Bible Question: What is Gnosticism? Bible is there any were saying about that Jesus did not have a natural flesh during his life on earth. please explain? |
Bible Answer: GNOSTICISM Gnosticism was an important philosophical and religious movement in the second century. Its name comes from the Greek word meaning “knowledge” (gnosis) and refers in particular to secret knowledge that the adherents of this heresy claimed to possess. Gnostics combined various ideas from Oriental religions, Greek philosophy, and mystical Judaism with Christian language. Each gnostic sect followed its own leader, and there were almost as many systems of Gnosticism as there were leaders. Gnostics held that the universe consists of matter and spirit: matter is evil, and spirit is good. The ultimate spirit (the ultimate God) has nothing directly to do with matter. It emanates spirit from itself which, as the spirit is farther away, turns into matter/spirit and then, by the agency of an intermediary god (the “Demiurge”), becomes the created world of matter. This middle god is Jehovah of the Old Testament. Some gnostic groups considered Jesus to be a supernatural being who only appeared to be a man who suffered and died but who did not actually become a physical human being. Gnostics did not believe in a bodily resurrection but rather in reincarnation in cycles until pure spirituality was attained and, finally, absorption in the ultimate spirit. People are divided into “spiritual,” “psychical,” and “carnal,” depending upon the degree to which they possess the divine and secret knowledge. Gnostics rejected the Old Testament, and Marcion and others used a corrupted version of Luke/Acts and Paul. They either composed their own “Scriptures” or allegorized existing ones to suit their doctrines. Secret knowledge was considered to be the highest attainment; the public knowledge of Jesus’ teachings found in the Gospels and Epistles and transmitted publicly by the apostles was considered to be inferior to the secret knowledge allegedly transmitted by Jesus and his followers through separate channels. In ethics the spirit/matter contrast led either to a very ascetic life (have nothing to do with matter) or to a libertine life (indulging in material pleasures because the flesh has no value anyway). The original gnostic as such is considered to be Simon the Magician, spoken of in Acts 8:9–10. McDowell, J. (1997, c1991). Josh McDowell's handbook on apologetics (electronic ed.). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. No Jesus was flesh and blood. He ate, drank, slept, sweated, cried, laughed, was born, died, bleed, felt pain, reasoned, and walk among us. Jesus was flesh and blood as much as you and I are flesh and blood. There is nothing in the the Bible the contradicts this. EdB |
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