PART THREE
THE RISE AND
DECLINE OF CHRISTIANITY
Chapter IX
The Great
Conspiracy
With the death of the Apostle Paul and with
the Roman persecution of both Christians and Jews, the whole tenure of Church
history took a change. From a rapidly growing organization reaching
into the scores and scores of thousands throughout the empire, the Church, all
of a sudden becomes nearly unheard of.
The next one hundred years becomes THE LOST CENTURY.
The life of Christ, and the acts of the
Apostles are all spelled out in clear, easy-to-define terms. But, from the destruction of Jerusalem until
the middle of the second century, there is a great historical vacuum.
But God did not leave the world without
witness. It can now be made plain what happened and WHY true knowledge has
been hidden.
The Bible actually does reveal what happened,
and follows a step-by-step exposé of A GREAT CONSPIRACY to stamp out true
Christianity in favor of a pagan substitute — a substitute claiming the name
and authority of Christ, but rejecting
the message. In this chapter you
will see how that great falling away started, grew, and OVERTOOK the true way
of God.
This is why this period in history is void of
evidence. True history would have
recorded a WITNESS against the conspiracy.
But when the conspiracy gained the upper hand, it stamped out as much
recorded evidence against it as possible, and went on to become what millions
have accepted as “Christianity.”
You will find the PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT THE “AGE
OF SHADOWS” most revealing.
Simon Magus, the Father of Heresy
There is at least one record which could not
be stamped out. And that record is the
WORD OF GOD. The Almighty Creator
inspired His servants to write the whole story of the plan to destroy true
Christianity.
The New Testament, corroborated by a great
deal of material from later religious and secular history, reveals an
individual commonly known as Simon Magus, as the father and FOUNDER of the falling
away.
His first contact with God’s true ministers
is recorded in the book of Acts, chapter eight. Let’s read about him. As
the context shows, Philip had been sent to Samaria as the gospel began to
spread from Judea:
But there was a certain man, called Simon, which
beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria,
giving out that himself was some great one: To whom they all gave heed, from
the least to the greatest, saying, THIS MAN IS THE GREAT POWER OF GOD.[1]
Here we come into contact with one of the most
influential men in the entire eastern portion of the Roman mpire. This man, Luke reveals, was even worshipped as the very power of God.
When he saw true miracles performed by Philip, he knew this was a true minister
of God. Luke plainly says Simon himself
believed and was baptized.[2] The problem is that Simon didn’t REALLY
REPENT — he did not receive the Spirit of God.
And when he saw that through the laying on of hands of God’s ministers
the Holy Spirit was given, he tried to bribe Peter and buy the office of an apostle.
Notice it:
And when Simon saw that through laying on of the
Apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost [Spirit] was given, he offered them money,
Saying, GIVE ME ALSO THIS POWER, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive
the Holy Ghost [Spirit].[3]
Here was a man who by trickery and sorcery
had deceived a whole nation. He was not
about to relinquish that power and authority.
He was a great pagan HIGH
PRIEST of the oldest religious system on earth.
And when he saw that God’s true Church had
been set up, he tried to join it and
BUY the office of the ministry.
Simon Not Converted
However, God inspired Peter to see through
this man’s FALSE CONVERSION. When Simon
offered money to Peter to make him an Apostle also, Peter rebuked Simon severely:
Thy money perish with thee, because thou has thought
that the gift of God [the ministry, as well as God’s Spirit] may be purchased
with money. Thou hast NEITHER PART NOR LOT in this matter: for THY HEART IS NOT
RIGHT in the sight of God.[4]
Simon never repented at the correction of
Peter. Instead, he grew bitter.
Yet, Simon could see the truth. He could see Jesus was the Christ. And he could see the power of Christ’s
ministers. He could see huge crowds
being converted to this new religion, Christianity.
He, then, since he couldn’t join, and he wouldn’t
repent, decided to start HIS OWN RELIGION.
Before we get to that, though, let’s go back in history and see what
Simon Magus believed — what the teachings of the Samaritan-Babylonian type
religious system really were.
Just as God had completely and thoroughly
prepared the world for Christianity, so
SATAN also had been PREPARING for the great COUNTERFEIT RELIGION.
Babylonian Mystery System
The Samaritans were an interesting
people. They were largely Babylonian by
race. The Bible tells us in II Kings
17:26-31, that most of the Samaritans had been taken to Samaria from Babylon
and adjacent areas. After the
Babylonian captivity of Judah, Ezra writes there were others of Babylonian
stock who came to Samaria.
Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the
scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dinaites, the Apharsathchites,
the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the
Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites, And the rest of the nations whom
the great and noble Asnappar brought over, and set in the cities of Samaria,
and the rest that are on this side the river, and at such a time.[5]
This mixture of peoples — largely influenced by
the Babylonians — never left their pagan Babylonian and Chaldean
philosophies. However, they did accept
a great many of the teachings of Judaism.
