“Which Gospel”
Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code
FCC – May 28, 2006
Introduction: Today we are wrapping up our 4 week sermon series on the Da Vinci Code. Why have we been talking about a book of fiction? Do you know that a week ago, the movie’s opening weekend brought in $77 million…that is second only second to the opening weekend of Star Wars episode III. Supposedly 45 million people have read the book, which makes it the 2nd most read book with a spiritual theme in America. It’s second only to the Bible. Wow. This book and movie are helping shape the spirituality of many in our culture!! So I’ve taking a month to take on the claims in the movie. I know that I have been teaching more than preaching, but I felt like it was paramount to do this.
We have looked at these questions:
o Can we trust the Bible?
o Is Jesus God?
o Was Jesus Married?
And today we are going to answer the question: “Which Gospel?” The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote that there was nothing new under the sun…isn’t that the truth! We are going to look at popular 21st century ideas that are as old as the 1st century. Gnosticism is 2000 years old, and is making an incredible comeback. It is very popular and shows up in modern New Age thinking. Let’s start with some definitions.
A definition of Gnosticism: “a pre-Christian and early Christian religious movement teaching that salvation comes by learning esoteric spiritual truths that free humanity from the material world, believed in this moment to be evil” (Encarta Dictionary).
A definition of Gnosis: The Greek word for "knowledge" used by the Gnostics to mean knowledge gained not through intellectual discovery but through personal experience or acquaintance which initiates one into esoteric mysteries. The experience of gnosis reveals to the initiated the divine spark within. "Gnosis" has a very different meaning in the New Testament which excludes esotericism and self-deification (www.equip.org).
A Brief Description of Gnosticism: Popular opinion often comes from obscure sources. Many conceptions about Jesus now current and credible in New Age circles are rooted in a movement of spiritual protest which, until recently, was the concern only of the specialized scholar or the occultist. This ancient movement — Gnosticism — provides much of the form and color for the New Age portrait of Jesus as the illumined Illuminator: one who serves as a cosmic catalyst for others’ awakening.
Gnosticism as a philosophy refers to a related body of teachings that stress the acquisition of "gnosis," or inner knowledge. The knowledge sought is not strictly intellectual, but mystical; not merely a detached knowledge of or about something, but a knowing by acquaintance or participation. This gnosis is the inner and esoteric mystical knowledge of ultimate reality. It discloses the spark of divinity within, thought to be obscured by ignorance, convention, and mere exoteric religiosity.
This knowledge is not considered to be the possession of the masses but of the Gnostics, the Knowers, who are privy to its benefits. While the orthodox "many" exult in the exoteric religious trappings which stress dogmatic belief and prescribed behavior, the Gnostic "few" pierce through the surface to the esoteric spiritual knowledge of God. The Gnostics claim the Orthodox mistake the shell for the core; the Orthodox claim the Gnostics dive past the true core into a nonexistent one of their own esoteric invention (www.equip.org).
Quotes and Quips from the Gnostic Gospels:
The Gospel of Mary – Jesus: All natures, all formed things, all creatures exist in and with one another and will again be resolved into their own roots, because the nature of matter is dissolved into the roots of its nature alone.
Apocryphon of John - (God is speaking to John) “I am Father, I am Mother, I am Son…I have come to you that you may know the things not revealed.”
Mary Magdalene: When the soul had overcome the third power, it went upwards and saw the fourth power, (which) took seven forms. The first form is darkness, the second desire, the third ignorance, the fourth is the excitement of death, the fifth is the kingdom of the flesh, the sixth is the foolish wisdom of flesh, the seventh is the wrathful wisdom. These are the seven {powers} of wrath
The Apocalypse of Peter, “And I said, what am I seeing, O Lord? Is it really you whom they take? Are you holding on to me? And are they hammering the feet and hands of another? Who is this one above the cross, who is glad and laughing? The Savior said to me, “He whom you saw glad and laughing above the cross is the Living Jesus.”
The Gospel of Philip: the world came about through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire.
The Gospel of Thomas (saying 114): Simon Peter said to them, "Mary should leave us, for females are not worthy of life." Jesus said, "See, I am going to attract her to make her male so that she too might become a living spirit that resembles you males. For every female (element) that makes itself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.
