hence the need to discriminate between human tradition and divine revelation.

(7)That the modern cults are largely based on a re-hash of these early heresies.

(8)That there is a continuing need for faithful men who will "contend earnestly for the Faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints".

Paul's affirmation to the Corinthian church is relevant here:

"We do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strong holds); casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:3-5).

T.M. Hyland, Birkenhead | Mar 1972
Departure From The Faith