Master of Christian History Lesson 8
1) What were the roots of these heresies at this time?
External and internal. The external front came mainly from the persecution by the Roman state. The internal front came from those persons within the Christian church who were teaching false heretical doctrines and developing their own canons of writings to support those heresies. Converts to Christianity came from either a Jewish legalistic background or an intellectualism rooted in Greek philosophy.
2) Why was Gnosticism in particular such a great danger to Christian doctrine?
It was at its peek around A.D. 150, its origins can be tracked back into New Testament times. Gnosticism came about from a natural desire to develop what theologians call today theodicy, an explanation for the beginning of evil. Gnostics believe that matter is evil. As such they wanted to create a method to keep God, as spirit, separate from evil, and which humanity came from.
3) How did the existence of these heresies help the Christian church in the long run?
In Gnosticism, salvation was only for the spiritual soul. It might start with faith, but the special knowledge that Christ gave to the elite would be far more helpful in the process of salvation. The body was evil and destined to be cast aside. To keep the body in check, asceticism or complete hand over to libertinism was predicted.
By Rev. Julia
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1) What were the roots of these heresies at this time?
External and internal. The external front came mainly from the persecution by the Roman state. The internal front came from those persons within the Christian church who were teaching false heretical doctrines and developing their own canons of writings to support those heresies. Converts to Christianity came from either a Jewish legalistic background or an intellectualism rooted in Greek philosophy.
2) Why was Gnosticism in particular such a great danger to Christian doctrine?
It was at its peek around A.D. 150, its origins can be tracked back into New Testament times. Gnosticism came about from a natural desire to develop what theologians call today theodicy, an explanation for the beginning of evil. Gnostics believe that matter is evil. As such they wanted to create a method to keep God, as spirit, separate from evil, and which humanity came from.
3) How did the existence of these heresies help the Christian church in the long run?
In Gnosticism, salvation was only for the spiritual soul. It might start with faith, but the special knowledge that Christ gave to the elite would be far more helpful in the process of salvation. The body was evil and destined to be cast aside. To keep the body in check, asceticism or complete hand over to libertinism was predicted.
By Rev. Julia
*******************************
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