Gnosticism...

[jason3477]

Ever heard of it before? I used to be in some pentecostal/joel osteen type of churches for a short while. And I think that type of teaching/theology is gnostic and/or has a lot of gnostic tendencies in it=new age, etc etc…

But I think here in the USA there’s a lot of gnosticism woven into the fabric of our culture/soceity. Do you agree? Or what do you think?

And in short, what gnosticism is=they don’t believe that Jesus really came in flesh and blood-the Incarnation. They believe that He was just a spirit.

And gnosticism believes in dualism=that all physical/matter is evil and only spirit/spritual is good. Now you see what I mean?

 

[Trevor_Stamm]

Ever heard of it before? I used to be in some pentecostal/joel osteen type of churches for a short while. And I think that type of teaching/theology is gnostic and/or has a lot of gnostic tendencies in it=new age, etc etc…

But I think here in the USA there’s a lot of gnosticism woven into the fabric of our culture/soceity. Do you agree? Or what do you think?

And in short, what gnosticism is=they don’t believe that Jesus really came in flesh and blood-the Incarnation. They believe that He was just a spirit.

And gnosticism believes in dualism=that all physical/matter is evil and only spirit/spritual is good. Now you see what I mean?

Gnostics, the Manicheans, the Cathars, the Albigenses, God knows how many more and now known as the New Age movement. Yes, we’ve been fighting this evolving heresy since the early church and probably will to the end of time.

Also, if that’s their definition of dualism then they are far from they’re “intellectual” slogans. Dualism deals with the mind / body concept. But some of them go even further than that “dualism”, that good and evil are equal and should remain equal to keep balance in nature (sound familiar?).

St. Jude’s letter is a very good one, my opinion the best (yes I’m bias with my saint ), to use against them. St. Anastasia and St. Dominic are also good reads against these heresies.

 

[ltwin]

Ever heard of it before? I used to be in some pentecostal/joel osteen type of churches for a short while. And I think that type of teaching/theology is gnostic and/or has a lot of gnostic tendencies in it=new age, etc etc…

But I think here in the USA there’s a lot of gnosticism woven into the fabric of our culture/soceity. Do you agree? Or what do you think?

And in short, what gnosticism is=they don’t believe that Jesus really came in flesh and blood-the Incarnation. They believe that He was just a spirit.

And gnosticism believes in dualism=that all physical/matter is evil and only spirit/spritual is good. Now you see what I mean?

I’m not sure how Pentecostals got dragged into a discussion on Gnosticism. Pentecostals do believe in the Incarnation, and we do not believe that all physical matter is evil. Maybe I’m not understanding, but I’ve heard this said before but I’m not really getting what beliefs in particular of Pentecostalism that are being termed “gnostic”.

 

[Lokabrenna]

“Gnosticism” is a very broad term that encompasses several early Christian movements. Which sect are we talking about? The Valentinians? The Sethians? The Naasenes/Ophites? The Manichaeans? The Cathars? You could, perhaps, generally say that dualism is a common characteristic of these groups, but what records we have (written down by their enemies) paint entirely different pictures of sects that were deemed to be “gnostic”:

1. Some were hedonists, others were extreme ascetics
2. Some saw the Creator of the world as evil, but others thought he was simply misguided
3. There are few examples of non-Christian gnosticism, some clearly believed that the “real” (spiritual) Jesus wasn’t killed on the cross, just his physical body (or a substitute), but again, there’s not a lot of information on alternative views since a lot of it’s been destroyed

There really aren’t that many similarities between the modern New Age movement and early Christian gnostic sects, apart from a slight dualistic mindset (“ego” = bad, transcendence = good).

 

[amber_lux]

I used to be in some pentecostal/joel osteen type of churches for a short while. And I think that type of teaching/theology is gnostic and/or has a lot of gnostic tendencies in it=new age, etc etc…

It sounds like you are getting your thinking about Gnostic theology from The Da Vince Code. A book that is more accurate in its depiction of current Catholic theology and dogma, than it is of either ancient or contemporary Gnosticism.

And in short, what gnosticism is=they don’t believe that Jesus really came in flesh and blood-the Incarnation. They believe that He was just a spirit.

That depends upon which branch of Gnosticism you are referring to. Both the branch that called the first Church Council, and the branch that w missed being elected to the papacy by one vote did not subscribe to those beliefs.

Amber

 

[Bluegoat]

I tend to think that the divorcing of spirit from matter is a tendency in Protestantism in general. I’d probably say it was dualism rather than Gnosticism - Gnostics are dualists, but all dualists are not gnostics.

 

[jason3477]

I agree with that, Blue…