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Discussions about eschatology and millennial views are sometimes dogged by questions about their importance and practical relevance.1 Yet early church history shows that belief in a particular millennial view, in this case premillennialism, was no small thing. In fact, it was a major weapon in the early church’s battle against the greatest enemy to Christianity of that era— Gnosticism. Donald Fairbairn argues this point in his article, “Contemporary Millennial/Tribulational Debates.”2 Fairbairn is a professor of historical theology at Erskine Theological Seminary and earned his doctorate in patristics from the University of Cambridge. I would like to summarize some of Fairbairn’s...

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us…(I John 1:1-2)The Final of the three simple, theological propositions set forth by the apostle John, in his restorative ministry to those whose faith had been distorted due to the gnostics is this; …Jesus Christ has come (and remains)...

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.(I John 1:5)The Apostle John’s ministry is one of restoration. The faith of the saints had been confused, distorted, tangled and blurred by the pseudo spirituality of those who claim a mystical, direct knowledge of God, which is above and beyond the experience of “normal” christians. These “gnostics”, ie “knowing Ones“, undermined the simple faith of christians, causing them to doubt the integrity and depth of their own experience. Therefore John sets out to...

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.(I John 1:5)As we noted earlier, John’s ministry is a ministry of restoration. The faith has been frayed, tangled and torn to the point where the believers whom John addressed were confused as to who knew God genuinely and who didn’t. What does it mean to “know him who is from the beginning”? To “be strong and have the Word of God abiding in you”? Most importantly, who is the God and Father of...

The Chinese pastor, author and martyr, Watchman Nee, in his book “What Shall This Man Do ?”, made an interesting observation about the careers of the three apostles, Peter, Paul and John. Nee observed that there is spiritual significance in the occupations that these three were engaged in when they were called by Jesus. We are told in Scripture that when Peter was called, he was busy as a fisherman, ‘casting his nets into the sea’. Paul happened to be a tentmaker by trade, crafting portable dwelling places. John, the beloved apostle, was also a fisherman, but when Jesus first...

We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.(I John 5:18-21)The Apostle John wrote his...

The internet and popular literature are awash in false charges that Christianity is the result of pagan, Hellenistic, and/or Gnostic syncretism. A simple internet search and cursory perusal of public sharing sites yield manifold examples of profound error and many are being misled today as a result. A growing body of atheists and people adhering to neopaganism or false religious systems are propagating this information usually due to their own misunderstanding and deception but some are propigating the error knowingly on purpose. During a period roughly spanning 1890 to 1940, scholars often alleged that New Testament Christianity was heavily influenced...

At roughly the same time Christianity began to spread in the Roman world, another belief system was spreading almost as rapidly, a religious philosophy we call Gnosticism. Gnosticism takes its name from the Greek "gnosis," a word that means knowledge. But the Gnostics didn't have in mind ordinary human knowledge. They claimed to possess a deep, hidden knowledge - a knowledge denied to the rest of us ordinary human beings. The Gnostics believed in one ultimate god. But they believed that below that god there were a vast number of intermediate spiritual powers they referred to as archons, "rulers." Now...

Dissecting the Gnostic Gospels By Jenni Vinson Trejo April 21, 2006 During the third century, the Christian church cast out the writings of a heretic sect of “Christians” who claimed to be the keepers of knowledge, the Gnostics. These Gnostics claimed that they had found God within themselves and that they held the truth about God. The Gnostics wrote their own version of accounts regarding Jesus and his followers. They eventually had to bury their papyrus books to keep the Christian church from destroying them for being blasphemous. Those documents, discovered in 1946 at Nag Hammadi in Egypt, disclose a...

The Gospel of Judas" is a long-lost bit of Gnostic apocrypha. Now that archeologists have found a copy, the media is abuzz with speculation that this ancient document will shed new light on or even change Christianity. According to "The Gospel of Judas," Jesus tells Judas to betray Him. This will enable Jesus' spirit to escape from its fleshly container. Jesus also is said to call Judas the only disciple who truly understands His message. Much of the rest of the "gospel" is just disembodied dialogue about "spirit" as opposed to matter, in sharp contrast to the historically detailed Gospels...

The Gospel of Judas debuted Thursday in Washington, D.C. What's the Gospel of Judas, you ask? Well, it's not a gospel. And it's not written by Judas. But it's still important, if not the most important nonbiblical text discovered during the last 60 years, as a National Geographic Society executive told The New York Times. The text, a copy of the document written during the second century, reveals some big news. Turns out Judas wasn't the renegade disciple who betrayed Jesus and committed suicide after remorse overwhelmed him. No, this Judas was just doing what Jesus told him to do....

"It is difficult to resist the conclusion that there is a death wish at work at the heart of our civilization... our theologians dismantle the structure of belief they exist to expound and promote."  –Malcolm Muggeridge, Eternity, April 1972 Muggeridge, a world-famous English journalist who became a Christian late in his life, was prophetic as he saw the coming remaking of the core of the Christian faith by its very leaders. We might wonder if he could have imagined how far the faith could be taken apart!The problem is this: many of our modern theologians, clergy and seminaries are remaking...

Recent News! They discover proof that Atlantis did not submerge complete but only one part...By Salvador Morales. Atlantis News Agency. Madrid, Spain. 01-06-2005. The Spanish investigator and scriptologist, Georgeos Diaz-Montexano, has discovered paleographical proofs that in fact the island or peninsula (Nêsos) denominated like Atlantis or Atlantic, it was divided in two parts below the sea. To date all atlantologists and students of the Timaeus and the Critias de Plato had thought that in texts of the Greek philosophist narrated the collapse of the all island or Atlantis peninsula, nevertheless, Georgeos Diaz-Montexano has reviewed the oldest texts known writings in...

Christians try to debunk 'Da Vinci Code' By Mark O'Keefe Newhouse News Service After reading "The Da Vinci Code," Holly Jespersen wondered if Jesus Christ did in fact wed Mary Magdalene and father her child, as the novel claims. "It definitely made me question all that I have been brought up to believe," said Jespersen, a Presbyterian who lives in Chicago. Glen Gracia of Boston, a former practicing Catholic, had a similar reaction, questioning the validity of the Bible if, in fact, it was commissioned and manipulated by the Roman emperor Constantine for political purposes, as the book asserts. "I...