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Gnosticism, Church Unity and the Nicene Creed1

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Gnosticism, Church Unity and the Nicene Creed1 Gnosticism, church unity and the Nicene Creed1 C.F.C. Coetzee Faculty of Theology Potchefstroom Campus North-West University POTCHEFSTROOM E-mail: [email protected] ... the Christian faith that came to expression in the Nicene Creed still represents perhaps the most compelling as well as the most wide-ranging vision of the world and human life, and of their meaning and their destiny. (Hebblethwaite, 1996:6, 7.) ... I have grown in my appreciation of how important it is for the church to have a communal sense of identity, and how hard that is to come by without something like a creed. (Johnson, 2003:vii.) Abstract Gnosticism, church unity and the nicene creed Gnosticism (derived from the Greek word “gnosis; knowledge”) is the well-known phenomenon or movement which dates from the first centuries of church history. The teaching of Gnosticism questioned and/or contradicted the teaching of the church on some of the fundamental truths of Scripture. Apart from Gnosticism, the Early Church also had to deal with the heresy of Arianism. In the Nicene Creed, formulated by the councils of Nicea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD) the universal or catholic church responded officially to the heresies of both Gnosticism and Arianism. In the final edition of the Nicene Creed we also find an article on the unity, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity of the church. Both Gnosticism and Arianism posed a serious threat to the unity of the church. 1 Reworked version of a paper delivered at the international conference of the International Reformed Theological Institute held at Cluj, Romania, 3 to 8 July 2007. In die Skriflig 42(2) 2008:207-223 207 Gnosticism, church unity and the Nicene Creed In our times we experience a revival of ancient Gnosticism, both pagan and “Christian”. This revival is also called the New Age or the Age of Aquarius. Within the framework of this new worldview, we are witnessing a rediscovery of gnosis. The discovery and publication of certain ancient gnostic texts like the Nag Hammadi Codices, play a significant role in this revival. Consequently the canon of Scripture is questioned or openly rejected and also the creeds based on that Scripture. The Nicene Creed played a major and decisive role in preserving and maintaining the unity of the church on the basis of the truth of Scripture. This age-old creed is today just as relevant and important in proclaiming and confessing the true faith and preserving the true unity of the church. Opsomming Gnostiek, kerkeenheid en die belydenis van Nicea Die Gnostiek (afgelei van die Griekse woord “gnosis” wat letterlik “kennis” beteken) is die baie bekende beweging wat dateer uit die eerste eeue van die kerkgeskiedenis. Die leringe van die Gnostiek het die leer van die kerk oor sommige van die kernwaarhede van die Skrif bevraagteken en/of weerspreek. Behalwe die Gnostiek het die Vroeë Kerk ook te doen gekry met die dwaling van die Arianisme. In die belydenis van Nicea, wat deur die konsilies van Nicea (325 n.C.) en Konstantinopel (381 n.C.) geformuleer is, het die katolieke (algemene) kerk amptelik geantwoord op sowel die Gnostiek as die Arianisme. In die finale uitgawe van die belydenis van Nicea is daar ook ’n artikel oor die eenheid, heiligheid, katolisiteit en apostolisiteit van die kerk. Sowel die Gnostiek as die Arianisme het ’n ernstige bedreiging vir die eenheid van die kerk ingehou. In ons tyd beleef ons ’n herlewing van die antieke Gnostiek, sowel heidens as “Christelik”. Hierdie herlewing word ook genoem die “New Age” of die “Age of Aquarius”. Binne die raamwerk van hierdie nuwe wêreldbeskouing of wêreldorde is daar ’n herontdekking van gnosis. Die ontdekking en publikasie van sekere antieke gnostiese geskrifte soos die Nag Hamadi- geskrifte, speel ’n deurslaggewende rol in hierdie herlewing. As uitvloeisel van die “kanonisering” van hierdie geskrifte, word die kanon van die Skrif en ook die belydenisskrifte wat op grond van die Skrif opgestel is, bevraagteken of openlik verwerp. Die belydenis van Nicea het ’n baie belangrike en beslissende rol gespeel in die bewaring en handhawing van die eenheid van die kerk op die fondament van die waarheid van die Skrif. Hierdie eeue oue belydenis is vandag nog steeds net so aktueel en belangrik in die belydenis van die waarheid en die bewaring van die ware eenheid van die kerk. 208 In die Skriflig 42(2) 2008:207-223 C.F.C. Coetzee 1. Introduction Gnosticism has been called “the shadow of the church” (Van Oort, 2001:120). It is the well-known phenomenon or movement that dates from the second century, although its roots go back to the first century (Walker, 1997:61). It can even be supposed that the opponents of Paul and his close disciples were already Gnostics