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GNOSTICISM & END OF THE WORLD, MAY 21, 2011

By Mike Taylor


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The internet is all in a buzz. Emails are flying fast and furious. Facebook is all a twitter with information concerning the “end of the world”. If you are unaware of this phenomenon, then maybe you should count yourself blessed, but many people in the “Christian” community are infatuated with the “prophecy” of one, Harold Camping, who has a website www.familyradio.com. On this site he gives, or the authors do, their reasoning of why God is going to destroy the earth in 13 day from now, which is today, May 8th, 2011.

I, like many other curious souls, went to their website to review their material and the best I can come up with is, it’s highly convoluted and twists the scriptures to fulfill their “secret knowledge” of something you and I cannot discern from reading the Holy Bible. Did I say “secret knowledge”? Yes, I did. Does it remind you of something, Christian Saint? It does me. In the first century church a movement was creeping into the church called “Gnosticism” or Gnosis….secret knowledge.


What is Gnosticism?

If you wish, take a moment and Google the word, Gnosis, or Gnosticism. You will find this definition, from Wikipedia:

“Gnosticism (Greek: γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge) was a group of ancient religions that combined different elements from Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism (especially Zurvanism), Neoplatonism, and eventually early Christianity.
It taught that some esoteric knowledge (or Gnosis) was necessary for salvation from the material world, which was created by some intermediary figure (or demiurge) instead of God. In some systems, the demiurge was considered evil, in others merely imperfect. Different gnostic schools sometimes identified the demiurge as Adam, Ahriman, Samael, Satan, Yaldabaoth, or Yahweh.
Many schools inverted traditional interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, leading Jewish-Israeli scholar Gershom Scholem (according to Hans Jonas) to call Gnosticism "the greatest case of metaphysical anti-Semitism." However, some scholars have argued that Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) is Gnostic, and more recent research into Gnosticism's origins reveal influence from Jewish Hekhalot mysticism.
Jesus is identified by some Gnostic sects as an embodiment of the supreme being who became incarnate to bring gnōsis to the earth. In others (e.g. the Notzrim and Mandaeans), he is considered a mšiha kdaba or "false messiah" who perverted the teachings entrusted to him by John the Baptist. Still other traditions identify Mani and Seth, third son of Adam and Eve, as salvific figures.
Some consider Gnosticism to be a branch of Christianity, but alternate theories trace Gnostic systems to centuries before the Christian Era, predating the birth of Jesus. The movement spread in areas controlled by the Roman Empire and Arian Goths, and the Persian Empire; it continued to develop in the Mediterranean and Middle East before and during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Conversion to Islam and the Albigensian Crusade (1209–1229) greatly reduced the remaining number of Gnostics throughout the Middle Ages, though a few Mandaean communities still exist. Gnostic and pseudo-gnostic ideas became influential in some of the philosophies of various esoteric mystical movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries in Europe and North America, including some that explicitly identify themselves as revivals or even continuations of earlier gnostic groups.”

Paul in his epistles warned of a heresy that was entering the church when he rebuked the 1st century church:

Gnosticism is not mentioned by name in the Bible, with one possible exception, I Timothy 6:20-21:
O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and vain babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen.

Paul warns Timothy and the church members about following after this secret knowledge. Paul warns about "the subtleties and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge and spiritual illumination." The word translated "knowledge" in most translations ("science" in the King James Version) is the Greek gnosis. Literally meaning "to know," it forms the root of the word Gnosticism. It is possible, even probable, that Paul refers to Gnosticism here, since both of his letters to Timothy contain warnings against false teachings that draw a believer away from the truth of God.


Why is Gnosticism so dangerous? Because it draws the believer away from truth with contradictions of God’s Word. Jesus said in Mark 13:

13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
13:34 For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
13:35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
13:36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
How clear must our Lord be? Why has this heresy been allowed to flourish at this future time of when this warning was given by the creator of the universe, our Lord, Jesus Christ?

