Posted on 03/15/2026 1:35:30 PM PDT by Cronos
Arising among these men, Saturninus (who was of that Antioch which is near Daphne) and Basilides laid hold of some favourable opportunities, and promulgated different systems of doctrine — the one in Syria, the other at Alexandria.
Basilides again, that he may appear to have discovered something more sublime and plausible, gives an immense development to his doctrines. He sets forth that Nous was first born of the unborn father, that from him, again, was born Logos, from Logos Phronesis, from Phronesis Sophia and Dynamis, and from Dynamis and Sophia the powers, and principalities, and angels, whom he also calls the first; and that by them the first heaven was made. Then other powers, being formed by emanation from these, created another heaven similar to the first; and in like manner, when others, again, had been formed by emanation from them, corresponding exactly to those above them, these, too, framed another third heaven; and then from this third, in downward order, there was a fourth succession of descendants; and so on, after the same fashion, they declare that more and more principalities and angels were formed, and three hundred and sixty-five heavens. Wherefore the year contains the same number of days in conformity with the number of the heavens.
Those angels who occupy the lowest heaven, that, namely, which is visible to us, formed all the things which are in the world, and made allotments among themselves of the earth and of those nations which are upon it. The chief of them is he who is thought to be the God of the Jews; and inasmuch as he desired to render the other nations subject to his own people, that is, the Jews, all the other princes resisted and opposed him. Wherefore all other nations were at enmity with his nation. But the father without birth and without name, perceiving that they would be destroyed, sent his own first-begotten Nous (he it is who is called Christ) to bestow deliverance on those who believe in him, from the power of those who made the world. He appeared, then, on earth as a man, to the nations of these powers, and wrought miracles. Wherefore he did not himself suffer death, but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled, bore the cross in his stead; so that this latter being transfigured by him, that he might be thought to be Jesus, was crucified, through ignorance and error, while Jesus himself received the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at them. For since he was an incorporeal power, and the Nous (mind) of the unborn father, he transfigured himself as he pleased, and thus ascended to him who had sent him, deriding them, inasmuch as he could not be laid hold of, and was invisible to all. Those, then, who know these things have been freed from the principalities who formed the world; so that it is not incumbent on us to confess him who was crucified, but him who came in the form of a man, and was thought to be crucified, and was called Jesus, and was sent by the father, that by this dispensation he might destroy the works of the makers of the world. If any one, therefore, he declares, confesses the crucified, that man is still a slave, and under the power of those who formed our bodies; but he who denies him has been freed from these beings, and is acquainted with the dispensation of the unborn father.
Salvation belongs to the soul alone, for the body is by nature subject to corruption. He declares, too, that the prophecies were derived from those powers who were the makers of the world, but the law was specially given by their chief, who led the people out of the land of Egypt. He attaches no importance to [the question regarding] meats offered in sacrifice to idols, thinks them of no consequence, and makes use of them without any hesitation; he holds also the use of other things, and the practice of every kind of lust, a matter of perfect indifference. These men, moreover, practise magic; and use images, incantations, invocations, and every other kind of curious art. Coining also certain names as if they were those of the angels, they proclaim some of these as belonging to the first, and others to the second heaven; and then they strive to set forth the names, principles, angels, and powers of the three hundred and sixty-five imagined heavens. They also affirm that the barbarous name in which the Saviour ascended and descended, is Caulacau.
6. He, then, who has learned [these things], and known all the angels and their causes, is rendered invisible and incomprehensible to the angels and all the powers, even as Caulacau also was. And as the son was unknown to all, so must they also be known by no one; but while they know all, and pass through all, they themselves remain invisible and unknown to all; for, Do you, they say, know all, but let nobody know you. For this reason, persons of such a persuasion are also ready to recant [their opinions], yea, rather, it is impossible that they should suffer on account of a mere name, since they are like to all. The multitude, however, cannot understand these matters, but only one out of a thousand, or two out of ten thousand. They declare that they are no longer Jews, and that they are not yet Christians; and that it is not at all fitting to speak openly of their mysteries, but right to keep them secret by preserving silence.
