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Revival of the Gnostic Heresy

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Revival of the Gnostic Heresy Revival of the Gnostic Heresy Fundamentalism Joe E. Morris Contents Foreword ix Theodore Runyon, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Systematic Theology, Candler School of Theology, Emory University Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction 1 I Gnosticism 7 1 The Gnostic Gospels 9 2 The Basic Tenets of Gnosticism 15 3 The Origins of Gnosticism 27 4 The Influences of Gnosticism on the Development and Growth 35 of Early Christianity 5 The Response of the Early Church to Gnosticism 47 II Fundamentalism 65 6 The Origins of Fundamentalism 67 7 The Basic Tenets of Fundamentalism 79 III Gnosticism and Fundamentalism 89 8 Revival of the Gnostic Heresy: Fundamentalism 91 9 The Differences between Gnosticism and Fundamentalism 115 10 The Case against Inerrancy 125 11 Psychological Issues and Implications 139 12 An Alternative to Dualism: Incarnation—The Word Made Flesh 149 13 Gnosticism, Fundamentalism, and Orthodoxy: Where Do We Go 157 from Here? Appendix A Glossary of Key Terms 171 Appendix B Glossary of Key Names 177 Appendix C The Early Christian Fathers and Apologists 183 viii Contents Appendix D Christian Gnostic Leaders 189 Appendix E Chronology of Key Dates and Events 193 Appendix F Composition Chronology of New Testament Books 197 Suggestions for Further Reading 199 Notes 203 Bibliography 231 Index 237 Foreword In this time of religious pluralism, when we are advised to be open to other reli- gions and tolerant toward points of view different from our own, Joe E. Mor- ris seems curiously out of step, for he asks us to look critically at a movement that, through radio and TV, is attracting millions of followers to Fundamentalist megachurches and conservative causes. Is Morris out of sync with the generous American spirit, which prefers “to think and let think?” Yet he points out that Fundamentalism cultivates a mindset that is anything but generous with those who disagree with its interpretation of Christianity. From a fundamentalist stand- point, rigidity is indeed a necessity, because its attraction is lodged in its certainty that it has the right way, the true knowledge, the only option that is supernatu- rally guaranteed and endorsed. And the human yearning for such certainty is precisely what makes it alluring. But Morris goes beyond this psychological appeal, which, in a time of con- fusion, uncertainty, and unrest, is provided by any brand of fundamentalism, whether Christian, Jewish, or Islamic, to the remarkable parallels between modern- day Christian Fundamentalism and the ancient heresies with which early church councils struggled. Because they were convinced that these heresies distorted the truth of the Christian message. It is these parallels that Morris is persuaded jus- tify, calling Fundamentalism a Gnostic heresy. And from his standpoint truth is what is at stake. While he does not deny that Christianity can be interpreted in many ways, as reflected in the various denominations today, there are nevertheless guidelines hammered out by the debates of the early centuries, which succeeded in defining the boundaries of what could be considered authentically Christian. It is these boundaries which Morris is convinced Fundamentalism has overstepped, and he demonstrates this by comparing it with the early gnostic heresies. To be sure, Gnosticism came in many forms. Some were legalists, others were licentious, some were literalists, while others made extensive use of allegory. It is not surprising, therefore, that Morris finds he is dealing with a slippery phe- nomenon when he seeks to draw parallels between Gnosticism and present-day Fundamentalism. In Gnosticism of whatever variety, however, one thing seems to be constant and that is its dualism, its sharp contrasts between good and evil, light and darkness, the spirit and the material world, the enlightened and the ignorant, the saved and the unsaved. This dualism is written into the nature of reality, because the creator of the world is not God but a demiurge, a half god or fallen angel responsible for evil and the ambiguity of the human situation. The gnosis or knowledge that is necessary for salvation is having the right words, x Foreword the secret formulas, the names of the gods and demonic powers that one must know in order to pass through the darkness and the various levels of the heavens to where the high God dwells in inexpressible Light. While Fundamentalism does not posit a duality in God or in the created world, it is dualistic in most other respects, beginning with a clear line between the saved and the unsaved. The saved are those “in the know,” those who are certain and believe all the “fundamentals” and defend them against the evil forces and skepti- cism of the present