![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/sites\/55\/2011\/02\/luke.jpg\")
<\/a>In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we can tell anything about it,\u00a0 Gnostic praxis. Johnson is right that \u201chowever diverse the respective Gnostic systems are in detail, they are remarkably consistent with regard to their basic soteriology.\u201d (p. 215).\u00a0\u00a0 One is saved by what one knows, not who one believes in.\u00a0 The key to salvation is revelatory knowledge, and if you don\u2019t have the wattage to understand it, then you can\u2019t be among the elect and saved. \u00a0 Salvation becomes a human self-help program for egg heads. \u00a0 Johnson is also right that the dramatic dualism of Gnostic soteriology\u00a0 (matter is tainted or evil,\u00a0 spirit is good) involves a repudiation of the creation theology found in the OT\u00a0 (and NT as well).\u00a0 Relgiousness C is indeed the order of the day\u2014 Gnosticism is a world denying religion, longing for the day that the soul escapes either spiritually or literally from this mortal frame.\u00a0 Any Gnostic could have said \u2018this world is not my home, I\u2019m just passing through. My destiny is in the spiritual world.\u2019<\/p>\nGnostic anthropology breaks people down into three categories and is deterministic there are those completed bound up in and defined by matter, those able to choose between matter and spirit, and those completely defined by spirit.\u00a0 The first category is lost by definition and due to pre-determination does not matter.\u00a0 One of the benefits of the discoveries at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in the late 1940s is that these discoveries actually confirmed that when one makes allowances for the polemics in Irenaeus\u2019s\u00a0 arguments against Gnosticism,\u00a0 nonetheless, he has assessed the religion rightly.\u00a0 He knows its basic character and tenets.\u00a0 What Irenaeus accurately attests to is \u201cThat a significant number [we can never know how many] of those calling themselves Christians in the second century saw themselves as spirit trapped in matter, sought in Christ the revelation of their true identity, and longed for release from the entrapment of fleshly existence.\u201d (p. 221).\u00a0 What Johnson is prepared to say about these folk is that in regard to the people who wrote the Nag Hammadi collection of documents, \u201cit is difficult to deny the sense that they were written by people who were motivated by religious convictions just as authentic as those held by Christians of Type A\u2026and Christians of Type B\u2026.In many of these writings, it is possible to detect the classic impulses of mysticism. We find in them the longing for the absolute and eternal, driven by a sense of despair at being trapped in corruptible matter.\u201d: (p. 222). \u00a0 Johnson then concludes on this basis that \u201cMy argument that \u2018ways of being Christian\u2019 are in continuity with \u2018ways of being religious\u2019 in Greco-Roman culture is given real support by the presence, cheek by jowl, of Hermetic writings and Gnostic gospels.\u201d (p. 222) \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 But there are significant problems with this entire way of viewing the matter.<\/p>\n
In the first place, it must be doubted that Gnosticism can be seen as an \u2018authentic\u2019 form of early Christianity.\u00a0\u00a0 Again the issue is not the sincerity of the devotees, or the reality of certain religious expressions or experiences they may have had.\u00a0 The issue is that there is such a fundamental denial and rejection of the OT and early Christian symbolic universe and narrative thought world,\u00a0 for example a rejection of\u00a0 OT creation theology, the goodness of matter,\u00a0 a rejection of much of what early Judaism affirms,\u00a0 even a rejection in various of its forms of monotheism, and from a Christian point of view, a rejection of the Incarnation of God\u2019s Son, the negating of the historical and soteriological importance of his life, earthly teachings, and death as a means of salvation, and also a rejection of the notion of bodily resurrection as the means of completing the salvation process.<\/p>\n
When one puts all of this together, Gnosticism clearly falls out of bounds of what was meant by Christianity in the first century A.D. and in its foundational documents.\u00a0\u00a0 This is precisely why there was such a strong reaction to Gnosticism by Irenaeus and other apologetes, and however much we may feel Ireneaus went beyond the bounds of speaking the truth to those who err in love<\/em>,\u00a0 he was not wrong in his analysis.\u00a0\u00a0 In short, Gnosticism is not a form of early Christianity, it is a hijacking\u00a0 and redefining of certain Biblical and Christian ideas, sprinkling them into a Hermetic and Plationic and mystical and radically dualistic soup and calling it good. \u00a0\u00a0 Thus, while I quite agree that what you see in the Hermetic corpse and in Gnosticism is close at the level of ideation, this does not prove Johnson\u2019s thesis that early Christianity was like Greco-Roman religion in terms of its ways of being religious much less prove that apostolic Christianity should be dubbed a Greco-Roman religion.<\/p>\nI am of course aware that in the rising monastic movement, there were Christians with defective symbolic universes who thought that asceticism in itself was good, because they believed that the flesh was inherently evil. \u00a0 The difference between say a Tertullian once he became a Montanist and a Gnostic however is vast in other regards.\u00a0 Tertullian continued to affirm an orthodox Christology and soteriology in various ways.\u00a0 One could never claim the Gnostics did so. \u00a0 In short, there is a difference between an early Christian who has some defective theology or ethics or praxis, and a non-Christian.<\/p>\n
The Gnostics do not deserve the label Christian, if the earliest Christian documents have a say as to what that term should mean, never mind in the OT has a say in what one ought to think about monotheism and creation. \u00a0 Gnostics want to neither be in the world or of the world. \u00a0 Christians are called to be in the world, and affirm the goodness of the world God created, without letting the fallen world ethos shape its way of viewing reality (Rom. 12.1-4). \u00a0 I am thus not in agree with Johnson when he concludes on p. 233:\u00a0 \u201cthe writers and readers of compositions such as\u00a0 the Gospel of Truth <\/em>or the Gospel of Thomas <\/em>represented, in reality, one of three ways of being Christian\u201d\u00a0 (p. 233).\u00a0 While there is reason to see some of the material in those two sources as consistent with the meaning of the phrases \u2018Christian thought\u2019 or \u2018Christian ways of being religious\u2019, that cannot be affirmed of much of the stuff one finds in those documents,\u00a0 indeed too much of the contents of those documents. \u00a0 Calling those document Christian, is like calling the Book of Mormon a composition within the bounds of apostolic Christianity theology, ethics, and ways of being religious. \u00a0 But sadly, it isn\u2019t though it does involve a mythology as creative as some of the things one reads in early Gnostic documents.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we can tell anything about it,\u00a0 Gnostic praxis. Johnson is right that \u201chowever diverse the respective Gnostic systems are in detail, they are remarkably consistent with regard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
'Among the Gentiles'-- Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'Among the Gentiles'-- Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-08T13:11:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-14T03:16:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/bibleandculture\/files\/2011\/02\/luke.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/\",\"name\":\"'Among the Gentiles'-- Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-08T13:11:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-14T03:16:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"'Among the Gentiles'– Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Among the Gentiles'-- Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI","description":"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'Among the Gentiles'-- Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI","og_description":"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2011-02-08T13:11:43+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-14T03:16:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/bibleandculture\/files\/2011\/02\/luke.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/","name":"'Among the Gentiles'-- Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-02-08T13:11:43+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-14T03:16:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"In his discussion of Gnosticism in Chapter 14,\u00a0 there is not much to quibble with in terms of the actual analysis of Gnostic thought and, to the degree we","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2011\/02\/08\/among-the-gentiles-was-christianity-a-greco-roman-religion-part-vi-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"'Among the Gentiles'– Was Christianity a Greco-Roman Religion? Part VI"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1782\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}