The Wheatland Mission

Gnip-Gnop-Gnostic: I

OK, I thought it might be good to make a couple of quick comments about Gnosticism since I raised the issue Saturday night. (In spite of my title above the "g" is silent.)

I'll mention some key things to understand about gnosticism and then offer a summary of why I assert that gnosticism wasn't around when Jesus was alive and why he couldn't have been gnostic. I think it is important for us to have a little bit of understanding about gnosticism because it rears its head in our current setting but rarely is it called by name. With the recent interest in all things religious (such as The DaVinci Code and The Jesus Seminar it is useful for us to recognize where gnosticism clearly departs from biblical Christianity.)


(a gname of Gnip-Gnop anyone?)

Eugene Peterson, author and translator of The Message, identifies five elements of gnosticism "all of which carry the virus . . . and threaten the health of the Christian gospel." (from Christ Plays In Ten Thousand Places pg. 61)

"First, gnosticism works out of a deep metaphysical alienation. The cosmos is a colosssal error. Creation is alien to rou deepest and truest soul. God, the true God, had and has nothing to do with it, and so the less we have to do with it the better."

"Second, there is a secret lore, a knowledge (gnosis) that can save us from this hopeless condition. But it isn't open knowledge; it has to be acquired by initiation and intuition. A certain spiritual aptitude ahs to be developed and nurtured."

"Third, escapism is a strategy for survival, beginning with an escape from the God of creation. The escapism is nearly total: we exape from everything except the self, we excape from the world into the self."

"Fourth, the few souls who learn this secret lore and embark on this escapist life consititue an elite, each a divinity in herself or himself."

"Fifth, each person is free to assemble any ideas or stories or techniques at hand to accomplish this way of life; no institution or authority is permitted to interfere or tell the "gnostic" (the one "in the know") what to believe or do."

This summary highlights some important aspects of what might best be described as a religious system as opposed to an actual religion. The gnostic train of thought bled into Christianity in the centuries after Christ and had an influence on various parts of Christianity but was not truly a separate religion in and of itself.

Biblical Christianity is different than what is described above. Consider these brief points:

1) Christianity is a physical religion and does not endorse a separation of body and spirit. This is highlighted most emphatically in the incarnation, the life of Christ. John 1:14 tells us that Jesus became "flesh." The humanity of Christ takes our humanity very seriously and, in fact, is a key part of the redemption of all creation. (Romans 8:19-23)

2) Scripture is hardly secretive, nor is the message contained within it. While there are parts of Scripture that are hard to fully understand, the overall message is clear. Not only that, but Romans 1:18-20 makes the point that the "secrets" of life with God are actually made plain to all men.

3) Biblical Christianity does not teach escapism. Again, look at the example of Jesus. He sought neither to escape his humanity nor the difficult and painful death on the cross. It was precisely his life and death that bring us life and hope in the resurrection. In the same way we should not seek to escape the challenges of living as brothers and sisters in Chist. Fellow Christians aren't there simply for us to "put up" with until our time comes. They are present in our lives to love and honor as Christ.

4) Christianity is anything but an elite religion. One need only read the Gospels and you recognize those whom Jesus made a special effort to reach. Jesus teaches us that those who wish to exalt themselves will be humbled and those who wish to humble themselves will be exalted. Jesus followed this pattern himself (Philippians 2:1-11). Not only that, but as followers of Christ we do not become 'little gods' but we do grow in Christ-likeness.

5) Christianity is bound to history. Jesus really lived, died and rose from the dead. No reasonable historian, Christian or not, claims that Jesus did not exist, though many struggle with the plausiblity of the resurrection. If we are Christ-followers we cannot simply pick and choose what aspects of Jesus we want to cling to. Nor are we allowed to disregard parts of his message and ministry as if they didn't apply to us. Christianity is not a cut and paste religion but a dramatic whole. It can be known and understood.

Learning about religions or philosophies that stand in contrast to Christianity is one way of learning more about our own. This type of exercise causes us to reflect more deeply and seriously on the what we believe and what we do. This is one important favor Dan Brown and his DaVinci Code has done for us.

In the next Gnip-Gnop-Gnostic post I will discuss why Jesus could not have been a gnostic.

posted by The Wheatland Mission @ 6:37 AM