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{"id":9466,"date":"2023-06-16T09:28:51","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T14:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?p=9466"},"modified":"2023-06-16T09:28:51","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T14:28:51","slug":"why-part-iii-chapter-15-gnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2023\/06\/why-part-iii-chapter-15-gnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhy?\u201d Part III, Chapter 15: \u201cGnosis\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cWhy?\u201d Part III, Chapter 15: \u201cGnosis\u201d<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

In this chapter, Abram van de Beek (vdB) continues discussing views of God, suffering, and evil that begin with God\u2019s goodness and explain suffering and evil as not attributable to God.<\/p>\n

Very briefly put, here, in this chapter, the view under consideration is that \u201cevil is inherent in the world and came with it.\u201d (200)<\/p>\n

I assume most of my readers are roughly familiar with gnosticism, the belief held in various ways by many second century Christians that matter itself is evil and that all sin and suffering result from the \u201ctomb\u201d of the flesh in which the spirit is trapped.<\/p>\n

VdB goes into some detail explaining ancient and later gnosticisms. Gnosticism has never entirely gone away even though the ancient church fathers and later leaders of church and state attempted to suppress it.<\/p>\n

According to vdB, gnosticism is \u201can atmosphere in which one lives\u201d and it still \u201chaunts the church.\u201d (206) The key to all gnosticism\u2014ancient and modern\u2014is \u201cworld avoidance.\u201d (213)<\/p>\n

VdB ends this chapter with two plus pages of fine print in which he helpfully discusses Karl Barth\u2019s view of evil as \u201cnothingness.\u201d That is one of the most enigmatic elements of Barth\u2019s theology and I think vdB summarizes it very well and truly.<\/p>\n

So, why is this chapter there and what is its significance? I believe vdB rightly excludes gnosticism from authentic Christianity and helpfully points out that echoes and relics of ancient gnosticism still exist even within orthodox Christianity. One is the tendency of many Christians to attribute sin, suffering and evil to the world itself, meaning the physical and material world\u2014the earth and our bodies. Salvation, for them, is escape from \u201cthe world\u201d into a purely spiritual reality. One problem with this is that it tends to release us from responsibility for sin. Another problem with it is that it tends to denigrate creation itself which, according to the biblical account, is not an emanation of God or evil but God\u2019s good but fallen, broken creation.<\/p>\n

I grew up in a form of Christian life rife with a kind of folk gnosticism. Not the full blown gnosticism of the ancient Christian world, but a generally negative attitude toward \u201cthe world and the flesh\u201d\u2014as things to escape. A lot of emphasis was placed on Christian asceticism, not of the Catholic mystical variety, but of the Pentecostal<\/a> legalism variety. \u201cThe things of earth\u201d should \u201cgrow strangely dim\u201d through elevation of the spirit by means of avoiding earthly pleasures. The body was something of which to be ashamed or afraid. I won\u2019t go on as I\u2019m sure many of my readers know of what I speak here.<\/p>\n

Next I will discuss Part III, chapter 16 \u201cGod Is Different\u201d\u2014the last chapter of Part III. I will aim to publish that here in about a week. So, those of you reading \u201cWhy?\u201d With me, please keep reading but don\u2019t read ahead! If you are behind, try to catch up.<\/p>\n

*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure it is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful, not hostile or argumentative, and devoid of pictures or links. If you are not reading the book or have not read this chapter, please do not discuss it. But you may ask questions.*<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"