While so much more needs to be said than can be said in this limited space, a basic description of gnosticism is in order. Gnosticism is a heresy that, in the epistles and in the early Christian communities, was cited as a dangerous misunderstanding incompatible with orthodox Christian thought and practice. Ancient gnosticism was varied and in modern times forms of gnosticism continue to permeate Christian thought. Ancient gnosticism comes from the Greek word "gnosis" for knowledge, and held that salvation of the soul was based on possessing this intuitive "knowledge"and rendered those with this "knowledge" as superior beings.
In its ancient form dichotomies were also created between soul and body, flesh and spirit, good and evil. At its core, modern forms of gnosticism likewise stem from a tendency among some Christian interpretations of scripture to see the natural created world or material substances as being essentially evil. For example, everything from wine, or tobacco, to art, music, drama, and film, have all been seen as being part of the "world", and therefore essentially evil. A second tendency is to create a false dichotomy between the spiritual and the material placing greater value on the "spiritual". The spiritual or other-worldly is good and the material is evil. Sometimes this is expressed in words like the song "this world is not my home." We can become so caught up in the future hope of an afterlife, that we dismiss the gospel's implications for the social realities in which we live, or put another way, the hope of the resurrection for us today and in for our society is denied. While the result varies for different Christian denominations the result is always the same. This is partly the reason that in some corners of Christianity social problems such as racism, poverty, crime, economic inequality, the lack of concern for environmental and social justice are neglected in the preaching or practice of congregations.
Rev. Martin Luther King reminded the Christian community by both his words and actions to stay grounded in a faith that is not gnostic but rather a faith that engages its belief in the action of love towards our fellow humanity. The following excerpt illustrations MLK's keen understanding of a very orthodox, non-gnostic approach to Christianity…
"Let me rush on to mention my other disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend you, Rev Stallings, for your Christian stance on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a non-segreated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating Springhill College several years ago."
"But despite these notable exceptions I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say that as one of the negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say it as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured by its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen."
"I had the strange feeling when I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery several years ago that we would have the support of the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, rising to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many other have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of the stained-glass windows"...
In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sideline and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, "those are social issues with which the gospel has no real concern," and I have watched so many churches commit themselves to a completely otherworldly religion which made a strange distinction between body and soul, the sacred and the secular." ("A Testament of Hope" Letter from a Birmingham Jail 299)
"A Strange distinction between body and soul" to quote MLK is an example of how a modern form of gnosticism can easily begin to seep into our thinking and our actions. When Jesus tells his disciples, "if you love me, you will keep my commandments" Jesus is inviting us into a kind of Christian thinking that links together a real concrete love of neighbor with that of love of God. One cannot exist without the other. Where it does, the Gospel teaching should stand as a dire warning that we are beginning to tread down a path quite unknown to Jesus.
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