Gnositicism - A Popular Heresy
Created | Updated Nov 7, 2005
Of all of the sillinesses that Christianity has participated in, Gnosticism is possibly the most widespread. Its motivation can be likened to conspiracy theory, in that fundamentally, Gnosticism assumes that only the Initiates ever know the whole truth; the rest of us are deluded or not tuned in (or paranoid).
The attraction of the idea is based in truth however. Knowledge of God is never complete and, according to traditional Christianity, is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Where Gnosticism and Orthodox Christianity part ways is that the Orthodox claim the discernment of truth is also a divine gift: knowledge must always be balanced by discernment and openness and history have a role to play in this continuing process. So it is fair to say that having knowledge from God (a Gnostic experience) is not heretical when the knowledge is made public to those who have the gift of discernment. It is when people head off on their own, invent conspiracies or secret societies based on this non-peer reviewed knowledge that there is a problem: and in religion this happens all too frequently.
In it origins, the Greek Gnostics were convinced that the New Testament was incomplete. They felt that either it was a cypher key to a great unrevealed truth or, alternatively, that the real truth was supplemental and had been passed down orally by the apostles to their initiates.
The mainstream church rejected this point of view. It argued that the scriptures, Old and New, contained all that was necessary to understand the truth of God's revelation. However the Gnostics merely replied that this was part of a conspiracy. The initiates of the secret knowledge would first keep it secret that they had a secret to keep and thus that any denial was implausible.
The validity of the orthodox, catholic church's claims have been held up historically by their continued refusal to try and refute or support any theological argument from any source other than published doctrine or the scriptures. The Gnostic claims have consistently been shown to be self-serving, and often financially rewarding, to those who claim to have the knowledge.
The theological arguments against gnosticism are important in their own right, separately from the need to protect the innocent from those selling secret knowledge. Principally, Christianity is a religion that focuses on God's revelation through the world. The world, its history, God's people and the work of God's incarnated Word (the Logos, Christ) is how, Christians argue, God is known. Secrecy is not part of the Christian world view.
Further, Christianity is a positive religion that avoids trying to trade in guilt or badness. Any theology that focuses on these things is heretical (hence the number of "Christian Churches" that reject the much larger, albeit diverse, group of Churches that believe in the key points of the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds). Gnosticism condemns those who do not have the knowledge. Orthodox, catholic theology argues that everyone is redeemed through the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Logos. Baptism is the means by which a person joins the company of the redeemed. It is not a means of exclusion but of inclusion.
However, secret societies will proliferate and they are attractive. Humans, being who they are, like to exclude others from their associations by claiming secret knowledge. For those outside the initiated set, their is no way of knowing the importance of the knowledge without joining. Many who are not part of the set can only suspect the things they do not know, thus privileging those who claim to know.
Christianity publishes its theology and doctrinal positions. Bibles are available for reading. The term "Doctor" as an academic term comes from the Christian title meaning someone who has established doctrine on behalf of the church.
As a footnote I know that many of the claims I make here do not apply to the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church was declared heretical when it rewrote the Nicene Creed unilaterally to include the "filioque clause". The Roman Church has only started to rejoin the wider Christian communion in the last few centuries (since the immediate post reformation). However, the theology of the Roman Church and its practices should not be confused. Even when it Roman Church has strayed, its theology and doctrine has remained remarkably pure and definitely not Gnostic!
The attraction of the idea is based in truth however. Knowledge of God is never complete and, according to traditional Christianity, is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Where Gnosticism and Orthodox Christianity part ways is that the Orthodox claim the discernment of truth is also a divine gift: knowledge must always be balanced by discernment and openness and history have a role to play in this continuing process. So it is fair to say that having knowledge from God (a Gnostic experience) is not heretical when the knowledge is made public to those who have the gift of discernment. It is when people head off on their own, invent conspiracies or secret societies based on this non-peer reviewed knowledge that there is a problem: and in religion this happens all too frequently.
In it origins, the Greek Gnostics were convinced that the New Testament was incomplete. They felt that either it was a cypher key to a great unrevealed truth or, alternatively, that the real truth was supplemental and had been passed down orally by the apostles to their initiates.
The mainstream church rejected this point of view. It argued that the scriptures, Old and New, contained all that was necessary to understand the truth of God's revelation. However the Gnostics merely replied that this was part of a conspiracy. The initiates of the secret knowledge would first keep it secret that they had a secret to keep and thus that any denial was implausible.
The validity of the orthodox, catholic church's claims have been held up historically by their continued refusal to try and refute or support any theological argument from any source other than published doctrine or the scriptures. The Gnostic claims have consistently been shown to be self-serving, and often financially rewarding, to those who claim to have the knowledge.
The theological arguments against gnosticism are important in their own right, separately from the need to protect the innocent from those selling secret knowledge. Principally, Christianity is a religion that focuses on God's revelation through the world. The world, its history, God's people and the work of God's incarnated Word (the Logos, Christ) is how, Christians argue, God is known. Secrecy is not part of the Christian world view.
Further, Christianity is a positive religion that avoids trying to trade in guilt or badness. Any theology that focuses on these things is heretical (hence the number of "Christian Churches" that reject the much larger, albeit diverse, group of Churches that believe in the key points of the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds). Gnosticism condemns those who do not have the knowledge. Orthodox, catholic theology argues that everyone is redeemed through the incarnation, death and resurrection of the Logos. Baptism is the means by which a person joins the company of the redeemed. It is not a means of exclusion but of inclusion.
However, secret societies will proliferate and they are attractive. Humans, being who they are, like to exclude others from their associations by claiming secret knowledge. For those outside the initiated set, their is no way of knowing the importance of the knowledge without joining. Many who are not part of the set can only suspect the things they do not know, thus privileging those who claim to know.
Christianity publishes its theology and doctrinal positions. Bibles are available for reading. The term "Doctor" as an academic term comes from the Christian title meaning someone who has established doctrine on behalf of the church.
As a footnote I know that many of the claims I make here do not apply to the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Church was declared heretical when it rewrote the Nicene Creed unilaterally to include the "filioque clause". The Roman Church has only started to rejoin the wider Christian communion in the last few centuries (since the immediate post reformation). However, the theology of the Roman Church and its practices should not be confused. Even when it Roman Church has strayed, its theology and doctrine has remained remarkably pure and definitely not Gnostic!