The Samaritans were a great admixture of racial and religious
backgrounds bound together by a partial belief in the law of Moses and the
pagan rituals of Babylon. The
well-known Church historian, Adolf Harnack writes of them:
Long before the appearance of Christianity,
combinations of religion had taken place in Syria and Palestine, ESPECIALLY IN
SAMARIA, in so far as the ASSYRIAN and BABYLONIAN religious philosophy . . . with its manifold
interpretation, had penetrated as far as the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean.[6]
It is with this background that Simon Magus
developed his religious system and had for many years been deceiving the
Samaritan populace. Harnack further
states that Simon Magus:
¼Proclaimed a doctrine in which the Jewish
faith was strangely and grotesquely mixed with BABYLONIAN MYTHS, together with
some Greek additions. The mysterious
worship¼in consequence of the widened horizon and the deepening of religious
feeling, finally, the wild syncretism (that is, blending together of religious
beliefs), whose aim, however, was a UNIVERSAL RELIGION, all contributed to gain
adherents for Simon.[7]
Peter readily knew and understood the
background and doctrines of this pagan high priest who had only recently
“accepted” Christianity. Also, Peter
recognized that he was “in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of
iniquity.”[8] And although Simon began to CALL himself a
“Christian,” Peter never recognized
him as a true and converted member of the Church and gave him a stinging
rebuke. But even this did not prevent
Simon from carrying out his own plans.
The Origin of the Babylonian Religion
To understand the complex system of pagan
myths and superstitions, one must go back to some years after the Flood. There can be no question that all forms of
vile superstitions existed before the Flood.
Things were so evil on the earth that God was forced, by the degeneracy
of the human world He had created, to destroy them.
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come
before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I
will destroy them with the earth.[9]
However, it only took a few hundred years after the Flood for Satan the Devil to once again bring about a complete and total SYSTEM
OF RELIGION to lead men astray.
The founder of the great Babylonian mystery
system is well recognized by all students of history. It first began with a woman named Semiramis. Semiramis was
the wife of Cush, the grandson of Noah.
Cush was not born until after the Flood, but within a few score years
after the Flood, the earth was beginning to be populated with many people. Cush and Semiramis completely turned their backs on the laws of God
and allowed themselves to be used as instruments of Satan the Devil. There can be no doubt they had heard of the
plan of God and knew of the coming Messiah — Noah was a preacher of
righteousness.[10]
But Semiramis was not about to accept God and
God’s way of life. She began to teach
her own son, Nimrod, how to establish power
over other men. Here is the beginning
key to understand the complete religious system of nearly every nation on the
face of the earth today. It all began
with Nimrod.
And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one
in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore
it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.[11]
The Hebrew word which was translated “mighty”
means “tyrant.” And that is not all. The Hebrew word “paniyn,” which was translated “before” should more properly be
translated “against.” The correct translation of the verse should
read that Nimrod was a tyrant against the
Eternal God. That is what his
mother, Semiramis, taught him to be.
The Jewish historian, Josephus, says of this
Nimrod:
Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an
affront and contempt of God. He was the
grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man, and of great strength of
hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe
it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that
it was their own courage, which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government
into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to
bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a
mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the
waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for
destroying their forefathers![12]
How
plain!
Nimrod
persuaded the people to follow him and build a tower to reach up into the heavens as a
symbol of unity and protection. He led
the people to believe it was their own courage and strength which brought about
happiness. He persuaded the people that
he — NIMROD — was the great provider. People, except for a few faithful
individuals of the line of Shem, began to WORSHIP Nimrod and the “Great Mother Goddess,” Semiramis.
Semiramis’ Babylonian name was Ishtar, pronounced as we now pronounce
Easter. Nimrod was called Tammuz or
Baal.
The People Followed Nimrod
And as if this tyrannical government and
worship of Nimrod and Semiramis were not enough, Semiramis finally persuaded
her own son to marry her. Shocking —
but true. Semiramis wanted to be the
POWER behind the scenes. Nimrod was the
instrumentality she used and the one who was able to persuade the people.
The Jerusalem Targum says:
¼He [Nimrod] was a hunter of the children of
men in their languages; and he said to them, ‘depart from the religion of Shem
[God’s truth], and cleave to the institutes of Nimrod.’[13]
Those who were obedient to God’s law, Nimrod
tried to hunt down and kill. Since only
a few were faithful to the laws of God, Nimrod used the fear of death to
persuade men to worship him.
The historian, Salverte, says of Nimrod:
¼There can be little doubt that Nimrod, in
erecting his power, availed himself of¼scientific secrets, which he and his
associates alone possessed.[14]
With Nimrod and Semiramis, began a MYSTERY
SYSTEM of religion. The workings of
Satan and his demons along with the complete deception promulgated by these two
wicked individuals, began a complete
and thorough SYSTEM, which has lasted
through thousands of years of time.