There has been a heightened awareness of the Gnostic movement by Hollywood producing thrillers (fictional) like the “Da Vinci Code” or “National Treasure” that puts emphasis on the concept of secret knowledge, or total denial of the truth of the Bible.
Then there are the Gnostic gospels that have been discovered that give an alternate version of the Holy Bible. They go so far as to deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, the crucifixion and the bodily resurrection of Jesus to their own ****ation to those who believe such rubbish.
Let us look at just one example of the heresy found in just one of these Gnostic gospels that are in direct conflict with Holy Scripture. In the Gospel of Thomas we find this:

Jesus is quoted as saying, "[Blessed is] the one who came into being before coming into being." This makes absolutely no sense to us, but it does make a kind of sense to Gnostics, who believe in a dualism of flesh and spirit. Thus, they understand that "Jesus" implies that the spirit could come into being before the flesh. Many Gnostics were followers of docetism, the belief that Jesus and Christ were two separate beings in one body. Docetists believed that the man Jesus was born, and that the pre-existing god Christ entered into Him when He was baptized and left again before He was crucified. This, then, is an example of coming into being before coming into being.


Do we see the error of this type of thinking? It denies that Jesus was God and that He was brought into being and that He was not eternal with the Father.

Philip Jenkins, in Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way, notes: "Gnostic believers practiced 'equal access, equal participation and equal claims to knowledge,' to the extent of allocating clerical functions by lot at their ceremonies." This can be seen not only in the ordination of women, but also in the attitude of some Christians who argue that, since "we all have the Holy Spirit," we do not need any authoritative teacher or leader. While this idea on the surface appears to support “goodness”, the result is confusion as doctrine becomes subjected to the lowest common denominator. Not surprisingly, such individuals typically believe that they know better—or more—than the rest of the church and particularly the ministry.


Is Harold Camping promoting Gnosticism?

If you study the life of Mr. Camping, as I have wrote in the past, was an engineer by trade. What does an engineer do that is a part of his profession? He uses science to calculate. Mr. Camping is a mathematician who has tried to calculate the end of the world. I recall that there has been a group of heretics called the Jehovah Witness, who have tried to calculate the return of Jesus Christ for the last 150 years. They have elaborate schemes and scenarios of when the Day of the Lord will arrive and when the Church will be removed from this earth. Of course, it will only be their sect that will be removed, as they are the only ones with the truth. Problem is, they have failed each and every time that they have made predictions. That got so many dates wrong, that I don’t believe they have predicted anything for a little while, or at least broadcasted it passed their windowless “Kingdom Halls” for a number of years.



So it is with Mr. Camping and the Family Radio website. They have used special knowledge that is only available to them. They have picked and chosen the scriptures that they wish to use to support their false doctrine and have ignored or denied the clear message what Jesus taught when He was here on earth and what the Apostles preached in the New Testament concerning His return to this earth. What did Jesus say? He told us to WATCH!!

Luke 12:35-40 provides a good illustration of watching:
Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning [that is, be prepared]; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. . . . And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
And in Luke, Jesus emphasized:
21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
If you take the Bible as a whole, which is all of God’s Word and take it for what it says, do you find anything in its verses that would give you the calculations of when the Day of the Lord will be precisely? No, you do not.
I have covered this subject before, but with the heightened buzz of the “end of the world” I found it necessary to warn all who love truth and scriptures found in your Bible and to cover this subject one more time. If you would like to read the full account of this heresy that Mr. Camping is promoting, then you will find the article I wrote here on this website, at
http://www.raptureready.com/soap/taylor24.html
Brothers and sisters, I would love to be wrong, and that Jesus would actually come in just short of two weeks, but my bible proves to me, that this is not the case. There is still many things that must come to pass, as noted in Revelation, Matthew, and Daniel for the Day of the Lord to arrive and for the Church to be removed before these events transpire, and we are not there yet. Be not deceived, as Gnosticism will do nothing but one thing:
Wear out the saints!!
When this event comes and goes, many who put their whole trust in this “false prophecy” will be disillusioned, and they may question their standing with God. They may think they have missed “the return of Jesus Christ”. They may become despondent or fall from the faith and following after Jesus Christ. Many will have sold their homes, dropped out from society, or left friends and family thinking they have no need for these material trappings. But if this prophecy be true, has Mr. Camping sold his possessions and his home? I’m told he has not. Again, what did Jesus Say?

