The Gnostics maintained a sharp division between the inward/spiritual and the outward/physical, which led them to define their identity by looking inwardly to their divine spark. They also sought to escape the world as a means of salvation, since the physical world was evil and designed to deceive and trap people with its lies.

What if I told you that the contemporary Western worldview has much in common with Christian heresies that the church condemned nearly two thousand years ago?

This may seem strange to say since the bulk of modern Western people do not have much concern or knowledge regarding Christian orthodoxy or heresy. On the other hand, it may also seem unsurprising, since no one expects people who reject God to think rightly about him and the world, otherwise they would be Christian!

With that said, this connection is necessary for contemporary Christians to recognize, since daily we interact with and are tempted by this Western worldview. When we grow to understand this link, we are better able to free ourselves from it and serve our unbelieving neighbors in the midst of it.

In this series, we will explore the overlap of a few ancient heresies with the modern Western worldview in order to articulate a Christian response or alternative. This will also reveal how significant church history is in helping us understand our own cultural moment. We will explore a second century heresy called Gnosticism.

Understanding Heresy

First, let’s define heresy. The term is worth clarifying, since it is tossed around with little care and understanding today. Unfortunately, often it is used to describe a theological idea or interpretation of scripture that one dislikes. For example, it is not uncommon to see people accuse others of heresy on social media over secondary or tertiary matters, which are based more upon one’s opinion than on scripture or the historic confessions of the church.

True heresy, though, has little to do with one’s personal comfort or opinion, but rather it is a matter of the collective church identifying ideas which undermine concepts that are core to the Christian faith (e.g., the gospel and God’s being). This is going to be our definition or standard of what heresy is moving forward.

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