Christian History Magazine—Issue 96: The Gnostic Hunger for Secret Knowledge

by Christian History Institute

Publisher:

Christianity Today

, 2007

Overview

The Gnostics called themselves “enlightened.” The early church called them heretics. In recent years the early church has become a subject of public debate and an enormous amount of confusion. Gone are the days when the average Christian can get away with not knowing about the Gnostics, the early church’s Rule of Faith, or how the biblical canon developed. In this issue the editors lay out the basic facts that will help you evaluate and respond to this dizzying array of wild theories and popular books that promote additional gospels, early church conspiracies, and the rediscovery of the true Christian faith. You will learn who the Gnostics really were and why the early church called them heretics, how the early Christians could tell the apostolic message from the counterfeits, and why the New Testament has only four gospels.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Gnostic dualism was distinguished by its absolute, radical character: All matter (the world and the body) is evil and has its source in an evil creator who fell from and betrayed the true God. This lesser, inferior divine being arose through some mysterious tragic split with the ultimate realm (the Pleroma or ‘fullness’) of the ultimate God, who is often called the Father of All.” (source)

“He therefore saw the Gnostics as false teachers who had cleverly and artfully clothed an unorthodox theological system in a deceitful, seductive costume. ‘Error,’ he noted, ‘indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced … more true than the truth itself.’” (source)

“They do not chronicle the life of Jesus and are not primarily concerned with historical events but with spiritual advice, revelations, and explanations of the Gnostic view of the cosmos.” (source)

“Gnostic interpretation of Scripture, therefore, often made the villains into heroes and the heroes into villains” (source)

“However, there is substantial indirect evidence that the movement pre-dated Christianity (for example, an early tradition says that Simon Magus, mentioned in Acts 8, was the ‘father’ of Gnosticism). It may have originated in Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century B.C. as an aberrant form of Judaism, combined with certain ideas about divine reality drawn from the Platonism of the time (which had developed beyond the philosophical ideas of Plato).” (source)

Product Details

• Title: Christian History Magazine—Issue 96: The Gnostic Hunger for Secret Knowledge
• Author: Christian History Institute
• Series: Christian History Magazine
• Publisher: Christianity Today
• Print Publication Date: 2007
• Logos Release Date: 2009
• Era: era:Contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subjects: Apologetics; Church history › Early church; Gnosticism
• Resource ID: LLS:CH96
• Resource Type: Magazine
• Metadata Last Updated: 2022-10-05T16:41:09Z