After the death of Nimrod (he was killed by
Shem), Semiramis carried on the
newfound religion. She pictured herself
as the virgin mother of the Savior, and told the world she had borne a son who
was to be the Savior. A complete and
total counterfeit of the virgin birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ was contrived two thousand years before Jesus Christ was ever born.
To help her teach these lies to the world,
Semiramis established a religious priesthood. The priesthood grew in power and scope until
it became the very heart and core of this religious system. Over hundreds of years, it developed more
and greater powers.
The Mystery System Spreads
This religious-political system spread from Babylon to all nations of the
world. Finally, after the Persians
conquered the great Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C., the headquarters of this
great pagan religious system moved TO SAMARIA.
But the system continued.
Simon Magus was the great high priest of this
very same religious Babylonian system.
When recognized by Peter as counterfeit,
Simon Magus conceived the idea of founding a NEW RELIGION. Using the name and many of the doctrines of the true Christian Church, Simon
Magus INTERMINGLED his pagan Babylonian superstitions and doctrines, replacing
them with new names and titles and using Jesus Christ as the champion of his
new-found religion.
Shocking as it may seem, by the end of the
first century A.D., Simon Magus and his counterfeit “Christian” religion had
gained the preeminence and far outnumbered the true followers of Jesus
Christ. James Hastings writes of
Simon’s change in religion:
But it need not be supposed that when Simon broke with
the Christians he renounced all he had learned. It is more probable
that he carried some of the Christian ideas with him and that he wove these
into a system of his own. This system
did contain some of the germs of later Gnosticism. Thus he became a leader of a retrograde sect, perhaps nominally
Christian and certainly using some of the
Christian terminology, but in reality anti-Christian and exalting Simon
himself to the central position which Christianity was giving to Jesus Christ.[15]
Simon Moves to Rome
Although Simon Magus is a subject of great
controversy in theological circles, there can be no doubt about what Justin
Martyr wrote concerning Simon in about 150 A.D. From the Dictionary of
Christian Biography we read:
When Justin Martyr wrote his Apology, the sect of the Simonians appears to have been formidable,
for he speaks four times of its founder, Simon; and we need not doubt that he
identified him with the Simon of the Acts.
He states that he was a Samaritan, adding that his birthplace was a
village called Gitta; he describes him as a formidable magician, and tells THAT
HE CAME TO ROME in the days of Claudius Caesar (45 A.D.), and made such an
impression by his magical powers, THAT HE WAS HONORED AS A GOD, a statue being
erected to him on the Tiber, between the two bridges, bearing the inscription
‘Simoni Deo Sancto’ — ‘The Holy God Simon.’[16]
Concerning
the accuracy of this statement, James Hastings says:
There is considerable force¼in the plea of the editors
of the ‘Ante-Nicene Library’ that this is ‘very slight evidence on which to
reject so precise a statement as Justin here makes; a statement he would
scarcely have hazarded in an apology addressed to Rome, where every person had
the means of ascertaining its accuracy.
If¼he made a mistake, it must have been at once exposed, and other writers
would not have so frequently repeated the story as they have done.’[17]
Thus, we can plainly see the headquarters of
the pagan Babylonian religious system now moves to Rome — the center of culture
in the Roman Empire and the world at this time. But it moves under a NEW NAME.
No longer was it recognized as a Babylonian mystery system — it had
taken a new name — “Christianity.”
Simon Magus, Not Simon Peter, at Rome
It has been common tradition in almost all
Christianity that the Apostle Peter eventually moved to Rome where he became
the chief Apostle of the early New Testament Church. There is absolutely no
evidence in all Biblical history that the Apostle Peter was ever at Rome.
In fact, all evidence in the Bible denies even the presence
of Peter in Rome.
Certainly, Peter never went to Rome prior to
the writing of the book of Romans by the apostle Paul in 55 A.D. If Peter had been at Rome, it would have
been a great offense and effrontery to his ministry for Paul to write such a
strong rebuke to the Church as he did.
No, Simon Peter was never at Rome.
The Encyclopaedia Biblica
plainly states:
The attempt has been made to meet this by pointing out
that church fathers mention the presence of SIMON in Rome while at the same
time NOT speaking of controversies between him and PETER. This is indeed true of Justin (one of the
earliest witnesses), WHO KNOWS NOTHING OF ANY PRESENCE OF PETER IN ROME AT ALL.[18]
Plainly, it was Simon Magus — not Simon Peter — who moved to Rome. He moved the whole false system of
“Christianity” — the false names, the added pagan doctrines, everything — with
him.
And not only did he move himself and his
headquarters to Rome, but through a whole priesthood and ministry, he preached
his doctrines and conspiracy around the entire empire — just as God’s true
ministers preached throughout this entire period.
Certainly, Simon Magus is appropriately named
in Church history as THE FATHER OF HERESY.
