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Hmmm .... could it be all of the religious disputes that are going on?
Like what James refers to about the fires of hell being set alight by the tongue which is unruly? And Where he enjoins his brethren to be patient and controlled?
Jas 1:1**James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Jas 1:3**Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4**But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Jas 1:5**If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:13**Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
Jas 1:14**But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15**Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Jas 1:16**Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Jas 1:17**Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
Jas 1:18**Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19**Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
Jas 1:20**For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Jas 1:21**Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22**But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
Jas 3:5**Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Jas 3:6**And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
Jas 3:7**For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
Jas 3:8**But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
Jas 3:9**Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Jas 3:10**Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Jas 3:11**Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
Jas 3:12**Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
And Jesus says every idle word will be judged in the judgement
Mat 12:35**A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Mat 12:36**But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Mat 12:37**For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
And in revelation there are books and the book opened at the same time at the white throne judgement
Judgment Before the Great White Throne
Rev 20:11**And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12**And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13**And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev 20:14**And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev 20:15**And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
And also in Corinthians the same type of judgement being referred to
1Co 3:12**Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
1Co 3:13**Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14**If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15**If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
These are not people being judged, but the (literary) works they have produced
Gnosticism/mysticism/revelation
How do we treat it biblically? From the perspective of in the early church and now 2000 years later
And also over the past 2000 years
The 1st epistle of John was written to combat the idea of gnosticism in the early church.
In 1 John 1:1, he tells us that his hand had actually handled the Word of life (the Man Christ Jesus).
In 1 John 4:1-3, 2 John 1:7, we are told that it is the spirit of antichrist that denies that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
This is the Holy Spirit's way of saying that the doctrines of gnosticism are antichrist in nature; since gnosticism as a whole denies the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 14:31, we find Peter making physical contact with the hand of Jesus.
In the passages about the last supper, we find Jesus saying that He will again drink of the fruit of the vine when He drinks it new with us in His kingdom. This indicates physical contact with the substance of physical wine.
In Luke 24:42-42, we find the resurrected Jesus eating a piece of honeycomb and broiled fish...
Then, if you follow the passage down, it is this same Jesus, in a physical body, who ascends into heaven.
Then, in Acts 1:11, we find the angels saying, while Jesus is ascending bodily into heaven, that He will so return in like manner as He went up.
You're presupposing the Bible to be the final and absolute arbiter of truth, but the Bible itself doesn't claim to be that.
1 Timothy 3:15 states that the Church is the pillar and foundation of truth. Therefore, we are to view gnosticism as the Church does.
The Church has condemned various forms of gnosticism as heresies over the centuries.
If we believe the Bible to be truth, then we dare not contradict it. You want to believe that the church is, and claim that the RCC is that church? Ok. Fine. But it dare not contradict Scripture.
Having said that, the NT is full of statements against Gnosticism. It's soundly condemned in Scripture.
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