April 26, 2015

Background Scripture: 1 John 5:6-12, 18-20; 2 John

Devotional Reading: Galatians 6:6-10

I must apologize, my readers, for although I have briefly mentioned Gnosticism as a heresy that threatened the Christian Church in the second century A.D, I have not adequately explained why it was such a threat to early Christianity.

That was because I did not see much relevance between second century Gnosticism and Christianity today. So, what follows is a quick survey of what it was, why it mattered and why it may matter today as well.

Roughly from the latter part of the first century A.D. into the third, Gnosticism was a philosophic/religious movement paralleling the development of early Christianity. The term Gnostic, “one who knows,” identified those who claimed to possess superior knowledge of the highest, most important “secrets.

They claimed to possess the true knowledge of God and wanted to reshape the Gospel according to their “truths.” Their speculations included cosmology and the structure of existence. They borrowed heavily and frequently from various religions.

A key cause of dissention was the Gnostic doctrine that the Supreme God was not the creator of the world. Instead, they held it was a Demiurge (“underworker”) who created the world and the people therein.

Christian Gnostics

Perhaps the above is enough to explain why the writer or writers of the Epistles of John was so intense in his attacks against Gnosticism. Although on the surface it may seem Gnosticism was just another interpretation or school of Christian thought, its effect was to pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ: We’ve got the secrets of Christianity, but you don’t.

Because Gnosticism eventually disappeared after a few centuries, it would seem this heresy would no longer be a threat to the Gospel. Ironically. the struggle to keep the Gospel from contamination by ever-new eruptions of Gnosticism is continual, because even never even having heard of Gnosticism, Christians are often seduced to embrace the temptation to assume that they alone – or their denomination or wing of Christianity – know the “Truth” of the Gospel that escapes most other Christians.

Their doxology could well be: “We know something you don’t! We know something you don’t know!” (I think you know the tune that goes with those words.)

The harm of Christian Gnosticism is it engenders spiritual hubris and arrogance. People who think they have God all figured out and locked away are the real heretics. The writer, or writers, of 1 John and 2 John make much use of the term “truth” – 1 Jn.1:06,08, 2:04,21, 3:18,19; 4:06; 5:07; 2 Jn. 1:01,2,34; 3 Jn. 1:01,03,04,08,12; plus 26 passages in the Gospel of John.

So it is well that we guard the Gospel from Gnostic interpretation, but it is no less vital that in the process we do not become infected with verbal Gnosticism (as in, “There is only one way to express spiritual truths – and I’ve got it!”).

‘Follow me!’

This perversion of the Gospel is an over-emphasis on “belief.” Yes, we need to believe the Gospel. That is the starting point, but sometimes we never get beyond “belief” – accepting the teachings of the Gospel without internalizing them as motivation and direction in living our lives after that of Jesus Christ.

To profess “belief” in Jesus but hold fast to living ways that entirely deny his teachings is both heresy and hypocrisy, and not at all what he meant when he challenged us to “Come, follow me” (Mt. 4:19, 8:22, 9:09, 10:38, 16:24, 19:21; Mk. 1:17, 2:14, 8:34, 10:21;  Lk. 5:27, 9:23, 9:59, 18:22; Jn. 1:43, 12:26, 13:36, 21:19, 21:22).

The sheer number of these indicates they were a recurring invitation from Jesus. It is interesting that although he frequently told his disciples to “Go,” his first word to them was “Come.”

Unlike the philosophers and theologians, Jesus did not test the disciples on the structure of their beliefs. The only “test” with which he confronted them consistently was to determine if, from his teachings and life, they understood who and what they were to be.

“Christianity is not a puzzle to be solved, but a way of life to be adopted. It is not a creed to be memorized, but a Person to follow.”

-Anonymous

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit

We are one in the Lord

And we pray that all unity

May one day be restored

And they’ll know we are Christians

By our love, By our love

Yes, they’ll know we are Christians

By our love

But, will they?

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.