What We Covered Last Sunday 4/16

• We started a new series entitled "Ancient Heresy in Modern Times: A presentation of ancient Gnosticism, its modern manifestation and the Biblical apologetic."
• Introductory Points: Ancient Gnosticism has made a comeback in many ways but the most well known route to the modern era has been seen in two top sellings books: "The Davinci Code" and "The Secret."
• Introductory Quote by Albert Mohler: “You see, sometimes the church does not remember this, but it is the church’s responsibility to anathematize. That is something we don’t talk about very much, but it is the church’s responsibility clearly to declare as false anything which stands against the true gospel of Jesus Christ. We live in a harmonious age when everyone wants to nod at everything, smile appreciatively at everything, and not pass judgment on anything. In the midst of such an age, however, the church is called to say “no” and to identify the false as false. Otherwise we cannot truly honor the truth.
  What we are experiencing now in the modern age is that the old heresies are coming up all over again. It is a bit like rewinding history, and all the ancient heresies that were tried long ago, opposed by the church, and declared by the church to be false, they are coming back.”
• In this series we will look at these three main points: 1. The Ancient Gnostic Worldview
  2. The Modern Gnostic Manifestation 3. The Timeless Biblical Apologetic
• We will examine the appropriate biblical texts each morning.
• We looked at two definitions of "gnosticism": 1. “A theological error prevalent around the time of Christ. Generally speaking, Gnosticism taught salvation is achieved through special knowledge (gnosis). This knowledge usually dealt with the individuals relationship to the transcendent Being. It denies the incarnation of God as the Son. In so doing it denies the true efficacy of the atonement since, if Jesus is not God, He could not atone for all of mankind and we would still be lost in our sins.”
  2. “A movement in early Christianity, beginning already in the first century, which 1)emphasized a special higher truth that only the more enlightened receive from God, 2)taught that matter is evil, and 3)denied the humanity of Jesus.” Millard Erickson
• We started looking at the first point- The Ancient Gnostic Worldview and we also examined some passages of Scripture that address an early form of this heresy.

**If anyone has any questions please don't hesitate to call me (372-1949) or email me at contender9876@aol.com.