Guided Into All Truth

In This Issue

Rev. Charles Terpstra has been assigned the rubric "Guided Into All Truth," the pages of which have so long and so well been filled by Rev. Thomas Miersma. In it Rev. Terpstra plans, he says, to lift some of the church fathers "off the pages of history and set them before our mind's eyes." He begins with Tertullian ... and the Gnostics.

That's not an easy place at which to begin. For Gnosticism was a rationalistic, highly speculative, deeply mystical philosophical system which was extremely difficult to understand. The heresy was, however, a serious threat to the orthodoxy of the church, and the battle which the church waged with it was long and bitter (over two centuries), reaching a climax in the first part of the third century when the Lord raised up Tertullian, one of the "giants" in church history.

In two short articles, Rev. Terpstra presents the key elements of Gnosticism, and ably demonstrates how the Lord used also that heresy to "guide the church into the truth." Not always, perhaps, will we find it "easy" reading; but if the short series on Tertullian is any indication of what lies ahead for us, we'll certainly find it to be worthwhile reading. The rich heritage which is ours has become what it is today, often in the way of heated controversy. And men have often, too, paid with their lives for their defense and development of the truth which we so easily take for granted. We do well therefore to follow the lead of Rev. Terpstra as he opens for us the pages of church history in "Guided Into All Truth."

 Tertullian and the Gnostic Heresy

"Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth . . . ." Nothing better proves the veracity of this promise of Christ recorded in John 16:13 than the history of the labors of the Christian church in clarifying, setting forth, and developing the truth of Scripture. If we are the least bit acquainted with the development of the truth of God's Word throughout the ages, then we have some idea how often this promise has been -specifically fulfilled.

In leading the church into the truth, the Spirit used and still does use men. This is clear from the lives of the disciples to whom the promise of John 16:13 was first made. The subsequent history of the church has also made this clear. In every age of the church there have been men who stand out on the pages of history, because the Spirit raised up these men and so guided them that they developed the true faith once delivered to the saints. These men we call the "church fathers," and it is well for us, the church of our Lord in the twentieth century, to know these men and the truths they developed. In this rubric we hope to lift some of these men off the pages of history and set them before our mind's eye, in order that we might become familiar with a few of the more important "fathers."

In considering these fathers of the church, it is equally important that we understand that the Spirit of truth has used heresy to guide the church into the truth. Every age of the church has equally shown the fulfillment of the Word of God in 11 Peter 2:1, 2, namely, ". . . There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies .... And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."

But the sovereign Spirit has used these heretics with their false doctrines to stir up and strengthen the church to develop the faith. Through their battles with apostasy and error the Spirit made the church fathers "defenders of the faith" and 11 valiant for the truth." By means of departures from the faith the Spirit made these men sharpen the two-edged sword of the Word, so that with the one edge they cut away the Lie and with the other edge they cut into the Word to make the truth more clear and concise. Development of the truth always comes in the way of the defense of the truth against error.

In this rubric, besides becoming familiar with some of the church fathers, we will also be introduced to a sampling of the heresies the church has had to confront in her history. And so it is our purpose in this series of articles to be re-introduced to the cardinal truths of our Christian and distinctively Reformed faith.

For our first topic we want to consider our first "defender (and developer) of the faith," the church father Tertullian, and the heresy which he was called to battle, Gnosticism. This will take us back in time to the second century A.D. For Gnosticism, though it was a heresy that arose already in the first century, really developed and became the potent force of evil that it was in the 2nd century. And Tertullian, whom the Spirit raised up to fight this deadly error, dates from the late 2nd century to the early 3rd century (c. 160/70 to c. 215/20).