or proto-Gnostics (cf. Col. 2:4, 8; 1 John 1:1; Van Oort, 2001:120). It is quite difficult to characterise or define this phenomenon (Walker, 1997:61) because it is “by no means a uniform phenomenon” (Walker, 1997:62). We must distinguish, inter alia between Christian and non-Christian or pagan Gnosticism (Walker, 1997:63). Regarding the Christian Gnostics, a certain group directly opposed the Christian church of the first centuries, and dissented from it (Pagels, 1979:104) while others saw the church as inclusive of Gnostics as well as non-Gnostics (Pagels, 1979:116-117). As far as the teachings of Gnosticism are concerned, the teaching of the first-century church on some of the fundamental truths of Scrip- ture, were questioned and/or contradicted and rejected, as will be discussed later in this article. Consequently, the proponents of Gnosticism met with Christian opponents and critics such as Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian and Hippolytus of Rome in the late second and early third centuries (Walker, 1997:62). Apart from Gnosticism, another purely theological debate raged within the church at the beginning of the fourth century. This is known as the Arian controversy (Walker, 1997:122). It concerned the old problem of the Logos-theology: the question of the nature or status of the Word or Son of God and his relation to God on the one hand and to the created order on the other. This debate led to the Council of Nicea in the year 325, summoned by Constantine. At this council and the later Council of Constanti- nople (381) (Bettenson, 1967:25, 26), the well-known ecumenical Nicene Creed (also called the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitanum) was approved as the official response of the universal or catholic church to the heresies of both Gnosticism and Arianism.2 2 It is important to remember that at the council Nicaea, Eusebius of Caesarea, initially suggested the adoption of the creed of his own church, which was In die Skriflig 42(2) 2008:207-223 209 Gnosticism, church unity and the Nicene Creed In the final edition of the Nicene Creed, apart from the confession on the doctrine of God and Christ, we also find the following article on the church: “We believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” (cf. Bettenson, 1967:26). This article must probably be seen against the background of the anathema, formulated at Nicea in 325, after the approval of the first edition of the Nicene Creed: And those that say ‘There was when he was not’, and, ‘Before he was begotten he was not’, and that ‘He came into being from what-is-not’, or those that allege, that the Son of God is ‘of another substance or essence’ or ‘created’, or ‘changeable’ or ‘alterable’, these the Catholic and Apostolic Church anathema- tises. (Bettenson, 1967:25.) The heresies of both Gnosticism and Arianism posed a serious threat for the unity of the Church. In our times we experience a revival of ancient Gnosticism, both pagan and Christian (Jones, 1992; Johnson, 2004). The aim of this article is to determine the relevance of the doctrine, as formulated in the Nicene Creed, in terms of the current debate, with special reference to the unity of the church. 2. Gnosticism It was stated above that it is not easy to define Gnosticism, because it is not a uniform phenomenon and Christian Gnosticism must be distinguished from non-Christian or pagan Gnosticism. There “was no single body of teaching common to all the writings or all the teachers belonging to this stream in ancient religion” (Walker, 1997:62, 63). For the sake of clarity, it is also necessary to dis- tinguish between the general phenomenon of Gnosticism itself “and the particular and definite forms which it took through an association with Christianity” (Walker, 1997:61). It is furthermore important to keep in mind the syncretistic character of gnostic thinking. Walker (1997:63) mentions certain elements in the Jewish Scriptures as well as themes from pagan mythology, popular astrology, magic, philosophical ideas and Hellenistic Judaism. According to Schaff (1918:446) Gnosticism is chiefly of heathen descent and is a orthodox, but did not deal explicitly with the Arian position. It was taken as a base, and put forward by the council in a revised form as the first edition of the Nicene Creed (cf. Bettenson, 1967:24, 25). It will be an interesting study to determine the background of the creed Eusebius put on the table. 210 In die Skriflig 42(2) 2008:207-223 C.F.C. Coetzee peculiar translation or transfusion of heathen philosophy and religion into Christianity. Schaff (1918:446) is also of opinion that Platonism had the greatest influence, especially on the Alexandrian Gnostics. Gnosticism was an attempt to combine or form a transfusion of Christianity with heathen elements, neoplatonic philosophy, mytho- logy, dualism, astrology, et cetera (Bavinck, 1906:112).
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