Elaine Pagels states in her book “Gnostic Gospels”: “Today we read them with different eyes, not merely as “madness and blasphemy” but as Christians in the first centuries experienced them – a powerful alternative to what we know as the orthodox Christian tradition.”
History of the Gnostic Gospels
o Church Father’s criticism - Our only real historical knowledge (until 1947) of the Gnostics is the 2nd and 3rd century criticisms of the early church fathers: Irenaeus, Hippolytus, and Tertullian.
o 1945 Nag Hammadi, Egypt – A number of ancient papyrus are discovered containing fragments from approximately 52 Gnostic writings.
o 1970s – The Gospel of Judas is discovered (written 130-170 AD)
o 1977 – The Nag Hammadi Library is published
o 1979 – Elaine Pagel’s publishes The Gnostic Gospels, "Now for the first time, we have the opportunity to find out about the earliest Christian heresy; for the first time, the heretics can speak for themselves.”
o 2003 – Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code is published and is based on the Gnostic Gospels. This novel becomes the largest selling fiction book in American history. It is 2nd only to the Bible as the most read book with a ‘spiritual theme’ in America.
o 2006 – The National Geographic produced a 2 hour documentary on “The Gospel of Judas” raising this ‘gospel’ to prominence.
o 2006 – The Da Vinci Code movie is released worldwide, bringing in $77,000,000 opening weekend.
o ??? – Philip Pullman’s (the anti-C. S. Lewis) His Dark Materials fantasy novels for young people are currently being made into a major motion picture…here God is presented as the villain and Satan the hero.
Gnostic Beliefs:
1. The nature of matter and spirit. Matter is evil and spirit is good. Although there are variations of Gnostic thinking, most separated moral behavior from spirituality…since the body is bad, the Gnostics took the approach that it didn’t matter what you did with the body, since it didn’t affect the spirit.
2. The nature of the Creator – The origin of the demiurge or offending creator is variously explained, but the upshot is that some precosmic disruption in the chain of beings emanating from the unknowable Father-God resulted in the "fall out" of a substandard deity with less than impeccable credentials. The result was a material cosmos soaked with ignorance, pain, decay, and death — a botched job, to be sure. This deity, nevertheless, despotically demands worship and even pretentiously proclaims his supremacy as the one true God. This creator-god is not the ultimate reality, but rather a degeneration of the unknown and unknowable fullness of Being. (www.equip.org).
3. The nature of Christ. In the teaching of Valentinus and followers, the death of Jesus is movingly recounted, yet without the New Testament significance. Although the Gospel of Truth says that "his death is life for many," it views this life-giving in terms of imparting the gnosis, not removing sin. Pagels says that rather than viewing Christ’s death as a sacrificial offering to atone for guilt and sin, the Gospel of Truth "sees the crucifixion as the occasion for discovering the divine self within." (www.equip.org)
4. The nature of Salvation. Yet, human beings — or at least some of them — are in the position potentially to transcend their imposed limitations, even if the cosmic deck is stacked against them. Locked within the material shell of the human race is the spark of this highest spiritual reality which (as one Gnostic theory held) the inept creator accidently infused into humanity at the creation — on the order of a drunken jeweler who accidently mixes gold dust into junk metal. Simply put, spirit is good and desirable; matter is evil and detestable.
If this spark is fanned into a flame, it can liberate humans from the maddening matrix of matter and the demands of its obtuse originator. What has devolved from perfection can ultimately evolve back into perfection through a process of self-discovery. (www.equip.org)
5. Turning Christianity upside down. Judas and Cain were both good guys!
The snake in the garden is to be revered: he offered wisdom to Eve!
The Church Father’s Answer to the Gnostics
Irenaeus – “Against Heresies” (180 A. D.)
