By Pastor Dave Farmer

Fighting Gnosticism - Part 3 is about the Apostates and the Apologists of the First - Third Centuries.

Topic #4 The Apostates and The Apologists

I. THE APOSTATES:

Apostasy is a departure from the truth, and once the Word of God was written, and disseminated it becomes easier to detect. The testimony of these men was that they were Christians and followers of Christ. They ministered in and among the churches that were growing in number and in many places throughout the Roman Empire.

From our viewpoint, we evaluate their teaching in the light of the completed Canon of Scripture. Their flawed approach was not that the Written Word was incomplete or unavailable but that they never turned away from the main tenets of Gnosticism. They mixed the philosophical speculation of Hellenism with Bible doctrine and ended up with what Paul termed the doctrine of demons, 1 Timothy 4:1. John called them antichrists, 1 John 2:18. It took hundreds of years to strip out from theology the dogmas of Gnosticism.

A. Cerinthus around 88 A.D. The Two Person theory

Cerinthus was one of the early Christian Gnostics. He was a Jew by race and religion. He studied in Alexandria, Egypt, and appeared in Palestine around 88 A.D. He moved to Asia Minor and was very active there. He was a contemporary of the Apostle John and was the individual, like Cerinthus, that John had in mind when he wrote 1 John.

He is not mentioned in the Bible, but Irenaeus reported that the Apostle John went into a bathhouse in Ephesus, and upon learning that Cerinthus was there, fled for fear that the bathhouse would collapse. He also stated in his writings that the Apostle John wrote his first epistle in defense against Gnosticism. ¹ Cerinthus said:

"Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary” and he denied the virgin birth. He taught that “at the baptism of Jesus THE CHRIST descended upon Him in the form of a dove, providing for Jesus miraculous powers and that at his death THE CHRIST departed from Him, so that only the man Jesus died and rose again.” ²

This is the two-person theory about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is two different persons, the heavenly Christ and the earthly Jesus. Here we see the influence of the anthropological philosophic speculation of Gnosticism, which said God is good, but all matter is evil. This led to the denial of the humanity of Christ. The flesh or the physical body is evil, and a Holy God could not become flesh. According to Cerinthus, Jesus was just a channel that God used for a short period of time. This was a denial that God was manifested in the flesh (John 1:14).

The idea was so abhorrent to them that they would concoct the craziest explanation to bypass the truth that God became a man possessing a physical body. The fall of man tended to support their view, but because they denied the virgin birth, which protected our Lord Jesus from the contamination of the Old Sin Nature, they found fanciful ways to avoid the incarnation.

B. Basilides: 100-150 A.D. The Theory Of The Switch

Basilides was active in the Second Century. He headed the school of Gnosticism in Alexandria, Egypt. He had a very interesting theory. He taught that Jesus was not crucified on the cross as we suppose. God would not stoop so low as to partake of a human body much less allow Himself to be crucified. Rather, what happened was “that Simon of Cyrene, who was compelled to carry the cross, was transfigured into the likeness of Christ and was crucified instead. Jesus was given the appearance of Simon and standing by laughed at the mistaken Romans and Jews. ³

C. Saturninus: 100-150 A.D. A Spirit Theory

Another second-century Gnostic whose ministered in Antioch, and who founded the Syrian School of Gnosticism, was confronted by Irenaeus, in his first book, "Irenaeus Against Heresies." There he summarized the view of Saturninus:

"He also laid it down as a truth, that the Savior was without birth, without body, and without figure...^"4

D. Valentinus: 140 A.D. He Just Looked Real Theory

He founded a school of Gnosticism in Rome around the year 140 A.D. He taught:

that Jesus did not eat and drink like men and that He passed through Mary just as water passes through a tube... ⁵

They don’t know how to handle the incarnation, and because of this came up with elaborate explanations. He didn’t have a human body; it just looked real. Some said it was a human body, but it wasn’t made of the same stuff that you and I are made. No matter what theory they devised it all came out the same, a denial of the true humanity of Jesus Christ.

E. Marcion: 144 A.D. The Sudden Appearance Theory

The most famous of all Gnostics came from a pastor’s home. Marcion was born in Senopia, Pontus, on the Black Sea in Asia Minor. He was the son of a Bishop. He arrived in Rome about 140 A.D. and was influenced by Gnosticism. Remember that all of these men claim to be Christians, and they move freely from Church to Church. Marcion stated:

That Jesus Christ was not born of a woman; He suddenly appeared in the synagogue at Capernaum in A.D. 29 as a grown man. For He was not like any other man except in appearance. He was a new being on earth^{. 6}

He also said that Christ did not suffer. How can God suffer? That is impossible. The sufferings were not real; they merely appeared that way. He denied the resurrection. He was excommunicated in 144 A.D. from the Roman Church. He set up his own church, modeled if after the orthodox churches of his day, taught his own clergy, etc. This movement of Marcionism died out by the fourth century. ⁷

II. THE APOLOGISTS:

A. The Apostles: 33-100 A.D.

Because Christian Gnosticism was contemporary with the Apostles, we have recorded in the Word several epistles which were written to attack this problem of the denial of the humanity of Christ. Jesus Christ truly possessed a perfect human nature, body, soul, and spirit. The Apostle John wrote 1 John against this heresy. He provided a theological statement about the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the God - John 1:1. He is a man - 1 John 4:2. Paul wrote Colossians and 1, 2 Timothy, to correct this error.

