Deus Misereatur

Though Gnosticism seems like a distant thunder, no longer any real threat, or that maybe it is only analogous to some sort of New Age spiritualism, there are aspects that keep cropping up with the Church. Therefore, because there are Gnostic trends still infesting the modern Christian scene, it is important for leaders in the Church to take up and read how the ancient pastors/theologians handled this problem. Irenaeus, a late 2nd Century AD pastor, was the premiere defender against Gnosticism. His 5 volume work, Against the Heretics , is still a solid, substantive healing tonic for the Gnostic ailment. Elaine Pagels, a self identified modern Gnostic, spots four major aspects of what Irenaeus meant by calling the Gnostics’ system an “evil exegesis” (Beyond Belief 119-142). The first was that the Gnostics pushed the view of discovering the god within themselves, and themselves within god (119-122). Then Gnostics often added their own inventions, boldly revising John’s Gospel account wi...

Just take a leisurely stroll into the local book franchise, whether Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, or whatever you have down the street. Meander your way toward the religion section, and glance over the books. Chances are you will notice a growing segment of manuscripts there that are declaring an alternative ‘Christianity’ along with alternative gospels. One of the major players in this new wave of unconventionalism is Elaine Pagels. She has written a number of pieces over the years. So the reader wants to know what is at the heart of her writing. A good place to start is with her The Gnostic Gospels . One of the striking items in Pagels’ book The Gnostic Gospels , is that she lays out the liberal agenda running in much western Christianity, and chooses to find her authority for it in reworked Gnostic texts. For example, she validates the denial of Jesus’ bodily resurrection as coming from Gnostic sources that, in her mind at least, are on equal footing with orthodox sources (Ch...