A Falling Away
There is no doubt the influence of Simon
Magus was well-known by the true ministers of God. Undoubtedly, the very reason Luke records so much about Simon in
the eighth chapter of Acts is that Luke recognized his great influence while in
Rome about 60 A.D. Simon Magus had
already been in Rome some fifteen years at the time of the Apostle Paul’s
imprisonment.
Even many years before, the Apostle Paul
wrote to the Thessalonian church:
For THE MYSTERY OF INIQUITY DOTH ALREADY WORK: only
he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom
the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of His coming: Even him, whose coming is AFTER THE WORKING OF SATAN
with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.[19]
Simon Magus had begun to deceive even converted individuals who should have known better
than to believe his lies. Yet he had
great and tremendous powers of mystic and magical arts which caused thousands
to follow him. So important was this
man and his influence in the early
New Testament Church that the Apostle Paul WARNED the Church to BEWARE of him
and not to follow his mystery religious system called by a “Christian” title.
This man was used here in II Thessalonians as
a very type of the last and final end-time GREAT FALSE PROPHET who will deceive
millions prior to the SECOND COMING of Jesus Christ to this earth. There is, living on earth today, a great
high priest of a religious system who believes and teaches exactly the same as
his prototype — Simon Magus. The
Apostle Paul clearly records that this system — by the fifties A.D. — was
already working.
The Changing Times
As the years passed, times changed. We have already read about some of the
persecutions of Nero and a great martyrdom in the mid sixties A.D., which even
brought about the death of the Apostle Paul.
After his death, only a few years passed before the Romans marched
against Jerusalem, causing the Church to flee.
Christians had to make a decision.
Many lost their lives in martyrdom remaining faithful to the God they
had proved existed, and to His Son in whom they knew they would obtain
salvation.
Undoubtedly, many others gave in. The true Church of God began to vanish. By the eighties A.D., the apostle John
recorded how Diotrephes, a false minister masquerading under the title of a
true minister of God, had gained such control of the Church that he was
actually forbidding true and
converted Church members to attend services.
I wrote unto the Church: but Diotrephes, who loveth
to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth,
prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither
doth he himself receive the brethren, and FORBIDDETH THEM that would, and
casteth them out of the Church.[20]
Almost every one of the later epistles
written in the New Testament, contains an admonition or warning against this GREAT CONSPIRACY which had arisen. God has not left us without a witness and
warning. Even Jude had to write:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you
of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort
you that ye SHOULD EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH WHICH WAS ONCE DELIVERED
UNTO THE SAINTS. For there are certain
men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of our God
into LASCIVIOUSNESS [permission to do as you please], and denying the only Lord
God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.[21]
With their doctrines perverting the true
knowledge of God’s ways, and with their false names and titles of Christianity,
Simon Magus and his priesthood succeeded in gaining more followers than true
Christianity.
There can be no doubt that Simon Magus and
the whole religious system he taught wielded a great deal of influence in the
latter part of the first century A.D.
But working at the same time were other systems which would contribute
philosophies and doctrines to the counterfeit system which would masquerade
under the name of “Christianity” for the next 2,000 years.
Cerinthus in the East
While Simon Magus headquartered in Rome in
the west and proclaimed his doctrine and religion to the empire, there was also
a man in the east who was conspiring against God’s true Church.
This man was Cerinthus.
Of his birth and origin little is known for
certain. Some believe he was a Jew by
religion and by nation.[22] Others believe he was of Egyptian origin and
educated in Alexandria.[23]
But in all likelihood, Cerinthus was a
Samaritan just as Simon Magus was.
Samaritans constantly called themselves Jews when it was to their
advantage, as Josephus points out.[24] And there were Samaritans who studied in
Egypt. But his origin is not important
enough at this point to discuss further here.
What is important is to know what influence
he and his teachings had on early Christianity.
Just as the first writers of Church history
in the second century recorded a witness against Simon Magus, so they also
wrote against Cerinthus.
Hippolytus wrote, “Cerinthus¼determined that the world
was not made by the first God, but by certain angelic power. And this power¼knows not the God [that is]
above all things.”[25]
And Tertullian said concerning the beliefs of
Cerinthus: “Affirming that the Law was given by angels; representing the God of
the Jews as not the Lord, but an angel.”[26]
Again, Hippolytus wrote that Cerinthus
taught: “After Jesus’ baptism, Christ came down in the form of a dove upon Him
from the ¼Father¼and¼at the conclusion of the passion, Christ flew away from Jesus.”[27]
And if that was not enough
of a strange doctrine about God and Christ, Cerinthus taught:
¼That the kingdom of Christ would be on earth,
and being fond of his body and very carnal he dreamt of a future according to
his own desires, given up to the indulgence of the flesh, that is, eating and
drinking and marrying, and to those things which seem a euphemism for these
things, feasts and sacrifices and the slaughter of victims.[28]
Yet, in spite of these weird doctrines,
Cerinthus had a certain influence in early Church history. He apparently observed the Sabbath and
taught that the examples of Jesus should be followed.