B. Ignatius: 96-150 A.D.

Ignatius was led to the Lord by the Apostle John and became the pastor-teacher of the Church of Antioch. He was arrested by the Roman authorities because of his Christian testimony and was sent to Rome to be killed by beasts in the imperial games. He was eaten! What has come down to us in several letters which he wrote is that he opposed Gnosticism. He ministered in a day when Gnosticism in Antioch was influencial. ⁸

In the Epistle to the Smyritians he wrote, “He (Jesus Christ) suffered truly as also He raised Himself truly; not as certain unbelievers say, that He suffered in semblance, but themselves mere semblance.” ⁹ You will note that he called them unbelievers. They could not be truly saved because their Christ was a different Christ. Ignatius said the suffering of Christ on the cross was real! Jesus did not have a phantom body. He lived a genuinely human life and died a real human death."

C. Justin Martyr: 100-165 A.D.

Justin was born in the town of Shechem (Palestine.) He early became a wandering philosopher in search of the truth. He finally found peace when he met the Prince of Peace. He taught in Ephesus and then in Rome. He was martyred in Rome in 165 A.D. This was a difficult time for the Church. Not only were they facing great persecution from Roman authorities, but also they had the added burden of having false teaching surrounding them. It was Justin who confronted Marcion Gnosticism, and he wrote, “that Marcion was aided by the Devil in his blaspheme.”¹⁰

D. Irenaeus: 145-200 A.D.

Irenaeus was born in the great city of Smyrna. Smyrna was the city where Polycarp was Pastor. He also was a student of the Apostle John. Irenaeus was raised in this Church and became a very successful missionary to the Gauls. He is noted primarily for his work “Against Heresies,” which was a polemic against Gnosticism. In his mind, we have the most precise picture of the two natures of Christ. He said, “That Christ and Jesus are one in the same Person. Jesus Christ - The Son of God - who created the world was born a man and suffered and ascended to heaven still man as well as God.” ¹¹

E. Jerome: 340-420 A.D.

The great Latin Father who was also the author of the famous Latin Vulgate spoke of the problem of Gnosticism, and in The Dialogue Against The Luciferians he said:

When the blood of Christ was but lately shed and the apostles were still in Judæa, the Lord’s body was asserted to be a phantom;¹²

F. The Apostle 's Creed: 100 A.D.

The apostle creed was in existence very early. No later than the turn of the First Century. It states the facts about Christ in a condensed form for memory purposes. One interesting thing is that the humanity of the Lord Jesus is stressed. This is due to its anti-Gnostic purpose. The Apostles responded to this false teaching by presenting the great historical movements of Christ, which Augustine called brevis et grandis or brief as to the number of words, grand as to the weight of its teachings. It is as follows:

The Apostle's Creed

“I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth:

“And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

“Born of the Virgin Mary,

“Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

“Was crucified, dead and buried.

“He descended into Hades:

“The third day He rose again from the dead.

“He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

“From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

“I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness

of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.”

G. Conclusion

Gnosticism resulted in a denial of the unique Person of The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, "the Greeks seek after wisdom, but God confounded their wisdom." This is certainly true for as they argued among themselves, "If He suffered, said the Ebonites, He was not divine. If he was divine answered the docetists, His suffering was not real." When you mix human philosophic thought with Bible Doctrine, you end up with a denial of Scripture as the infallible, inerrant, Word of God, then after that, nothing is true.

ENDNOTES

¹ Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia of The Bible "Cerinthus" Merrill C. Tenney editor (Zondervan Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1975 ).

² Ibid.

³ Murray, D.C. A History of Heresy (New English Library, London ,1976) p. 25.

⁴ Irenaeus of Lyons. (1885). Irenæus Against Heresies. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol.1 p.349). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

⁵ Irenaeus of Lyons. (1885). Irenæus Against Heresies. In A. Roberts, J. Donaldson, & A. C. Coxe (Eds.), The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus (Vol. 1, p. 325). Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company.

⁶ Erdmann's Handbook to the History of Christianity, “Marcion” H. Dermot McDonald, (Wm. B. Publishing Co. Michigan, 1977) pp. 102,103.

⁷ Ibid.

⁸ Cairns, E.E. Christianity Through the Centuries, (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1967) pp. 78, 79

⁹ Ibid. Mackintosh, p. 130.

¹⁰ Erdmann's Handbook to the History of Christianity, pp. 102,103.

¹¹ Ibid. Mackintosh, page 147.

¹² Jerome. (1893). The Dialogue against the Luciferians. In P. Schaff & H. Wace (Eds.), W. H. Fremantle, G. Lewis, & W. G. Martley (Trans.), St. Jerome: Letters and Select Works (Vol. 6, p. 332). New York: Christian Literature Company.