Biblical Church History Following the Hand of God and the Hand of Satan

Revelation 2:8-11 c A.D. SmyrnaSmyrna “Bitterness and death”

THE RISE OF GNOSTICISM

the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Rev 2:6) But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Rev 2:15) So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

SMYrNA SMYrNA  Gnosticism came about as an attempt to make Christianity a philosophical system.  “Gnostic” comes from the word “gnosis,” which means “to know,” or “knowledge”  A Gnostic was one who claimed to have a higher plane of learning, or ability “ to know”, than the common man could know.

THE COMMON COMPONENTS OF GNOSTICISM A.Dualism B.Doceticism C.Demiurge

THE EARLY CHURCH GNOSTIC LEADERS

Cerinthus  Born in Egypt of Jewish descent at the close of the 1 st century.  He is educated at Alexandria Egypt  It is with him you see the full manifestation of the Gnostic doctrine of Doceticism

 He believed that the world was not made by God, but by an ignorant being. Newman, A Manual of Church History, 176  Irenaeus and Hipploytus (Ante-Nicene Church Fathers who wrote against Gnosticism) wrote this concerning Cerinthus… “He represented Jesus as not having been born of a virgin..but as of other men, though distinguished above all others by justice and prudence and wisdom. He taught, moreover, that after the baptism of Jesus the Christ descended upon him in the form of a dove from that Sovereign Power which is over all things, and that he then announced..

...the unknown Father and wrought miracles, but that toward the end the Christ departed again from Jesus, and Jesus suffered and rose from the dead, while Christ remained impassible as a spiritual being. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, III,.2 Hippolytus, Refutation of all Heresies, VII,22,cited by Newman, 176.

Saturninus  Born in Antioch of Syria  He established a school of Gnostism in Antioch.  Is known as the founder of Syrian Gnostism.  He is a contemporary of tow other key Gnostics.. BASILISED (130), who teaches in Alexandria. VALENTINUS( ) who teaches in Rome.

 He was key in establishing the Gnostic doctrine that Christ was a Demiurge.  Irenaeus says that he..taught that there is one Father unknown to all, who made angels, archangels, powers, and principalities: that the world and all that is therein was made by certain angels, seven in number; and that man was made by the angels. Newman, A manual of Church History, 186  He believed that God gave man the divine spark  He taught that marriage and procreation was of Satan

 He rejected the Old Testament as literal  He rejected the eating of meat.  He denied the human birth of Christ, and said that Christ only appeared to have a body.  He was run out of Antioch

Marcion  Lived from AD  About 140 A.D., he left Pontus and went to Rome where he became very influential in the Roman Church  He believed that Judaism was evil, and hated the Old Testament and the Jehovah described therein. Cairns, Christianity Trough The Centuries, 99  He believed that Jehovah could not be the same as the God of the New Testament

 He believed the New Testament has been contaminated by Jewish teaching.  He therefore came up with his own New Testament canon.. (Canon His canon consisted of two sections: “The gospel” and “The apostle” F.F. Bruce, The Books and the Parchments, (Fleming H. Revell Co. 1955),106  His canon has only 11 books, rather than 27. His own edited version of the Gospel of Luke, And 10 of the Pauline epistles (excluding the letters to Timothy and Titus).

 He also teaches Doceticism, so in his “gospel of Luke” to line up with his own Gnostic beliefs, he omits everything that has to do with the birth of Christ, the ministry of John the Baptist, the Baptism of Jesus, the genealogy of Christ, and his temptation. Bruce, The books and the Parchments, 107.  Anything that has to do with the Jew, or Judaism, Marcion and his followers has an extreme hatred for it. (This is the beginnings of anti-Semitism in the “church.”

The church leaders from the time after the Apostolic church Fathers to the council of Nicene

Irenaeus  Lived AD  He is known as the bishop of Lyons. (Southern France)  He is born in Smyrna, and in his early years, is influenced by the life and ministry of Polycarp.