7. They make out the local position of the three hundred and sixty-five heavens in the same way as do mathematicians. For, accepting the theorems of these latter, they have transferred them to their own type of doctrine. They hold that their chief is Abraxas; and, on this account, that word contains in itself the numbers amounting to three hundred and sixty-five.
This false teaching of Basilides, Gnosticism, was pushed out of the Roman empire and the Persian, but we see this same idea in the Quran
"Wherefore he did not himself suffer death, but Simon, a certain man of Cyrene, being compelled, bore the cross in his stead; so that this latter being transfigured by him, that he might be thought to be Jesus, was crucified, through ignorance and error, while Jesus himself received the form of Simon, and, standing by, laughed at them. "
The real Gospel, the true gospel, is even more mysterious than this gnostic balderdash. But it is not esoteric. It is rather something that can be understood. Anybody who wants to can receive the gospel. It is simple truth and true simplicity. The gist of it is this. Mankind has a sin problem and Jesus has the answer to it. The antidote. The deal Jesus offers is He will take your sin off of you. And put his righteousness on you.
The real mystery, is the truth is, few there be that find it. The others must not be looking for it. Seek and you will find.
Thanks for posting this. It contains rare information.
So many of those who want to preach a false Christ, really, really, really want to deny His Cross.
Muslims: Quran 4:157: “...they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them... They did not kill him for certain.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses: “They teach Jesus died on a single upright torture stake (stauros in Greek, meaning pole), not a cross with a crossbeam”
Some Jews: Later Talmudic texts (e.g., Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a) briefly mention Jesus’ execution by Jewish authorities for sorcery and idolatry, possibly by stoning then hanging on Passover eve, framing it as justified under Torah but not crucifixion.
Gnosticism is the number one enemy of the faith.
Actually Protestantism.
It’s the old heresies wrapped in new cloth.
Amen.
Do you believe Caesar is the head of the church? Or a Roman pontiff? Or is Christ the head of the Church?
Great article. Thanks!
In my humble experience: scratch a New Ager find a Gnostic.
YESHUA is the head of the Church, and believers come from every denomination.
Hmmm...
In Praeclara Gratulationis Publicae, Pope Leo XIII wrote:
“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.”
By the way, that’s blasphemy.
Colossians 1:18. YESHUA is the first in EVERYTING. There is NO OTHER intermediary. I will take what Paul said under the inspiration of the HOLY SPIRIT over the dictates of an man. over the dictates of a man.
The Catholic church says otherwise.
That’s quite a chain of custody, yes?
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus’ statement, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,” as the divine appointment of St. Peter as the visible foundation, leader, and first pope of the Church. Peter is considered the “rock” (or Kepha in Aramaic) holding the keys of authority, ensuring church unity.
As I said it’s old heresies rehashed.
That is not true at all.
Generally, Protestant theology is based on one and only on one factor, as Abraham did his, of being totally convinced that Yehoshua (Anglicized "Jesus") of Nazareth (also titled Emmanuel by The Spirit), fulfilled perfectly the righteous demands of His Heavenly Father and Judge of All, required of humanity to repay the debt of Sin's behavior exercised by the created soul-invested body of Adam, our federal head of the human race. And thus, the debt having been paid, the Judge could impute the righteousness of His Son on every sentient individual who was fully filled with an unreserved eternal never-ceasing change of mind convinced that He Who had deliberately come to integrated Himself into the human corpus constructed of Adam's exact DNA, where the Blood purveyed the essence of life as a process, was able to propitiate that debt once for all time, and earn the gracious gift of eternal life for any one whom His Father with forethought deemed the confessed repentant fit to receive that gracious gift, justify the yearning seeker for it, knowing that any pitiful prideful humanistic attempt to add to--to earn--the gift would have been an insult to The Father's graciousness, defiling the wholeness of payment by the Savior's Righteous Works and Shed Blood, His Father adding the Mercy of not giving to the repentant sinner's soul the punishment so richly deserved, and entering that person's name and presence into the Lamb's Book of Life.
