The Gnostics and Us

Mark Dunagan
02/14/16 - Sunday Morning

The Gnostics and Us

The term “Gnosticism” is a collective name for many varying groups that believed that matter is essentially evil and spirit good.  While both Judaism and Christianity emphasized faith and obedience to the word of God, the Gnostics taught that salvation depended upon possessing secret knowledge.  Because they believed that matter was evil they either became ascetics who made up many rules for the human body that God never made (1 Timothy 4:3), or they argued that since the body is evil and the spirit good that how a person behaves does not matter.  Ultimately they argued that Jesus could not have been God in the flesh, that God and matter can have nothing in common.  In response the apostles frequently are found refuting Gnostic claims:

• Asceticism is rejected: Colossians 2:20-23
• Anyone who claims that Jesus did not come in the flesh is against Christ: 1 John 4:1-3
• Our behavior does matter to God: 1 John 3:6
• Real knowledge and real love will always obey God: 1 John 2:1-4
• There are no secret teachings or mysteries which only available for the elite:  Ephesians 3:4
• Beware of the “knowledge” that is falsely so-called: 1 Timothy 6:20

Defending the Gnostics

In recent years various people have sought to defend the Gnostics and especially come to the defense of what are called the “Gnostic Gospels”.  Some call these the “Lost Books” of the Bible, yet that is far from an accurate title.  First, they were never in the Bible.  Second, they were never lost.  People over the centuries had always known about such writings. 

No Heretics in the New Testament?

Some are now arguing that while the Gnostic texts were rejected by the orthodox, such did not happen until the period of the great church councils (325 A.D. and after).  One character in the popular book and movie The Da Vinci Code says, “Anyone who chose the forbidden gospels over Constantine’s version was deemed a heretic.  The word heretic derives from moment in history”. 

• When you read the New Testament you will encounter a huge problem if you believe that heresy, false doctrine, heretic or false teacher are terms and concepts that are foreign to the days of the apostles.  Jesus Himself warned against false prophets (Matthew 7:15) and so did the apostles (Acts 20:28-31; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Peter 2:1-3) on a frequent basis.

Theological Diversity in the New Testament Era?

Various people are claiming that during the days of the apostles churches held a wide spectrum of beliefs and that the norm of early Christianity was theological diversity and not consensus.  That is it was the latter church councils that put an end to all this, where everyone had to line up and believe the same thing.  Yet when I read the New Testament I see a lot of consensus and clearly defined doctrines or beliefs.  Equally, the condemnation of any teaching that violates the teachings of Christ and the Apostles:

• Observe the consensus in Ephesians 4:4-6 “There is one body and one Spirit….one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father”.
• Teaching any other gospel brought condemnation: Galatians 1:6-9
• Paul said that he taught the same thing in every church: 1 Corinthians 4:17
• Believers that did not obey the instruction in the letters to the churches were in the wrong: 2 Thessalonians 3:14
• Those who taught error were condemned:  1 Corinthians 15:12ff; 2 Timothy 2:18
• Those who departed from the “doctrine of Christ” forfeited their fellowship with God and God’s people:  2 John 9-11

Constantine and the Church Councils Determined What Was In the New Testament?

This is probably one of the biggest myths surrounding this topic:

• Actually Jesus Himself made preparations for the formation of the New Testament.  He told His apostles that the Holy Spirit would arrive and give them an infallible recollection of what He had taught while on earth (Matthew thru John) and guide them into all the truth (Acts thru Revelation) (John 14:26; John 16:13).
• To say that man or some human conspiracy gave us the New Testament is to deny the power and wisdom of God.  If a person really does believe that God created the universe out of nothing.  That He selected Abraham and produced from him the Jewish nation, and from that nation Jesus arrived, taught, died for our sins, was resurrected and went back to heaven.  It makes absolutely no sense to then claim that God had made no preparations to make sure that the real story of good news was recorded so that it could be related to all nations for all time.  Jesus clearly said that His words would never pass away (Matthew 24:35).
• The books in the New Testament were actually written by the person who claimed to be the writer.  By contrast, the Gnostic Gospels were written by people who claimed that someone famous, like one of the apostles was writing them.
• The authenticity and inspiration of the authors of the New Testament was backed up by miracles (Hebrews 2:3-4).  No such confirmation was ever given for the Gnostic Gospels.
• The Gnostic Gospels were rejected by Christians long before Constantine lived.  In fact, they were never serious contenders to be included.  Even within the New Testament it is clear that Christians knew what was inspired (2 Peter 3:16).  In other words the early Christians already possessed a core of documents by which they could evaluate other books or teachings.  One writer observed that it is noteworthy that not a single document written after 120 A.D. was ever considered to be part of the New Testament.
• We do have lists that record what were viewed as the inspired books long before Constantine.  In the second century such lists never include any of the Gnostic Gospels, not even by the unorthodox Marcion in about 140 A.D.

Constantine Had a New Bible Written?

Besides everything previously said, especially that the New Testament we possess existed long before Constantine, we could add that many of the teachings in the New Testament actually condemn how the church of Constantine’s time was organized, worshipped and what it taught.  So if Constantine overhauled the New Testament, why does the Christianity of the New Testament fail to match the “Christianity” of Constantine’s time?

They Disqualified Themselves

If you take some time to read some of the Gnostic Gospels you will soon realize why they were never considered to be inspired.  A number of unbelieving religious scholars are fans of the Gospel of Thomas, yet it is interesting to note the difference between this book and the Gospels in the New Testament.  Unlike Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Jesus does not perform any miracles in the Gospel of Thomas.  There is no fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, there is no prediction of a coming kingdom, Jesus does not die for our sins, and He does not rise from the dead.  Rather, we find a Jesus who delivers vague sayings, which can be interpreted in all sorts of ways.  As one writer said, “Yet Thomas’s Jesus is ‘just Jesus’.  Thomas’ Jesus does not pull rank.  He does not refer to Himself (and He is not referred to by others) as the Christ or the Messiah.  He is not acclaimed master or lord, He is not announced as the incarnate and unique Son of God” (The Gnostic Bible, Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer, p. 38).  

The Gnostic Gospels and the Old Testament

“Notice how much of the Old Testament is quoted in the New Testament books?  Gnosticism fundamentally rejected Jewish theology (the Old Testament) about the goodness of creation.  New Testament scholar Pheme Perkins points out how rarely the Gnostic literature refers to the Old Testament.  She puts her finger on one of the main reasons Gnostic texts could never have been included in the canon, they largely rejected the Scriptures the earliest Christians affirmed, the Hebrew Bible”  (Why the ‘Lost Gospels’ Lost Out, Ben Witherington III).

The Gnostics and Jesus

Some modern day “Gnostics” argue that Jesus was just a man and that it was Constantine who had Him portrayed as God in the flesh.  One major problem with this is that the Old Testament equally argues that the Messiah is God.  The passages are clear (Isaiah 9:6; Psalm 110:1-4; Micah 5:2).  In addition, we have copies New Testament books that date long before the time of Constantine, such as the gospel of John, which clearly portray Jesus as God (John 1:1).

Why So Popular?

It is no surprise why so many people have fallen for the false idea that the Bible is untrustworthy, Jesus was just a man, the rules in the Bible are not necessary, one can be very spiritual or good in spite of selfish behavior, instead of looking to God for answers, we just need to look within ourselves.  Instead of bowing before Jesus who died for us, instead we bow before our own ideas.  And that truth is not that which is recorded in the Bible, but we all get to determine our own truth.  Yes, this is all popular and heady stuff on the broad way.  

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net