PREFACE. 1. INASMUCH(1) as certain men have set the truth aside, and bring in lying words and vain genealogies, which, as the apostle says,(2) "minister questions rather than godly edifying which is in faith," and by means of their craftily-constructed plausibilities draw away the minds of the inexperienced and take them captive, [I have felt constrained, my dear friend, to compose the following treatise in order to expose and counteract their machinations.] These men falsify the oracles of God, and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation. They also overthrow the faith of many, by drawing them away, under a pretence of [superior] knowledge, from Him who rounded and adorned the universe; as if, forsooth, they had something more excellent and sublime to reveal, than that God who created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are therein. By means of specious and plausible words, they cunningly allure the simple-minded to inquire into their system; but they nevertheless clumsily destroy them, while they initiate them into their blasphemous and impious opinions respecting the Demiurge;(3) and these simple ones are unable, even in such a matter, to distinguish falsehood from truth.
CHAP. XXXI.--DOCTRINES OF THE CAINITES. 1. Others again declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau, Korah, the Sodomites, and all such persons, are related to themselves. On this account, they add, they have been assailed by the Creator, yet no one of them has suffered injury. For Sophia was in the habit of carrying off that which belonged to her from them to herself. They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictitious history of this kind, which they style the Gospel of Judas.
Irenaeus: “the gospel is quadriform”
Irenaeus (from www.equip.org)
Irenaeus goes on to quote John’s affirmation that "Jesus is the Christ" (John 20:31) against the notion that Jesus and Christ were "formed of two different substances," as the Gnostics taught.26
In dealing with the idea that Christ did not suffer on the cross for sin, Irenaeus argues that Christ never would have exhorted His disciples to take up the cross if He in fact was not to suffer on it Himself, but fly away from it.27
For Irenaeus (a disciple of Polycarp, who himself was a disciple of the apostle John), the suffering of Jesus the Christ was paramount. It was indispensable to the apostolic "rule of faith" that Jesus Christ suffered on the cross to bring salvation to His people. In Irenaeus’s mind, there was no divine spark in the human heart to rekindle; self-knowledge was not equal to God-knowledge. Rather, humans were stuck in sin and required a radical rescue operation. Because "it was not possible that the man...who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself," the Son brought salvation by "descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation."28
This harmonizes with the words of Polycarp: "Let us then continually persevere in our hope and the earnest of our righteousness, which Jesus Christ, "who bore our sins in His own body on the tree" [1 Pet. 2:24], "who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" [1 Pet. 2:22], but endured all things for us, that we might live in Him."29
Polycarp’s mentor, the apostle John, said: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16); and "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (4:10).
Polycarp on Marcion: By the 2nd century Christianity was full of Gnostic teachers and leaders who were creating pressure to identify core teachings about Jesus. Men like: Marcion, Ebion, Montanus and Valentinus. When Polycarp met Marcion, Marcion said, “Knowest thou us.” And Polycarp replied, “I know the first born of Satan.” (sermon by Dave Kinney)
The First Teachings of Origen. He lived from 185 –254 A.D. and was highly quoted by other leaders for years to come. He writes in his teachings on the Book of Luke, “I know a certain gospel which is called “The Gospel of Thomas” and a Gospel According to Matthias” and many others have we read – lest we should in any way be considered ignorant because of those who imagine they possess some knowledge if they are acquainted with these. Nevertheless, among all these we have approved solely what the church has recognized, which is that only the four gospels should be accepted.”
Tatian, A Student of Justin Martyr. In 172 A.D. he wrote “Diatessaron”. It means: “through the four”
This was the first attempt to harmonize the 4 gospels into one continuous message of Jesus. The point? The early church recognized the four gospels as the only gospels by the 2nd century.
New Testament Answer to the Gnostics
Galatians 1:6-9 (NIV) I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- [7] which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. [8] But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! [9] As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
Col. 2:9 (NIV) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
1 John 1:1-3 (NIV) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. [2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. [3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:2 (NIV) This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
1 Tim. 3:16 (NIV) Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.
Closing quotes: F. F. Bruce: “there is no reason why the student of the conflict should shrink from making a value judgment: the Gnostic schools lost because they deserved to lose." (F. F. Bruce, The Canon of Scripture)
Gnosticism lets you be "spiritual"—as an inner mysticism—without worrying about objective truth or what you do with your body. But, like Judas, it betrays Christ. 2006 WORLD Magazine, April 29, 2006, Vol. 21, No. 17
Conclusion: We will continue to preach that Jesus came in bodily form, was physically crucified for our sins, and physically rose from the dead! That is the only kind of Jesus you can give your life to! Which gospel will you follow?