Most Church historians readily believe that
some of what Paul and even John wrote in their epistles was to combat the
heresy of this unusual man.
His import to a student of Church history is
that he provides a bridge for Eastern Gnosticism to unite with the Gnosticism
of later times.
Mithraism, Another Counterfeit
Another religious system which spread
throughout the Roman empire at the same time as Christianity was the Eastern
Persian religion called Mithraism.
Jackson and Lake record:
Mithraism had originated in Persia at a remote
period, but was widespread in Asia Minor
during the last three centuries before the Christian era.[29]
This Eastern religion was also a part of
Satan’s great preparation for Christianity.
In theory, ritual, and practice, it had already counterfeited the
central ideas of Christianity.
According to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, some of the tenets and concepts of Mithraism are:
Mithras was born of a rock, the marvel being seen
only by certain shepherds, who
brought gifts and adored him. . . . Mithras was . . . the creator of life . . . Ahriman
sent a deluge, from which one man escaped in a boat with his cattle. Finally a fire desolated the earth, and only
the creatures of Ormazd escaped.
Mithras, his work accomplished, banqueted with the Sun for the last
time, and was taken by him in his chariot to the habitation of the immortals,
whence he continued to protect the faithful.[30]
With a pagan twist, the true teachings of God
were perverted by Mithras and the religion founded by him. There was a priesthood. The Encyclopaedia
Britannica states:
The Mithraic priest, sacerdos of antistes, was
sometimes also of the degree of PATER. Tertullian (De praescr. haeret. 40)
calls the chief priest summus pontifex,
probably the pater patrum who had
general supervision of all the initiates in one city. . . . Each day of the
week was marked by the adoration of a special planet, the SUN being the most sacred of all.[31]
This has quite an amazing similarity to what
later developed into what was called the “Christian” church. Yet, these customs and practices were NEVER
adopted by the one and only true Church of God. The spread of sects and schisms who fell away or were influenced
by these great pagan systems incorporated both Gnostic and Mithraic customs and
doctrines. Some of the most recent
studies of Mithraism confirm a close association of terminologies with early
Christianity and Mithraism:
But even though Mithraism did present itself as a
serious rival to Christianity and has left throughout Europe material evidence
of its presence in every corner of the empire where the army set up camp — and
the other Graeco-Oriental religions seem to have attracted even more attention
— the frugal Roman religion continued throughout to maintain a firm hold on the
minds of men. Probably the best
evidences for this are the many compromises
with its practices and concepts which found expression WITHIN CHRISTIANITY.[32]
Writers from all sources recognize these
ancient pagan documents and traditions of the ancient Babylonian mystery system
found their way into Christianity.
There can be little doubt that a great conspiracy did wield a tremendous
influence late in the first century A.D.
But, perhaps the GREATEST INFLUENCE of all was the entire system of GNOSTICISM of which Simon
Magus was a part.
The Gnostics
A study of Gnosticism becomes a study of many
different branches and philosophies.
Nearly every writer who researches the subject draws different
conclusions. Here is what some writers
say about Gnosticism:
In logical order we ought to begin by defining
Gnosticism¼a point on which writers on the subject are not agreed.[33]
No question, however, has more perplexed historians
than that which refers to the direct origin of Gnosticism.[34]
Defining Gnosticism is an extraordinarily difficult
task, since modern writers use the term to cover a wide variety of speculative
religious phenomena.[35]
But in reality, Gnosticism is not that hard
to define. Although there are many
Gnostic sects, there are numerous features they all have in common. Here
are the main principles of Gnosticism even though divided among many groups:
1)
All
sects attempted to explain the origin of the universe and the origin of
evil. All viewed the universe in some
way as DUAL — full of good and evil.
Dualism also has to do with the pagan doctrine of the immortality of the
soul and the mortal body.
2)
All
were blends of Oriental theosophy with Hellenic philosophy, with blends of many
other religions added in.
3)
All
reasoned that since God is good, and the world is evil, God did not create the
world, but rather some inferior power.
4)
They
all believed they had all knowledge (gnosis) which others did not have. They believed that Christians only had
faith; Gnostics had faith AND “revealed”
knowledge.
5)
They
all separated themselves from Church authority, although Gnostics first met with Christians whenever possible.
6)
All
had the same form of the Oriental “Great Mother” worship — a parallel with
Mariolatry today. “In almost all
systems an important part is played by the Great Mother.”[36]
7)
Most
Gnostic philosophies had a system of sacraments. The Encyclopaedia
Britannica states, “The Gnostic religion . . . is above all things A
RELIGION OF SACRAMENTS and mysteries . . . Gnosticism introduced for the first
time into Christianity a whole mass of sacramental, mystical ideas.”[37]
To classify these different Gnostic
philosophies and sects is not important.
Gnosticism, obviously, is a religion of demons and is in chaos.