"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" —Luke 18:8

The implication seems to be that very few will have the strength of faith that Jesus is talking about. As the God of the Old Testament, Jesus, having looked into man's heart from Creation and seeing humanity's trajectory to our day, had every reason to ask if there would be faith at the end time! Even the Jews of His lifetime, full of Messianic fervor, did not have the faith He is seeking! Would even His chosen people—Christians, the followers of Christ—have saving faith?


These followers of this new “prophecy” claim unless you believe their teachings, and believe that Jesus will return on their prescribed day, then, as one emailer from Family Radio sent to me, “May God have mercy on your soul.” Let me explain something to him and to all. There is only one way to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ and it is not believing on a “scientifically calculated” day that smacks of Gnosticism. Jesus said:

“I am the way, the truth and the Life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me” John 14:6.


For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth in HIM, should not perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him, might be saved.” John 3:16-17.



The Apostle Peter proclaimed this truth in Acts:

4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.



When this day comes and goes, I encourage every believer that truly loves the Lord, to get in contact with any one who is connected with this site www.familyradio.com, and preach them the gospel of Jesus Christ and His soon return to this earth to receive His church in His hour, not theirs.


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Zechariah 12:3,9:
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
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Steven

Though I am not a Gnostic and do not support Gnostic teachings in any way, I find that this writer appears to NOT understand that - when Yahshua came in the flesh the first time - Yahshua was indeed a dual being. He was the eternal Son of God united in spirit with the Son of Man that was born in the flesh to the godly Jewess named Miriam or Mary.

This means that the corruptible Son of Man - who was never corrupted because He NEVER sinned (though He was capable of sinning) - died on the Cross for our sins, while the Son of God could not ever die as He is eternal like His Father Yahweh. Nonetheless, the Son of God felt the suffering and pain of crucifixion through His fleshly counterpart, and in His resurrection, the Son of Man portion of Christ was both perfect and incorruptible and was thereby re-united to the Son of God portion of Christ FOREVER.

So the understanding of the duality of Christ is NOT where Gnosticism and Christianity differ! On the contrary, Gnostics err partly because they see Yahshua's Preincarnate Self as not being eternal, as well as in their erroneous assumption that all flesh is evil and will one day be completely done away with.

But by far the biggest error of Gnosticism is their belief that they can attain Gnosis (i.e. perfect knowledge) by realizing their oneness with God through embracing the FALSE knowledge that the physical world is and always was evil and only the spirit is and always was good. In other words, Gnostics deny that Original Sin has anything to do with the spiritual part of man, and everything to do with his flesh. In other words, Gnostics believe that taking on flesh and creating a material world WAS the Original Sin! This is why they see our Father God as the Devil and why they see their spiritual selves as being one with their God Satan without any need for Yahshua's sacrifice on the Cross.

Just thought I'd point that out.

Finally, I also wanted to point out that this author seems to assume - like Harold Camping - that the End of the World is going to occur in one 24-hour day. This is simply not true, and the Book of Revelation makes this amply clear with the progressive seal, trumpet and bowl judgments. This progression indicates that the end of the world as we know it will come about in a progression of events from bad to worse that will take some time to unfold, and though much will happen during this terrible time, there is nothing left that has to happen before the Rapture.

In fact, since the great falling away from the faith has already occurred via the New Age and Ecumenical movements, the Rapture could happen at any time, and the Rapture is only the first note in the symphony of destruction that is coming upon this Earth during the Tribulation.

Yours in Yahshua,
Helena Lehman
http://pillar-of-enoch.com

Helen, I appreciate your thoughtful response here...and I think you are right on. Unfortunately, most Christians are very ignorant of philosophy of religion(s) and therefore hear something that sounds "good" and take it as gospel, never being able to discern properly the roots of that thinking, and where it ultimately leads. Consequently, we have things like the emerging/emergent church movement that is infiltrating even traditionally conservative denominations.