The Deposit of the Faith (Part 2) (The History of Christianity #37)

The History of Christianity #37

Our Scripture verse today is 1 Corinthians 12:8 which reads: "For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit."

Our quote today is from Dr. Darrell L. Bock. He said: "The key point is that Gnosticism was not a singular connected movement but more a way of seeing the world that produced a myriad of viewpoints on the themes tied to its definition."

Today, we are looking at "The Deposit of the Faith" (Part 2) from Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez's fine book, The Story of Christianity (Volume 1).

Gnosticism (Part 1)

Of all the differing interpretations of Christianity, none seemed as dangerous, nor as close to victory, as was Gnosticism. This was not a well-defined organization in competition with the church; rather, it was a vast and amorphous movement that existed both within and outside of Christianity. Within Judaism, partly as a response to the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, some embraced Gnostic ideas, thus giving birth to a Gnostic Judaism that contradicted much of traditional Jewish teachings - particularly regarding divine creation and the goodness of the created world. Likewise, when Gnosticism incorporated the name of Christ and other items from the Judeo-Christian tradition into its diverse systems, it did so in such terms that other Christians felt that some crucial elements of their faith were being denied.

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