Subject: Study of 1 John |
Bible Note: Continuing Study on 1 John by Nolan Keck *********************** Gnosticism, what is it? "The heresy of Gnosticism had begun to make inroads among churches in John's day. Among its teachings were (1) knowledge is superior to virtue, (2) the nonliteral sense of Scripture is correct and can be understood only by a select few, (3) evil in the world precludes God's being the only Creator, (4) the Incarnation is incredible because deity cannot unite itself with anything material such as a body (Docetism), and (5) there is no resurrection of the flesh. The ethical standards of many Gnostics were low, so John emphasized the reality of the Incarnation and the high ethical standard of the earthly life of Christ." (The Ryrie Expanded Edition Study Bible) Therefore, we see an early challenge to the church, and the focus of 1 John has two basic purposes: (1) to expose false teachers (2:26) and (2) to give believers assurance of salvation (5:13). Also, he emphasized the lack of morality taught by Gnostic teachers (3:8-10), and he sought to confirm his readers' belief in the incarnate Christ (1:3). In addition to this, prayon wrote an excellent post on 06/20/2001 that defined Gnosticism... "Gnosticism is a diverse religious and theosophical movement of the first three centuries AD. The name derives from the means of salvation: the Gnostic is saved through a special knowledge (Gk. gnosis). The central Gnostic doctrine is the ontological dualism between the supreme, ineffable God of love and the material world, considered evil or at best, indifferent. Between God and matter lie a host of spiritual powers, collectively termed the fullness of God. From its lowest rank comes the creator, a demiurge identified with the OT Yahweh. Fallen spiritual powers, often linked with astral referents, now rule the world. The focus of Gnostic redemption is not on God but ultimately upon the individual's self- understanding and the resulting freedom it provides. It declined rapidly in the 3rd century as Christianity countered with apologetic attacks as well as systematic biblical and theological work. Paul dealt with a culture already familiar with some elements of the Gnostic synthesis. An example is the opponents at Corinth "puffed up" with knowledge (1 Cor. 8:1). In 1 Timothy the author censures self-proclaimed teachers of the law (6:4) who teach a false gnosis (v. 20). [Condensed from the Eerdman's Bible Dictionary.]" NOTE: The Outline of 1 John was taken from The MacArthur NKJV Study Bible |
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L. Reed | ||
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Makarios | ||
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Makarios | ||
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ecbntmkr | ||
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wxflight | ||
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kirk |