The apostle Peter writes in his second letter,
“…there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”
2 Peter 2:1b
Even in the early years of the Christian Church, false teachers had already infiltrated the faith, twisting the truth. Gnosticism and Montanism were among the many heresies that developed during this time.
The term Gnosticism encompassed many groups, unified by the goal of finding a, in the words of Simonetta Carr, “higher knowledge.” Gnostics considered the teachings of the apostles too simplistic. They taught that the fallenness of the world was due to an inferior god struggling against a superior god. They also considered the material world irrelevant, which led to their denial of Christ’s incarnation and sacrifice.
Around AD 180, a Christian leader called Irenaeus wrote a work titled Against Heresies, in which he argued against Gnosticism using satire, logic, and thousands of references to both the Old and New Testaments. Irenaeus served as a missionary in Gaul, modern-day France, where Gnosticism became particularly tempting to the local persecuted Christians. However, he took issue with the fact that Gnostics did not view the Bible as a unified whole. He disputed the teachings of some Gnostics that there were multiple gods, from whom came a complicated succession of other spiritual powers, mockingly calling the deities Gourd and Utter Emptiness: “This Gourd and Emptiness, since they are one, produced (and yet did not simply produce, so as to be apart from themselves) a fruit, everywhere visible, eatable, and delicious, which fruit-language calls a Cucumber… Along with this Cucumber exists a power of the same essence, which again I call a Melon” (Carr). Another Christian called Tertullian, author of the famous quote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” also confronted Gnosticism and various heresies, but he eventually turned to Montanism.
Montanism developed when a Christian called Montanus decided that the church was not ready for Jesus’ return. Montanus thought himself to be the Holy Spirit incarnate, and his teachings categorized Christians into two groups: the pneumatakoi, those that were filled with the Spirit, and the non-pneumatakoi. However, Paul explains in First Corinthians that every believer receives the Holy Spirit, as well as a spiritual gift.
“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
1 Corinthians 12:7-11
So many deviations from the truth so soon after Jesus’ life should serve as a warning for today’s Christians to beware of modern heresies and false teachings. Although the gospel may be simple, as the Gnostics thought, that is part of its beauty, and with any additions or complications, it ceases to be truth.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
Works Cited:
Carr, Simonetta. “Irenaeus of Lyon.” Christianity Today, Christianity Today, 17 June 2019, www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/irenaeus-gnosticism-gaul-erasmus-persecution.html.
ESV Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2011 ed., Crossway, 2008.
“Montanism.” Ligonier, Ligonier Ministries, www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/montanism.
Nassif, Bradley. “Heresy in the Early Church: Christian History Timeline.” Christian History, 1996, www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-51/heresy-in-early-church-christian-history-timeline.html.
Severance, Diane. “Who Was Tertullian? His Writings and Significance.” Christianity.com, Salem Web Network, 3 May 2010, www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/tertullian-11629598.html.
Image Credit:
Gambier, Gérald. “Stained Glass Image of Irenaeus of Lyon, by Lucien Bégule.” Christianity Today, 17 June 2019, www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/evangelistsandapologists/irenaeus-gnosticism-gaul-erasmus-persecution.html. Accessed 25 Sept. 2021.