Re: Gnosticism

I never knew about this religion until you mentioned it. I've done a few minutes of reading on gnotics, but i probably don't have a full view of it. so, if in my next few statements if i say something incorrectly, please help out.

It seems like you are saying that Christianity existed before Jesus Christ. But Christianity is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, correct? When you refer to Matthey 2:23, this passage is referring to a fulfillment of a prophecy. Jesus is a Nazarene, just like I am a Korean-American. I was not born into a Catholic religion. I was actually taught about the Catholic religion, but found out that some of the teachings are incorrect. Catholics don't believe the bible to be inerrant and they inject beliefs of how to believe in God. They have taken huge chunks of it, but the fundamental truths have been twisted. They have been twisted so slightly that it seems like the truth, but it's not. This redefines God's character.

The Bible is inerrant. Read it as a whole and not bits and pieces of it, which is what people do. All concepts in the bible are backed up by other passages within the Bible so that we are clear about the understanding.

The Gospel, which means Good News, is about Jesus coming to this earth for His ultimate purpose. Yes, He came to teach, but His ultimate purpose here was to die for our sins. To cleanse us from our sins so that God will see us without blemish. I don't see anywhere in any of my gnostic reading (which again has been very brief), about the redemption that needs to take place before we can be right with God. Jesus paid the price for our sins. No one can deny that they have broken God's law (the 10 commandments). We, by ourselves, can not pay for the fine of breaking God's law. Jesus was the PERFECT sacrafice (payment) that was needed to pay for our eternal prison term. If we dismiss Jesus's purpose, then we have missed the entire point of His existence.

Jesus is God, the I AM. I wouldn't define him as Gnostic, or anything else. He defines himself as He sees fit because He is God. Read Luke 2:41~52. Jesus's knowledge was not taught to Him by his parents. Understand that Jesus is God and one with the Father. He did not need to be taught anything or defined by people. He trascends all because He created all.

Gnotisism seems like a knowledge based belief. You do things by your own will. But Christianity is based on doing everything through God's strength and in His will. And it is not through our own strength or knowledge that we can be saved from eternal damnation, but only through the death on the cross.

I really encourage you to believe that the Bible is inerrant (not even 1 error). And then read and fully understand the Gospel. Jesus is proving that He is God and that his death served a purpose which is to redeem us from our sins.

in Christ,
-ralph