During the 3 ½ years of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He taught everything that believers of all time would need to know in order to follow Him. After His ascension into heaven, the apostles held faithfully to His teachings as they evangelized the known world. Following their ministry, the early Christians who had been trained by the apostles continued what they had started.

However, even as the apostles were teaching, Satan began to undermine their work. False teachers arose from within the church and deceived many into believing that they alone preached the true gospel. One of the first was Simon Magus, a magician from Samaria who was baptized by Phillip but soon fell away (Acts 8:9-24) and began to teach that he was God in the flesh. Eventually a statue was built in his honor, and many people worshipped him as a god.

Following Simon Magus, the second influential heretic during the writing of the New Testament was Cerinthus, who taught that Gentile believers were bound by the Mosaic Law. The Jerusalem Council convened in AD 50 to address this issue (Acts 15), and Paul’s epistle to the Galatians and John’s gospel were written specifically to combat the heresies of Cerinthus.

The third heretic influential during this time period was Nicolas, one of the seven deacons appointed in Acts 6:5. He and his followers (called Nicolaitans) departed from the faith, lived in unrestrained luxury, and practiced rampant immorality. In Revelation 2:6, Jesus praised the early church for their opposition to these heresies: “You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

After the death of the apostles, false teachers continued to arise under the umbrella of Christianity and deceive many people. These teachers were collectively called Gnostics (from the Greek word meaning knowledge) because they claimed a knowledge superior to what Jesus and the apostles had handed down to the churches.

Following in the footsteps of Simon Magus, Cerinthus, and Nicolas, the next generation of Gnostic teachers included Basilides, Carpocrates, Marcion, Saturninus, and Valentinus. They continued in the teachings of their predecessors, and a large portion of the early Christian literature was written specifically to refute these heresies. For example, in the second century, Irenaeus penned the five-volume work Against Heresies, and Clement of Alexandria wrote the Stromata to contrast the lifestyle of the Gnostic with that of the person who truly knows God. In the third century, Tertullian wrote The Prescription Against Heretics, The Five Books Against Marcion, and several shorter works exposing other heresies; and Hippolytus compiled The Refutation of All Heresies, a thorough work explaining and refuting the doctrines of paganism and 33 Gnostic heresies. In the fourth century, Epiphanius of Salamis wrote the Panarion, a 7-volume work refuting 80 heresies since the time of Adam.

What Did They Teach?

Although the Gnostic teachers came from various geographical locations and held to some differing views, they had many similarities. They all believed that they possessed knowledge superior to what was taught by the apostles and early Christians. They believed that the world was created by an inferior God; thus everything in the material world is inherently evil and should be avoided. They also taught that Jesus did not come in the flesh. Irenaeus wrote, “They deny that the Son assumed anything material. For [according to them] matter is indeed incapable of salvation.”

From these assumptions, the Gnostics taught four key doctrines relating to salvation:

• Because the material world should be rejected, good works play no role in salvation. Many of the Gnostics lived wicked and immoral lives because they believed that lifestyle did not affect their ultimate salvation. Irenaeus wrote, “The ‘most perfect’ among the Valentinians addict themselves without fear to all kinds of forbidden deeds. I mean, the deeds of which the Scriptures assure us that ‘those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.’”
• People, having no free will, are predestined to be saved or condemned. Saturninus was the first to teach this doctrine, and the other Gnostics followed suit. According to the heretic Manes, “If man is fashioned of the evil nature, it is manifest that he is such a fruit whether he sins or does not sin. From this, this name and race of men are once for all and absolutely of this character.” Clement of Alexandria countered, “The teachings of both the Old and the New Testaments are unnecessary if a person is saved by nature (as Valentinus would have it) and is a believer and an elect man by nature (as Basilides thinks).”
• Because works have no role in salvation, those who are saved are eternally secure. Irenaeus wrote, “[The Valentinians] hold that they will be entirely saved for a certainty – not by means of their conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature.”
• Baptism is only a symbol. Irenaeus wrote that the Gnostics “have been instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to God. Thus, they have renounced the whole faith. . . . For the baptism instituted by the visible Jesus was for the remission of sins.” Tertullian added, “Oh, miserable unbelief [of the Gnostics] that denies to God His own properties, simplicity, and power! What then? Is it not wonderful, too, that death should be washed away by washing?”

What changed?

All four of these teachings were denounced as heretical by every major writer of the early church. They originated – not with Christianity – but with the Gnostic heresies warned against in the New Testament. However, those four teachings make up the articles of faith of many churches (particularly Calvinist-leaning churches) today. What changed?

For the first 350 years of Christianity, there was a clear distinction between true Christianity and Gnosticism. While some people were led astray into Gnostic groups, the true church continued to preach the pure gospel that was taught by Jesus and the apostles and preserved by the early Christians. By carefully avoiding false teachings, the church maintained a clear distinction between Christianity and Gnosticism.

However, this doctrinal purity began to fade around AD 400, due to the influence of a bishop named Augustine. Prior to his conversion to Christianity, Augustine lived a sinful lifestyle and joined the Manichaeans, a Gnostic group started by the heretic Manes (also called Mani) in the late third century. Augustine was a Manichaean for nine years before he converted to Christianity. Although he initially renounced his association with the Gnostic group, he later brought some of their ideas into the church, most notably predestination and the denial of free will. Augustine was a prolific writer, penning over 100 different titles, including commentaries, sermons, systematic theologies, and other doctrinal works.

Augustine’s position as bishop of Hippo, North Africa, combined with his philosophical style and large literary output, made his writings immediately influential. Throughout the past 1600 years, Augustine has been one of the most influential theologians of church history. Some of his ideas were incorporated into the Roman Catholic church, and others found their way into Protestantism through the writings of Martin Luther and John Calvin, both admirers of Augustine. Many Protestant denominations today – including Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and Reformed – can trace their doctrinal history back to the Reformers and ultimately back to Augustine.

Are you a Gnostic?

Many churches boldly proclaim that their views of salvation, baptism, eternal security, and predestination have been held by orthodox Christians for 2,000 years. However, the stark reality is that these views have been held for 2,000 years – not by Christians – but by the Gnostic heretics condemned in the pages of Scripture:

• “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’ for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.” – 1 Timothy 6:20-21
• “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” – 2 Peter 2:1
• “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” – 2 John 7-9

Have you unknowingly believed (or taught) Gnostic heresies? Have you proclaimed as doctrine the very teachings that the early believers fought to keep out of their churches? Will you learn from Jesus, the apostles, and the early Christians the true faith that was “once for all handed down” (Jude 3 NASB)? And when you have learned it, will you, like the apostles, faithfully and fearlessly proclaim the truth?