The Great Apostacy

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Heber13
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Re: The Great Apostacy

Post by Heber13 »

mormonheretic wrote:This is one of my favorite topics--I've posted about various early Christian movements on my blog. I don't know if you've ever heard of Gnostic Christianity--it is a competing form of Christianity that had some very unusual beliefs. Gnosticism is an umbrella term, much like Protestantism. Not all Protestants believe exactly the same things, but they do share some broad similarities. Gnosticism works the same way. Gnosis is a greek work that means "secret knowledge." Gnostic Christians believe they had secret knowledge of Jesus.

For example, the Gospel of Judas was first mentioned by St Irenaeus in the 2nd century (100-200 AD). (The Egyptian version discovered by National Geographic isn't quite that old--it dates to the 4th Century.) Irenaeus declared the Gospel of Judas a pungent heresy. In this gospel, Judas is seen as smarter than all the other apostles. Judas was asked by Jesus to betray him. Gnostics believe that the body and resurrection is a bad thing. Judas helped Jesus rid himself of his earthly, corruptible body. Gnostics believe in a good God (his name escapes me), and the bad god's name is Jehovah. In Gnostic belief, Cain is good, because he slew Abel, Judas is good because he helped Jesus. According to the Jewish encyclopedia, Jewish Gnosticism predates Christianity. See http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view. ... z0s7YSrPiH

The New Testament Canon wasn't established until the 4th Century. Gnostic Christians rivaled Orthodox Christians in size. (There was no such thing as a Catholic Church until at least the 7th century, and the formal schism with the Orthodox Church occured in 1050 AD.) Constantine sided with the Orthodox Christians, and started persecuting Gnostic Christians. These Gnostic Christians existed until the 7th or 8th century AD. Constantine wanted the church to establish a canon. Prior to this, the New Testament did not exist, and there was much debate about what scriptures should be added.

The Gospel of John has gnostic elements. The Gospel of Judas and Gospel of Thomas are well-known gnostic Gospels. The Gospel of Thomas pre-dates all of the biblical gospels, and some scholars have wondered if it is the source Q. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all contain identical Greek translations of Jesus’ sayings, and these sayings bear striking resemblances to Thomas.

Furthermore, from my readings of Paul, it seems to me that Paul was referring to these “apostate” gnostic teachings. Some examples:

Galatians 1:8, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

2 Thess 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;”

This last scripture is a common missionary scripture to describe the apostasy, which we claim had already begun in Paul’s day. He seems to be addressing apostate teachings. Certainly Gnostics would be considered apostate teachings by Paul, especially if Gnosticism pre-dates Christianity. From my understanding of early Christian history, Gnosticism often encompasses beliefs from Jewish, Christian, and pagan religious sources.

Long answer to your question, but in short, the apostasy was well under way while the early apostles were all still living. I'd say it began at Jesus death. (Or I guess if you consider apostasy as any falling away, it can easily be traced to the time of Moses. Jews often had difficulty with polytheism. Heck, you could even start with Cain and Abel.)
Good stuff.
Luke: "Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father."
Obi-Wan: "Your father... was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view."
Luke: "A certain point of view?"
Obi-Wan: "Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to...depend greatly on our point of view."
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