Gnosticism

Alive and Well In The 21^st Century

Catholics and other Christians read or hear about Gnosticism, and think it a heresy that was well defeated almost 2,000 years ago. The truth is, that although Gnosticism in and of itself is “dead” as a religion (thanks mostly to the work of Saint Irenaeus of Lyons for his work “Against Heresies”), it is a major component in all heresies, and in many heresies, it is the largest contribution to those heresies. In truth, many works read and believed...unfortunately...are rampant with Gnosticism. As are many “New Age” religions. Gnosticism, has just been reworked so to speak, with new names but the same tenets.

First, let us take a look at the work that is so full of Gnostic beliefs and ideas, that it is mind boggling that many Christians took this work of fiction, which is what it has always declared itself to be, as a work of fact! The title of this infamous novel, is “The DaVinci Code” by Dan Brown. Yet, many people who attend Mass, who attend services at their church, who will call themselves true believers, grabbed onto this book, and began exploring this work of fiction as truth. The dictionary tells us what fiction is:

1. a. An imaginative creation or a pretense that does not represent actuality but has been invented.
b. The act of inventing such a creation or pretense.

2. A lie.

3. a. A literary work whose content is produced by the imagination and is not necessarily based on fact.
b. The category of literature comprising works of this kind, including novels and short stories.

Amazingly enough, people forgot all about this warning from Christ Himself, as recorded in the Gospel of Saint Mark:

Mark 13:22 For there will rise up false Christs and false prophets, and they shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce (if it were possible) even the elect.

And people were seduced, and are still being seduced into believing a work of fiction, instead of believing the Holy Word of God. They would rather accept as fact, the words of a man who is willing to get paid for what he wrote, as opposed to accepting as fact the words of men who were willing to die for what they wrote.

People who are accepting “The Davinci Code” as fact, accepting it as truth, and are ready, willing, and able to throw away the truth of Holy Scripture, are not Christian, but, are in fact apostates and heretics, who have thrown the truth of Jesus Christ out the window, and have thrown their salvation away as well. Apostasy is the total rejection by a baptized person of the Christian faith he once professed. Heresy is an opinion or a doctrine at variance with established religious beliefs, especially dissension from or denial of Roman Catholic dogma by a professed believer or baptized church member.

Now, there is the National Geographic Channel, who is pushing a special in April, that touts a discovery that exasperated 21^st century Bible scholars, The Gospel of Judas. Now, it seems that the National Geographic Society, through its television channel, is out to destroy it's own credibility. Saint Irenaeus himself, showed the fallacy of this so-called “gospel” in “Against Heresies” about the “Doctrines of the Cainites” Book 1, Chapter 31, paragraph 1:

“Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. On this account, they add, they have been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.”

Now, I ask you...if you have read the truth of the Holy Scriptures, especially the Gospels, how could a person be so ignorant, so intellectually challenged, as to actually believe that there was a “Gospel of Judas”?
Especially, as that “gospel” is widely acknowledged to have been written in the 2^nd century!

Why do people make such a great effort to read those Gospels known as the Gnostic Gospels, such as The Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Nicodemus, and others? Yet these same people cannot and will not take the time, or make the effort to read the Gospels of Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. The Church has consistently advised the faithful to not read the Gnostics as they are heretical, and lack genuineness and canonicity. They have none of the truth that is Christ Jesus, but, they do have all of the deceit and lies of a false heretical belief system known as Gnosticism.

If people have grown weary of the teachings of the one true Church, have grown weary of professing their faith by the reception of the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, what hope is left for them? I am afraid that all we can do is pray for them, and gently remind them, that although they are weary of the Church, God, and His one true Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church are not weary of them. For the Shepherd always welcomes His lost sheep back to the fold.

These people are like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They willingly defy what God wants for us all. Eve's first mistake, was not eating the apple. Her first mistake, was listening to Satan to begin with. The people who are so ready for these heresies, have also made the mistake of listening to Satan. Adam and Eve allowed their pride to overrule what God had told them. It was pride which made them eat the apple, to not just be “like God” as the serpent said, but, to surpass God. They, like Satan, wanted to become greater than God Himself. The people who so readily latch onto this modern day Gnosticism also are allowing their pride to lead them into believing that they can have a knowledge that is only obtainable by God, and that with this knowledge they can surpass God. Adam and Eve had no predecessors to warn them of the consequences of their actions. All they had, was the Word of God, and in the end, who did Adam and Eve follow, and whom did they obey? Adam and Eve, like us, had God's Word, because as Saint John says in his Gospel:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

In the end, as always the choice is ours. Do we follow our first parents, and allow our pride to lead us to a fall? Or, do we follow Christ, and His Church, and like Jesus and Mary, remain obedient to God and His word? For whoever or whatever fills your heart, mind, and soul, is your God, your faith.

Copyright © 2006 Steve Smith. All Rights Reserved.