And that is how and why the True Gospel is faithfully heralded to the watching world by His Ambassadors, of which all will be professing The Triune God's faithfulness to fulfill to the brim of every promise He has made, the promises completely disclosed in His Inspired Words, the Holy Scriptures that need no external support from fallible humans, only infallible conveyance of them.
Different than the Vatican's portrayal of "Christianity"?
Characteristic of Protestantism's protests against the Roman State religion of their countries?
Exactly defonong the description of the beliefs the Master personally chose to train, to whom He delegated the authority to recruit and train others?
Most certainly to all three challenges!
2 Corinthians 6:13-7:1 (AV; bolding added for emphasis
13 Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.
14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
18And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Bkmk
No, it’s based on authority.
For Protestants it’s “No, I DECIDE!”
That is why you are:
Baptist
Lutheran
Church of Christ
Methodist
Assemblies of God
Unitarian
Mormon
Jehovah’s Witness
Anglican
Episcopalian
AMEC
Adventist
Pentecostal
Presbyterian
Charismatic
Non-denominational
Or any of the derivations listed above (e.g. Southern Baptist vs. Missionary Baptist).
The only thing Protestants can agree upon is they think the Catholic Church is wrong.
That should make you think why the Catholic Church is special, and the denominations are just sects.
First, your list contains a lot of religious entities that were/are not Protestants, including Baptists (the first gathering was the prototype assembly of 120 believers at Jerusalem. All were Christians, saved by faith alone in the works and Person alone of Christ, entered as members by immersion alone, regenerated by Indwelling Spirit at Pentecost). They demonstrated all the distinctives endorsed by immersionist baptized believer assemblies ever since. The Romanized cult came into existence hundreds of years later, failing in the first of those distinctive from their appointment as the state religion.
Other entities on your list weren't even Christians, and therefore could not be counted as "Protestants"in anything you debate.
Secondly, the power of keeping Roman unscriptural dogmas is the power of diversity in Jesus' design for His earthly churches is for them to be local independent autonomous assemblies that agree on the basic doctrines easily to b e seen in the Holy Scriptures of which its progressive revelation was concluded about 100 A. D. and closed when the last of the disciple/Apostles chosen personally by Jesus passed away.
With this unity on the basics, divisions into separate local assemblies occurred because of important, but not heretic differences of opinion, or even language differences. The murderous Satanic attacks on them by the Roman state church only served to strengthen them, to steel them for the defense of their faith, and that because Jesus Himself was the Head of each of these assemblies, rooted in unreserved total conviction of The Comforter's Inspired Word and none other as the source of the authority delegated to that assembly and its elected spiritually mature congregants. Their catholicity in belief and action has proved even stronger now, despite the incessant drive of Satan's forces to extinguish them.
Though perhaps fewer in number as compared to the ignorant masses dedicated to the "Might is Right" foundation of Moslem and Roman and Buddhist and Zen cults as well as many others thriving on hate and war as their foundation, the power of Christ in the Law of God and the Love of God and the Grace of God has nurtured those to when He is the source of wisdom and strength. They will be here and ready to reign with Him when He comes to institute His Kingdom of Righteousness and Peace, and chain His (and our) Adv ersary for a thousand years.
I fail to see how that Islam, Romanism, or even Protestantism who at the core continually disobey Him and His Inscriptured Commands can ever be a part of that Kingdom.
You may not see it, But their greatest sin before the Lord Jesus Christ is those cults that have created a clergy class that overwhelms a subservient class of ordinary congregants that they have disenfranchised through claiming to have the power over one's soul to dispense eternal life and grace according as they choose, and not God the Father or His Son. Their creation of a two-class Nicolaitan religious society empowering a supra-local-church entity is an abolition of God's Plan for guidance of His People in the local assembly over their own conduct.
But it seems as though you have not perceived who is claiming the right to choose whether you go to Hades, or only to Purgatory for uncountable eons.
Hmm?
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