What we need to understand is the true
origin of Gnosticism, and what, if any, bearing it might have had on
Christianity.
The Origin is Clear
There can be no doubt there was a
PRE-CHRISTIAN GNOSTICISM. And secondly,
there can be no doubt that Gnosticism was not
Jewish, BUT SAMARITAN! These two
keys answer the “when” and “where” of the origin of Gnosticism. This is perhaps best explained by M’Clintock
and Strong:
Ever since the conquests of Alexander the Great, an
intense interest had been felt throughout Asia Minor and Egypt in Hellenistic
philosophy and Oriental theosophy. . . . The result was that, near
the time of the first promulgation of Christianity, a number of new systems of
religious philosophy sprang up independently in different countries, and
exhibited similar characteristics. They
were usually formed by incorporating with the national religion what seemed
attractive elements in foreign systems, and softening down what was harsh and
incredible in the popular faith and worship.
In this way we discover a nearly simultaneous origin of the Judaistic
Philosophy at Alexandria, of Essenism, and Therapeutism in Egypt and southern
Palestine, of the Cabbalistic literature in Syria and the East, and of New
Platonism among the Hellenistic nations.
THESE WERE ALL OFFSHOOTS FROM THE SAME GENERAL ROOT, and not necessarily
deriving anything original, but unquestionably drawing much assistance from one
another.[38]
As was already mentioned, Satan was equally
prepared for Christ and the gospel.
Certainly, God would not let Satan destroy the truth. But Satan did all he could to confuse and deceive those who would believe.
His preparation was this whole pagan system headquartered out of
Samaria. As early as 33 A.D. (the
probable date of Simon Magus’ baptism), Satan tried to infiltrate true Christianity.
When this first infiltration did not work,
the solution was to form a new group — which Simon Magus immediately began.
Concerning this preparation in pre-Christian
times, the Encyclopaedia Britannica
states:
Thus the essential part of most of the conceptions
of what we call Gnosticism was already in
existence and fully developed
BEFORE the rise of Christianity.[39]
And
further:
¼The accounts given of Simon Magus, Menander
and Dositheus [Simon’s teacher], who have become almost mythical, at least prove that in Syria, Gnostic tendencies
made their appearance at an early period.[40]
Thus, we see Gnosticism developed through
Simon Magus and Samaria — not Judea.
Notice it:
Simon’s doctrines were substantially those of the
Gnostics, and he is not without reason regarded as the first who attempted to engraft theurgy [the science of
compelling a supernatural power to refrain from doing something] and egotism of
the Magian philosophy upon
Christianity.[41]
Even Justin Martyr wrote of Gnosticism,
Simon, and his doctrines:
¼after Christ’s ascension into heaven, the
devils put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods. . . .
There was a Samaritan, Simon. . . . And almost all the Samaritans, and a few
even of other nations, worship him, and acknowledge him as the first god.[42]
Justin Martyr recognized Simon to be the first Gnostic — he mentions him to be the first god. Certainly, nearly every study on Gnosticism leads back to Simon
Magus — at least in part.
That ought to make plain the origin of
Gnosticism was certainly pre-Christian — but that its development paralleled
Christianity. Now we need to see what
influence it had on the early true
Christian Church.
The Gnostics Gain Influence
Now that we have seen the proper origin of
Gnosticism in Samaria under Simon Magus, we can better understand exactly what happened in the late first
century A.D. But how did Gnosticism
influence Christianity? That is the
question that now needs to be answered.
A very important fact about Gnosticism was
written by the German scholar, Lipsius, which shows the development of
Gnosticism is similar to a curve which began only slightly “off” from the
truth, diverged far out, and finally returned close to Christianity.[43] But by this time “Christianity” was not the original Christian Church founded by Jesus Christ — it was the
beginning of a great universal or CATHOLIC system.
But Gnosticism finally approached the
teachings of the Catholic Church.
Notice it from M’Clintock and Strong:
“¼finally, under the Marcionites, the Gnostic speculation approximates very nearly that of the
more liberal CATHOLIC TEACHERS.”[44]
So, although Gnosticism was a combination of
religions and philosophy in background, it soon formed a religion of its own. What
Gnosticism became was a DEVIATION from the truth. When the Gnostics came in contact with true Christians —
beginning with Simon Magus — they found similarities
to their own system. Remember, we have
already seen how Satan the Devil organized this counterfeit system long prior
to Christianity. Gnostic teachers
recognized this similarity. Notice it:
When these Gnostics, WITH THEIR SYSTEM READY MADE,
looked into the New Testament, they could easily find it all there, since they
only sought for points to which they
might attach it.[45]
They wormed their false system into the
Church. The Apostle Paul warned the
Church to be aware of this when he mentioned the system of iniquity of which we have already read in
II Thessalonians, chapter two.
