Gnosticism is all around us--- (disciples, Jesus, Bible, creation)
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Gnosticism is a gospel of salvation by knowledge and it is rampant in Christianity today, for many think their salvation comes from believing the right dogmas. This can get really legalistic to where people take it upon themselves to sit in the judgment seat of God and say who is going to heaven and who is going to hell according to what doctrines they believe.
I believe in a gospel of salvation entirely by the grace of God, who asks us to have faith, which is made real in how we serve those in need. That is what I think Jesus, Paul and James were teaching.
Gnosticism is a gospel of salvation by knowledge and it is rampant in Christianity today, for many think their salvation comes from believing the right dogmas. This can get really legalistic to where people take it upon themselves to sit in the judgment seat of God and say who is going to heaven and who is going to hell according to what doctrines they believe.
I believe in a gospel of salvation entirely by the grace of God, who asks us to have faith, which is made real in how we serve those in need. That is what I think Jesus, Paul and James were teaching.
Of course, but we still need to co-operate with God or we can lose our salvation as Paul warned.
Jesus preached many times about hell in the gospels. Many fell away from following Him.
No he didn't, the few times he did it was not the hell you believe in. While we are at it, which part of this verse is to be taken literal and which part isn't?.
Nobody fell away because of what he said about hell.
If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
I am a person who believes all religions are wrong. And nothing invalidates a belief system more quickly and emphatically for me that one which claims all others except IT are wrong.
Yes. Humans by nature have a weakness to be "holier than thou".
"the promoter of atheism believes in a kind of secret knowledge. It isn’t knowledge that is kept from prospective converts (if that is the right word). It is accessible to anyone who uses reason rightly. The problem is that most people don’t, and so this knowledge is kept from them by their own intellectual errors. True knowledge is all around them, but their syllogistic errors and their emotional needs (religion is a crutch for those who don’t yet exercise their minds properly) keep them from grasping this."
I will be the first to admit, I don't know atheists as a group. They mostly seem to float around as individuals, though there are some "pop" atheists that may be vying to make atheism a dogmatic set beliefs or another religion, so to speak. This article is a real mish mash, almost a word salad and doesn't cleave together enough to make a point. Calling Mormons and Atheisits "Gnostics" seems like some hard grasping at straws.
Any special knowledge and understanding I have is indeed SPECIAL to me only because it is my understanding that I am most concerned with and charged with keeping. I am not in charge of enlightening others - that is Christ's work. I believe that Christ is the light of the world and that is the light that gives light to everyone who comes into this world. Does that sound like a Gnostic belief?
Jesus preached many times about hell in the gospels. Many fell away from following Him.
James definitely did NOT teach salvation by faith alone. He very clearly taught salvation by faith plus works.
Quote:
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:17
So did Jesus or haven't you read Matthew 25:31-46?
Christian apologists do this painful awkward dance trying to reconcile Paul with James and it is embarrassing to listen to because in the end you're left asking a question, "Did I just hear the biggest con job in history?"
Both Jesus and Paul taught salvation by grace alone.
In Matthew 19 someone asks him what he must do to have eternal life. Jesus answer is "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
In Romans 3:24, Ephesians 2:8 and elsewhere Paul teaches that salvation is a gift of grace from God.
Jesus, Paul and James all taught that what God asks of us is faith, but NONE of them taught that what you do doesn't matter. All of them made it abundantly clear that works of love for your fellow human beings in need were central to how God viewed your relationship with Him: Jesus in Matthew 25:31-46, and Paul Romans 2 and 1 Cor 13. In the epistle of James, he explains that faith without works is dead, and religion which is pure and undefiled before God is to visit orphans and widows and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Even back in Isaiha chapter 1, God complains that religion without justice and doing good for those in need simply makes God sick of the whole thing.
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As for hell and eternal punishment, Jesus certainly did teach this many times. BUT you can certainly say that nothing in the Bible taught a whole lot directly about either heaven or hell. I think making to much of oblique parable references to them is a mistake. I think it suffices to say there is indeed a polarity in ultimate human destiny. Frankly I think this comes from the self-destructive nature of bad habits (sin) themselves. Either you fight against them (with help) or they eat away at you from you within until there is nothing left.
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Yes. Humans by nature have a weakness to be "holier than thou".
