Marcion
In my opinion, Gnosticism is like a huge cancerous growth that, although is often labelled as a branch of Christianity, is anything but. It is a form of religion that draws from a whole range of religious traditions, including the occult, eastern mysticism, astrology, magic, esoteric Judaism, pseudo-Christianity, and various forms of Greek philosphy, amongst numerous other things pertaining to hidden knowledge. The name itself is derived from the Greek word “ginosko” (meaning: to know).
This heresy has directly affected the Body of Christ since it’s formation, and possibly the earliest person recorded to be a part of this heretical movement was Simon Magnus. This was the man who was strongly involved with the occult, and then attempted to purchase the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 8:9-24. He is said to have shortly afterwards gone to Rome and set up a Gnostic sect.
Gnosticism flourished between the second and third centuries A.D., at the leadership of people such as; Basilides, Valentinus, Marcion, Ptolemaeus, Cerinthus, Menander, and Saturninus, to name but a few. Then in the third century, a man by the name of Mani led the whole movement to that of a worldwide religion named Manichaeism, which drew strongly from the writings of Buddha and Zoroaster. One of the most significant converts from Manichaeism was a man by the name of Augustine of Hippo, who is now recognised as one of the church fathers, and did much to develop such doctrines as original sin.
Gnosticism became less and less popular after the third century, as many of the Gnostic writings were buried in the desert around those times. However in 1945, in an Egyptian place called Nag Hammadi, a discovery was made of a number of Gnostic writings, now known as the Gnostic Gospels, which has led to a rise in popularity of the movement again. To Gnostics, the codices found at Nag Hammadi are considered to be of equal if not greater worth than the Bible itself, which is a direct contradiction of the canon of Scripture which has long been closed, and claims to be completely sufficient for life and Godliness (2Tim 3:16-17).
It is not difficult to find Gnostic teachings on the internet, and I have no desire to expand on them in this article, except to say that they promote an extremely warped view of God Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, and all that He has created. Also they relegate the position of God’s Word to the same level as man made books, philosophies, and imaginations, in their ultimate pursuit of knowledge.
Although Gnosticism may come under a different guise today, usually under the label of New Age, it is very much alive and kicking. Many times in popular ministries, there are those who claim to have some sort of secret knowledge or experience from the Lord, which often cannot be backed up by Scripture at best, or even completely contradicts Scripture at worst. Regardless of how popular or successful these ministries may be, and no matter how “Christian” they may appear, if what they teach and preach conflicts with the teaching of the Bible, we must reject them out of hand. And even if that which they teach simply seems to have no foundation upon the truth of the Bible, we must remain completely diligent and on our highest guard.
We are commanded from Scripture to seek after His Kingdom and Righteousness Matthew 6:33, and we also have the promise of God that those who diligently seek after His wisdom shall find it Proverbs 8:4-17, and it shall be more valuable than silver and gold. However what we must earnestly consider is that to find the true wisdom of God, we can only find it in the places He has designated, and not in every nook and cranny as with the Gnostics. In no uncertain terms we can know that there is only one way to eternal life, and that is through Christ and His sacrificial blood John 14:6. We can know that Scripture alone is that which is guaranteed authentically given to us by God Himself, and is sufficient for all our understanding, and for every good work 2 Timothy 3:16-17. And we can know that, through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit within us, we shall know all things 1 John 2:20-21.
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