Paul warned the Ephesian elders to watch out for this same system in the
twentieth chapter of Acts. And by the
time of the epistles of John and Jude in the late first century, they both
warned true Christians to beware of the conspiracy
which had already risen to great power in some areas. Masquerading under the name of “Christian,” Simon Magus and his
Gnostic religion had gained an immoveable foothold.
These Gnostics for the most part had no intention of
separating from the rest of the church, and establishing distinct communities
of their own¼they were for UNITING WITH THE ORDINARY CONGREGATIONS, and establishing
in connection with them a kind of theosophic school of CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES.[46]
Do you see the connection?
The Gnostics wanted control of the Church —
and when they gained their foothold, they brought in their mystery religious system with its NEW TITLES — now known as
“Christian.” Now, let’s see how this
affected the early New Testament Church.
The Establishment of Heresy
With its new titles, Gnosticism must have
spread rapidly throughout the Roman empire. There can be no doubt the true ministers of God readily recognized
the dangers of this system and left
us a WITNESS and TESTIMONY of its rising influences. The apostle Paul began his first letter to the evangelist Timothy
by warning him, “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly
edifying which is in faith.”[47]
Almost all Bible scholars recognize Paul was
warning Timothy to beware of the Gnostic system of explaining the origin of the
universe through genealogies and endless ages and eons. All of this profited nothing — it only brought about questions. Notice especially how he ended this first
epistle to Timothy, “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the godless chatter and contradictions
of what is falsely called knowledge.”[48]
Notice it.
Paul warns Timothy to avoid the godless chatter, or as the King James
version translates it, “profane and vain babblings,” of those who had a FALSE
knowledge. The Greek word “gnosis” is translated “knowledge” in
English. This is the same exact root
word from which the word “Gnostic” comes.
As Mansel points out in his Gnostic
Heresies, “In the First Epistle the heretical teaching is distinctly
mentioned under its own name — pseudo-numognosis,
‘knowledge falsely so called’.”[49]
Since Paul was the one who warned of both a
falling away and FALSE TEACHERS which were to enter with a system of iniquity
and mystery, it is only logical Paul would in his last letters (I and II
Timothy) warn of that system. But Paul’s
last letters were written in the mid sixties A.D.
The later writings of Peter, John, and Jude
are even more concrete in their warning
of the system which was beginning to work its way into Christianity yet in
Paul’s day.
The Apostle Peter wrote in the late seventies
A.D.:
But there were false prophets also among the people,
even as there shall be FALSE TEACHERS
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord
that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall
follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil
spoken of. And through covetousness
shall they with feigned words make
merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their
damnation slumbereth not.[50]
What system was there at this time in history
which was trying to bring into God’s
Church its heresies? The only possible
answer is that some branch of Gnosticism, Mithraism, or the followers of Simon
Magus had gained such influence.
We have already seen in the writings of John
and Jude how late in the first century the warning was still being made to
God’s true Church to beware of these conspirators. We also saw in the book of III John how Diotrephes had gained
such control of some Church congregations that he was actually forbidding the
true brethren to even enter into the Church.[51] And we saw how Jude admonished those to whom
he wrote to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered.”[52]
The point to emphasize here is that in spite
of the fact that the conspiracy gained the upper hand toward the end of the
first century, there WAS STILL A TRUE CHURCH WHICH DID NOT EMBRACE THE
MINISTERS OR THE TEACHINGS OF GNOSTICISM AND THE GREAT CONSPIRACY!
The Conclusion of the First Century
We now come to the end of the first century
A.D. We have seen the beginning, the
development, and the spread of true Christianity throughout the empire. We have seen a complete and thorough
preparation of the whole world for
the Church founded by Jesus Christ.
But we also saw how the prophets and Apostles
were only the FOUNDATION of the Church.
The Church was founded and built upon Jesus Christ, as the Chief
Cornerstone, and was to continue BUILDING.
Christ promised, “¼I will build My Church; and the gates of hell [hades, the grave]
shall not prevail against it.”[53] The Church of Jesus Christ was not to
die. The Church founded by Jesus Christ
was not to drift astray, embracing paganism and the ancient Babylonian mystery
system. Upon commissioning His Church
to preach the gospel to the world, He promised, “I am with you ALWAY, EVEN UNTO
THE END OF THE WORLD.”[54]
And the Apostle Paul records, “Let your
conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye
have: for He [Christ] hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”[55]
The Church founded upon Christ and built upon
the foundation of the Apostles and prophets, was to continue under the direct
guidance and inspiration of Jesus Christ.
That Church has continued through the centuries, and it can be found on
earth today.
But Satan the Devil also founded his system.
We saw how that mystery system began with
Semiramis and her illegitimate son-husband, Nimrod, not many years after the
Flood which destroyed almost all mankind.
Soon after the establishment of Jesus Christ’s Church, Satan the Devil
infiltrated, took the names and titles of Christianity, and applied them to the
same old ancient mystery system he had always used. You have seen through the pages of this work just exactly how
that system rose and finally succeeded in gaining a greater number of followers
than true Christianity.