 He later became educated in the philosophical mindset of the Greeks, and in his writings, quotes most of the leading Greek classics. Newman, A manual of church history,  He is very important because he wrote five books against Gnostism, called Adversus Haereses, or “against Heresies.”  Some of the things Irenaeus will write in coming against Gnosticism, will be the very things Satan is going to use to more fully develop his false system of religion. (Rev.2:9)

 In attempting to refute Gnosticism, Irenaeus writes that if there were a “secret knowledge”, the Apostles certainly would have had it, and they certainly would have entrusted it to those “whom they selected as their successors in the government of the churches.” Walker, A history of the Christian church, 58  In book III, Irenaeus emphasize the organic unity of the church through the apostolic successors of leaders from Christ and a rule of faith.” Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries, 110.  It is through this fabricated Apostolic line that Irenaeus will tell us “the ecclesiastical tradition from the Apostles,” and “the preaching of the truth have come down to us.” Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Vol.III

 Irenaeus writes that Rome was the “greatest” and “oldest” church “acknowledged by all” and founded by Peter and Paul. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Vol.III  He says, “it is a matter of necessity that every church should agree with this church. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Vol.III  He writes that the Lord’s Supper confers “life” “For as the bread, which is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly; so also our bodies, when they receive the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Vol.III

 “the Eucharist is the human organism of Jesus Christ, made up of His flesh, sinews, and bones, and the cup is His blood and the bread is His body. It nourishes our literal flesh and bones because it is literal flesh and blood. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, V.2:3  As he writes about Christ being the Second Adam, he begins to suggest that his mother was the second Eve. Walker, A history of the Christian church, 63.  “The knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosened by the obedience of Mary. For what the Virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith.”

Cyprian  Lived AD  He was born in Africa, and is known as the Bishop of Carthage.  He was known for his Sacnity. Newman, A Manual of Church History, 265

 Newman writes, “ He was a genuine Pastor, and had the profoundest regard for the welfare of each member of the flock..He had administrative plans, and he insisted on executing them.” Newman, A Manual of Church History, 265,267  He writes two major works: De Unitate Catholicae Ecclesiae, or “The Unity of the Catholic Church” Cyprian Epistles  A sampling of Cyprian’s teaching:  He calls the bishops or pastors, “Priest.” Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers, (Oxford Univ. Press, 1956) 266

 There is one God, and Christ is one, and there is one church, and one chair founded upon the rock by the word of the Lord. Cyprian, Epistles, 29-42:5  He referred to Rome as “the chief church whence priestly unity takes it source.” Cyprian Epistles, 54-59:14  Cairns comments, “Though all bishops were equal, and though all were in the line of Apostolic secession of bishops from Christ Himself, Rome deserved special honor, it was believed because its bishops was in the line of succession from Peter. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries.

 Cyprians statements concerning the church and salvations..Whoever he may be and whatever he may be, he who is not in the church of Christ is not a Christian. Cyprian, Epistles, 51-55:24  He can no longer have God for his Father, who has no the church for His mother. Cyprian, Unity of the Catholic Church.  There is no salvation out of the Church. Cyprian, Epistles, 72-73:21  The business of the Christian “priest” is “to serve the altar and to celebrate the divine sacrifice.  These teaching are going to become a part of Roman Catholic traditions, which they say is not only with the Bible, but is equal in verbal inspiration to the Bible.

Hippolytus  Lived AD  He was a disciple of Irenaeus.  He also writes against Gnosticism, in his work, Refutation of All Heresies.  The way Irenaeus and Hippolytus saw to keep the unity of the church against heresies was to elevate the office of Bishop.

 By the time of Hippolytus, Callistus, the Roman Bishop was saying that a Roman Bishop can never be deposed or compelled to resign no matter what kind of sin he’s committing.  A conflict arises in the Roman Church concering the trinity, and in Book IX Hippolytus writes against Callistus, and divides the church into two distinct parities.  Hippolytus emerges as the bishop of the “party that claimed to be the true church of Rome.”