The greatest threat to Christianity in the early church was a movement called "Gnosticism." In fact, gnosticism was probably the most dangerous heresy that the early church had to fend off- and just barely. Gnosticism came very close to replacing what would later be dubbed "orthodox" Christianity. In this post, I want to briefly sketch the beliefs of this ancient cult. I know some people have a hard time engaging in any historical study whatsoever, so I have done my best to make this humorous and engaging. However, by my humor, I in no way intend to downplay the seriousness of what the early church struggled with.
Before we go any further, it must be reiterated that gnosticism is difficult to define. The movement itself was never a well-defined organization, nor was their just one form of it. The cult was a movement, a very vast yet vague one at a that, which existed both inside and outside the church.
The name "gnosticism" comes from the Greek word "gnosis," which means "knowledge." By their own admission, the gnostics were the ones who alone possessed a special, mystical knowledge that was only reserved for an elite group of people who had true understanding. This secret "knowledge" or "understanding" was essential in the gnostic view of salvation.
For the gnostic, salvation means escaping the body and the material world in which the spirit has been "exiled." They believed that all matter is evil, or unreal. Human beings are really an eternal spirit that has somehow been imprisoned and trapped in an earthly body (this reminds me of a Smashing Pumpkins song). Since the body is made of matter, it is evil, and capable of misguiding us as to what our true nature really is. Therefore, the body is a prison in which the spirit needs to be released. This is the final goal of gnosticism; this is salvation- to escape the body.
Before we go any further, it must be reiterated that gnosticism is difficult to define. The movement itself was never a well-defined organization, nor was their just one form of it. The cult was a movement, a very vast yet vague one at a that, which existed both inside and outside the church.
The name "gnosticism" comes from the Greek word "gnosis," which means "knowledge." By their own admission, the gnostics were the ones who alone possessed a special, mystical knowledge that was only reserved for an elite group of people who had true understanding. This secret "knowledge" or "understanding" was essential in the gnostic view of salvation.
For the gnostic, salvation means escaping the body and the material world in which the spirit has been "exiled." They believed that all matter is evil, or unreal. Human beings are really an eternal spirit that has somehow been imprisoned and trapped in an earthly body (this reminds me of a Smashing Pumpkins song). Since the body is made of matter, it is evil, and capable of misguiding us as to what our true nature really is. Therefore, the body is a prison in which the spirit needs to be released. This is the final goal of gnosticism; this is salvation- to escape the body.
Gnosticism does indeed believe in a Supreme Being. Yet this Being had no intention of making a material world. Rather, he created all reality as spiritual. With this spiritual reality, a number of spiritual beings were generated (they differed as to the number). These spiritual beings, or "eons," were far removed from the Supreme Being. Because of this, they fell into error and thus created the material world.
Because this material reality was made by spiritual beings, there is still "sparks" of spirit in it. It is these spirits (sparks) that have been imprisoned in humanity and must be released through obtaining a special knowledge.
How is this freedom achieved? Well, it is kind of like the movie, The Matrix. In order to achieve this liberation, a spiritual messenger must come into this world to awaken us from our "dream" state that we have no idea that we are living in (Neo, the anomaly, helping the rest of humanity get "unplugged"). The spirit of every human being is asleep within their body, therefore someone must come from beyond the material realm to "wake us up" to who we really are, and help us struggle against the entrapments of this evil body. This spiritual messenger is the one who brings the "gnosis" that is necessary for salvation.
Because this material reality was made by spiritual beings, there is still "sparks" of spirit in it. It is these spirits (sparks) that have been imprisoned in humanity and must be released through obtaining a special knowledge.
How is this freedom achieved? Well, it is kind of like the movie, The Matrix. In order to achieve this liberation, a spiritual messenger must come into this world to awaken us from our "dream" state that we have no idea that we are living in (Neo, the anomaly, helping the rest of humanity get "unplugged"). The spirit of every human being is asleep within their body, therefore someone must come from beyond the material realm to "wake us up" to who we really are, and help us struggle against the entrapments of this evil body. This spiritual messenger is the one who brings the "gnosis" that is necessary for salvation.
Part of this "gnosis" includes the revealing of secret heavenly spheres which exists above us. These heavenly spheres are each ruled by an evil force or power whose main goal is to hinder our progress to the spiritual realm (this sounds like it would make an awesome video game - they are like the boss at the end of each level). The only way to get past these evil powers is to have the secret knowledge that opens up the way. Yes, it is like a spiritual password. How do you obtain these secret passwords? Only through the heavenly messenger. This is why he has been sent; to give us the secret password so that we can make it through these levels and obtain salvation.
Two questions: What does this mean for Christianity? How is this practically lived out?
To answer the first question, Christ was the heavenly messenger of gnosticism. Since the body and matter are evil, the Christian gnostics rejected the full humanity of Christ. Some believed that his body was an illusion, and he just appeared to be real (docetism). Others distinguished between the heavenly Christ and the earthly Jesus. Still some said that Jesus had a "spiritual body"- whatever that means. Furthermore, most gnostics denied the birth of Jesus, since this would place him absolutely in the physical world.
To answer the second question, the Gnostics gave two different answers. The majority said that since the body is the prison of the spirit, we must learn how to dominate and control our body and it's passions. Others said the since the spirit is inherently good and cannot be destroyed, we need to just leave our body to follow after it's own lusts and passions. So, some were ascetics and some were antinomians.
All things considered, Gnosticism was a serious threat to the early church, especially during the second century. The Church fought hard against this movement because she saw in it a blatant denial of the crucial doctrines such as creation, incarnation, and resurrection.
To answer the first question, Christ was the heavenly messenger of gnosticism. Since the body and matter are evil, the Christian gnostics rejected the full humanity of Christ. Some believed that his body was an illusion, and he just appeared to be real (docetism). Others distinguished between the heavenly Christ and the earthly Jesus. Still some said that Jesus had a "spiritual body"- whatever that means. Furthermore, most gnostics denied the birth of Jesus, since this would place him absolutely in the physical world.
To answer the second question, the Gnostics gave two different answers. The majority said that since the body is the prison of the spirit, we must learn how to dominate and control our body and it's passions. Others said the since the spirit is inherently good and cannot be destroyed, we need to just leave our body to follow after it's own lusts and passions. So, some were ascetics and some were antinomians.
All things considered, Gnosticism was a serious threat to the early church, especially during the second century. The Church fought hard against this movement because she saw in it a blatant denial of the crucial doctrines such as creation, incarnation, and resurrection.