It is this mystery system with its new titles
which is what the world then came to think of as Christianity.
A Great Change in the Church
Every writer of Church history has not failed
to notice the tremendous change in the entire structure of the Church in the
second and third centuries A.D.
There was never
a change in the one true Church of
Jesus Christ. The history of that
Church is accurately preserved and
recorded in the four gospel accounts of Christ’s life and the book of Acts,
supplemented by all of the epistles of Paul and the others whose works are
preserved in the God-inspired New Testament of the Bible.
But the church of history which is later
called “Christian” is NOT the same Church teaching the same gospel as the
gospel Christ brought, which was preached around the world by His apostles.
Notice this amazing quote from A. C.
McGiffert:
The change from the original condition of things was
STUPENDOUS, but the process by which the change was wrought was gradual and
entirely natural, as has been seen.[56]
Yes, there was a change — a traumatic
change. There is a vast difference
between the original Christianity of the Bible and the “Christianity” of the
history books. The change from original
conditions was stupendous!
You Can Know
But you no longer need to be indecisive or in
doubt. You have seen the establishment
of the gospel and the one and only TRUE CHURCH of Jesus Christ as revealed in
God’s Word. You have checkpoints. If anyone really wants to search for the truth, God has left a
recorded witness, both in His Word and in secular history.
If you have read carefully, you have
undoubtedly noticed the real followers of Jesus Christ — the true Christians —
all but completely drop out of the writings of Church historians as the end of
the first century approached and certainly by the beginning of the second
century. But you now have the KEYS
which will guide you to RECOGNIZE where God’s
Church has been in history — and will lead you to a means of finding where
that Church is today!
[1]Acts 8:9-10.
[2]Acts 8:13.
[3]Acts 8:18-19.
[4]Acts 8:20-21.
[5]Ezra 4:9-10.
[6]Harnack, The History of Dogma, vol. I, pp. 243, 244.
[7]Harnack, The History of Dogma, vol. I. p. 244.
[8]Acts 8:23.
[9]Genesis 6:13.
[10]II Peter 2:5.
[11]Genesis 10:8-9
[12]Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, i. 4. 2.
[13]Clarke, A Commentary and Critical Notes, vol. I, p. 86.
[14]Salverte, Des Sciences Occultes, p. 415.
[15]Hastings, Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. II, p. 497.
[16]Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. IV, p. 682.
[17]Hastings, Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. II, p. 497.
[18]“Simon Magus,” Cheyne and Black, Encyclopaedia Biblica, 11. (e).
[19]II Thessalonians 2:7-10.
[20]III John 9-10.
[21]Jude 3-4.
[22]M’Clintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II, p. 191.
[23]Cruttwell, A Literary History of Early Christianity, vol. I, p. 195.
[24]Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, ix. 14. 3.
[25]Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies, VII, 21.
[26]Tertullian, Against All Heresies, Pt. Second IX, 3.
[27]Hippolytus, The Refutation of All Heresies, VII, 21.
[28]Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History, III. 28.
[29]Jackson-Lake, The Beginnings of Christianity, vol. I, p. 258.
[30]“Mithras,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, (1959), vol. XV, p. 623.
[31]“Mithras,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, (1959), vol. XV, p. 623.
[32]“The Pagani Among the Contemporaries of the First Christians,” Weiss, Herold, Journal of Biblical Literature, March 1967, vol. LXXXVI, p. 52.
[33]“Gnosticism,” Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christian Biography, vol. II, p. 678.
[34]“Gnosticism,” M’Clintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III, p. 891.
[35]Grant, Gnosticism in Early Christianity, p. 6.
[36]“Gnosticism,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. VII, p. 155.
[37]“Gnosticism,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. XII, p. 157.
[38]“Gnosticism,” M’Clintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III, p. 892.
[39]“Gnosticism,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, (1911), vol. XII, p. 157.
[40]Hagenbach, Text-Book of the History of Doctrines, vol. I, p. 54. (See also Volckmar, Simon Magus, in Jahrbucher, 1856, 2d Heft.)
[41]Fallows, The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. II, p. 1591.
[42]Martyr, The First Apology, Chapter 26. (See also The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. I, p. 171.)
[43]“Gnosticism,” M’Clintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III, p. 892. (See also Lipsius, Gnosticism, Its Essence, Origin, and Development, 1860.)
[44]“Gnosticism,” M’Clintock and Strong, Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. III, p. 893.
[45]Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. II, p. 30.
[46]Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, vol. II, p. 33.
[47]I Timothy 1:4.
[48]I Timothy 6:20 (R.S.V.).
[49]Mansel, The Gnostic Heresies of the First and Second Centuries, p. 56.
[50]II Peter 2:1-3.
[51]III John 10.
[52]Jude 3.
[53]Matthew 16:18.
[54]Matthew 28:20.
[55]Hebrews 13:5.