The Gnostic Heresy
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Corey J. Mahler
Gnosticism is one of the oldest religions of man. When Satan tempted Eve in the Garden, it was with an invitation to learn secret — explicitly forbidden, in this case — knowledge. From the mystery cults of Ancient Greece and Rome to modern Pentecostalism, Mormonism, and any of dozens of other cults, Gnosticism has always been a major font of false religion and corruption.
Christianity is not a mystery religion; Christianity is a religion with mysteries. The Sacrament is a mystery, because we cannot fully understand it, but it is not a mystery in the sense of being secret knowledge — we proclaim it publicly before the world and it is set forth in God’s Word. Anyone who claims that you must have some secret knowledge in order to be a good or a full or a proper Christian is lying to you and attempting to drag you into heresy and apostasy. There is no secret knowledge in Christianity.
In today’s episode, we do not go over the specifics of any of the various Gnostic cults — ancient or modern; rather, we go over the core of the Gnostic claims and the foundation of their beliefs: the existence of mystical or esoteric knowledge, the salvific nature of this supposed knowledge, dualism, and the denial of the flesh (i.e., the material).
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If anything God commands is good (even genocide), then how can circumcision be evil?
As we went over in the relevant episode, the modern practice called “circumcision” is a very different thing from the ancient practice of the Israelites, which God did, indeed, command. The modern practice is impermissible for a number of reasons, not least of all that it has no command from God and amounts to a particularly noxious form of Judaizing.