Three Basics of Gnosticism

Gnosticism gets its name from the Greek word gnosis (γνωσις), which means knowledge. Knowledge in this context refers not to the idea of propositional knowledge but something more akin to the Eastern concept of enlightenment. There are three basic premises of Gnosticism:

1. Dualism of Matter and Soul

Like Christianity, Gnosticism teaches that reality is both material and spiritual. Unlike Christianity, it teaches that spiritual reality is inherently good, while material things are inherently evil. Human souls are holy, but they are trapped inside a corrupt body. Through accessing secret knowledge, one can free oneself from the limitations of matter and bring out one’s own capacity for divinity.

2. A Transcendent God vs. an Ignorant Creator

The Gnostics believed in an unknowable, transcendent God who is the Father of Jesus, but they did not equate Him with the Old Testament Creator. They saw the creator-god of the Old Testament as inept and hateful, and they blamed him for creating a flawed physical universe. The Gospel of Phillip goes so far as to say, "the world came about through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire.” Certainly, this view of God is not just unorthodox, but blasphemous.

3. Christ as Immaterial Teacher

Since the Gnostics rejected the idea that God was knowable and that God could take physical form, their idea of who Jesus was and why He came was very different than that of the first Christians. Rather than being the incarnation of God who came to redeem mankind from sin and make the Father known, they believed He was an apparition who taught mystical secret knowledge to His followers to help them free themselves from ignorance. He did not actually suffer and die, but only appeared to do so. The Gospel of Thomas removes 114 sayings attributed to Jesus from any narrative or space-time context and includes vague, metaphysical statements not recorded in the canonical gospels.

Clearly, the fundamentals of Gnosticism are at odds with the basics of historical Christianity. The Gnostic gospels do not paint an accurate picture of God, Jesus’s nature and purpose, and the meaning of redemption. Next week, we’ll examine the Gnostic gospels themselves: are they gospels at all?

Works consulted/ For more information

Introduction to the History of Christianity, ed. Tim Dowley

“Gnosticism and the Gnostic Jesus,” and “The Gnostic Gospels: Are They Authentic?” by Douglas Groothius

Historical Records of Jesus

Dr. Craig S. Keener, professor of New Testament Studies at Ashbury Theological Seminary, wrote an informative article about historical records of Jesus and published it in the religion section of the Huffington Post’s blog. It looks like a great place to start looking for original sources about the historical existence of Jesus, and it’s an outside source in its own right. I can't vouch for all of his theology, but this article is pretty solid.

Happy researching!

Craig S.Keener: Jesus Existed

Wow, Look at That Idea!: Jesus as the Word of God

Consider this: are words physical or conceptual things?

On the one hand, words are empirical; they can be heard aloud or seen when written. The letters or characters on a page can be measured and touched, and with the right instruments, sound waves can be measured according to size and frequency. They are made with one’s mouth and hands, certainly physical things.

On the other hand, we know that words aren’t just squiggles or vibrations. The Declaration of Independence isn’t important as a piece of paper with ink, but because the ideas it contains were central to the founding of our country. Telegraphs in Morse code existed because the buzz of dots and dashes contained a message from someone far away, not because people were still waiting for dubstep to be invented. Words mean things. If they didn’t contain an idea, they wouldn’t be words.

In other meaningful squiggles, it’s a trick question: words are both physical and conceptual. Words communicate thoughts and ideas between people by being concrete, empirical units. They convey the invisible by being visible.

The apostle John called Jesus the Word of God in his gospel and first epistle: 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1, 14)
 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:1-3) 

 I've heard explanations of the Greek term “logos” as meaning some sort of mystical force of reason in the universe, and while the ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers are fascinating, I'm not persuaded that the context supports this claim. (That's not saying it can't have a double meaning, of course.) Both passages describe Jesus as the eternal God who took on physical human form to reveal God more fully. Jesus Christ Himself is the communication of the Father to humanity. He conveys the invisible by being visible. He is The Word of God.  

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation… For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Colossians 1:15, 2:9)