age. Hence literalism and “creationism” must be championed against those who would favor an allegorical interpretation of the Genesis stories that would place evolution within a more comprehensive view of the Creator’s relationship to the world. The unsaved are those who refuse to believe that a rigid dualism is the answer to the world’s problems, that all truth lies on one side, and that the other side is bereft of any legitimacy. Yet this is the kind of dualism that characterizes fundamentalist forces, whether they are found in Israel or Arab lands, in India or the United States. But Fundamentalism, whether of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu variety, will be part of our world for the foreseeable future. This means that the larger question that this book raises is, how are we to live in a world of compet- ing fundamentalisms? The first task, it seems to me, is to understand our own religion in a deeper way than has previously been necessary, to understand how all religions seek to answer basic and universal human needs and questions. Getting rid of religion is not the solution and secularism is not the answer. The human needs still remain, and secularism breeds pseudo-religions like nationalism and ethnic fundamentalism that move in to fill the vacuum. The way lies rather in discovering how the religious answers are complementary and not necessarily in competition, and therefore can cooperate to bring peace and stability. If Allah is, as Muslims constantly remind us, the all-merciful, and the Jewish and the Chris- tian God is equally all-merciful, what are the dimensions of divine mercy that have the potential to reduce human strife without the necessity to deny any of our traditions? What is called for is a new gnosis, an approach to knowledge and knowing that is healing, a knowledge that penetrates through the barriers that we have used to establish our identity by dividing between “us” and “them,” a know- ing that penetrates through to the God of the Abrahamic faiths. This is the God who calls us to leave the territories that are familiar and safe with comfortable identities and venture forth out of Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 15:7) and into a new land where we discover the God who is merciful to humans by making the dual- isms and the barriers that Fundamentalism sets up unnecessary. Theodore Runyon, PhD, Professor Emeritus Candler School of Theology Emory University Preface This book is the culmination of a long spiritual struggle that began over fifty years ago. When I was seven years old, my parents gave me an Egermeier’s Bible Story Book: A Complete Narration from Genesis to Revelation for Young and Old. In her Preface the writer states that she endeavored to “familiarize herself with the view- point of children and to adapt her language accordingly.”1 She succeeded with this young reader. The book launched a personal journey to the heart of Christian scripture, a near obsessional drive back to first principles, to the reasons we believe what we believe and the fundamentals of religious faith. What was so captivating about this book? First of all, it had pictures. I only had to open the book to the first one, a black and white (lithograph) of Adam and Eve, the first humans, dressed in fur clothing covering them to their thighs. They were standing close together, beneath a palm tree, their hands folded in prayer, their faces glum with guilt. In a distant tree I could see a snake that appeared to be crawling away. Two pages later was the Ark Noah built, a huge boxlike ship in a storm. In the distance was a faint rainbow. From that point, all I did was flip pages and look at pictures: Abraham and Lot; Joseph finding his brothers; Moses and Aaron with the magicians; the Red Sea parting for the Israelites; David slaying Goliath, followed by more popular Bible stories. The pictures in the New Testa- ment were not as exciting, not as heroic. They were too quiet. I quickly flipped back to the beginning and began again, this time lingering, absorbing the Old Testament pictures. This early introduction to the Bible set the framework for my earliest under- standing of scripture. For me, these were true stories. The characters were real. Once past the pictures I settled into reading, one story after another. After dinner each evening, I would go straight to bed, turn on my bedside lamp and read. By my ninth birthday I had read Egermeier’s Bible Story Book over ten times, though I must confess, the New Testament stories got left behind. I did read them, but only once; the resurrection story twice. But not the ten or more times I read about creation and Noah and the Ark, Joseph and his coat of many colors, Samson, Gideon, and so on. I was too impressed with a different type of power, one that colored my theology and my view of scripture for years to come.
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