Gnosticism was a strange and deadly deviation from the truth of Scripture. With regard to the character of this heresy, it may be remarked in the first place that Gnosticism was a mixture or synthesis of elements taken from many different sources. For their ideas the Gnostic teachers drew from Judaism, from the Greek philosophical systems of Platonism and Stoicism, and from the Eastern, mystic cults of Persia and India. These ideas they attempted to combine with the Christian faith. L. Berkhof comments on this in his History of Christian Doctrines: "it may be said that Gnosticism mistakenly sought to elevate Christianity to its rightful position, that of universal religion, by adapting it to the needs of all, and by interpreting it in harmony with the wisdom of the world" (p. 46). Gnosticism was, as Berkhof writes, quoting another source, 11 a stealing of some christian rags to cover heathen nakedness" (p. 47).

In the second place, with regard to its character, Gnosticism claimed to be a religion for the spiritual elite, for the intellectuals and sophisticated. Reacting against the simplicity and straightforwardness of the Christian faith, Gnosticism was designed to satisfy the philosophical, speculative bent of the Greek and Eastern mind. For those who loved to delve into and dabble with the deeply mysterious matters of religion and philosophy, Gnosticism sought to provide satisfaction. This is why it drew so much from pagan and philosophical sources.

It is in fact from this trait that Gnosticism derives its name. In contract with the simple faith of the "ordinary believer," which they termed mere pistis (the Greek word for faith), the Gnostics claimed there was a higher, secret knowledge for the most spiritual class of Christians, which they termed gnosis, after the Greek word for knowledge. It is by means of this higher knowledge that the true Gnostic claims the richest experience of salvation. For this reason Gnosticism has been termed "the Pelagianism of the intellect" (cf. G.P. Fisher, History of Christian Doctrine, p. 53).

If this description of Gnosticism has a familiar ring to it, it is not merely coincidental. Heresy is never new; it is simply old lies in new garb. Thus the Pentecostalism, cults, and liberal theology of our present day bear these same traits.

What were the teachings of Gnosticism and at what points were they heretical? In answering this, we can only summarize in brief. Fisher, in his above mentioned work, points out that Gnostic thought was directed to two main points: the absolute Being (God) and the origin of evil (p. 53). It was at these two fundamental points that Gnosticism went astray; and because they went wrong at these two points, they deviated from many other cardinal truths.

First of all, the Gnostics were heretical in their conception of God. The "absolute Being," as they called God, was to them the "Father Unknown." He is so transcendent that He is not only unfathomable but also unknowable. From this error they went on to deny the biblical doctrine of God as Creator (modern day theistic evolutionists are not new in their heresy). According to them this supreme, all good God did not create the world. Rather is the universe the product of a subordinate, inferior being, whom they called the "Demiurge" (after the Greek word for artisan). This "Demiurge" is the God revealed in Genesis I and throughout the Old Testament, whom they considered to be weak, limited, hateful, and vengeful, and not the God who sends Christ.

The Gnostics arrived at this because of their peculiar view that there was a whole series of middle beings emanating from the "absolute God" to the material world, which beings they termed "aeons" (like so many rungs on a ladder). The farther down the "ladder" these beings were, the less good and more evil they became. To them the Demiurge was a being far down on this "ladder."

Secondly, and closely related to their heresy concerning the doctrine of God, the Gnostics fell into error with regard to the origin of evil. Rejecting the biblical doctrine of the Fall, they held that evil has its source in the Demiurge, the Creator. Because the Demiurge was such a low and therefore evil being, the world he made is evil. Consequently, the Gnostics fell into spiritual For them, what is spiritual is good, but what is material is evil. This they applied also to man. Because his body is material, it is evil; but because his soul is spiritual, it is good.

This dualism was bound to affect their conception of salvation and the work of Christ in saving man. Accordingly, Gnosticism taught that man's misery lies in the fact that his good soul is imprisoned in his evil body and thus alienated from the good God. Salvation consists in the soul being set free from the prison of the body and the material world in order to ascend into the pure realm of the spiritual. For this purpose of rescuing men's souls the supreme God sent Christ.

However, to the Gnostics Christ was not the only begotten Son of God but another of those subordinate beings ("aeons"). he was simply an emissary of the spirit world, sent by the good God to rescue man. Moreover, though the Gnostics spoke of Christ's coming into the world and suffering and dying as the man Jesus, they denied that He could have assumed a real human body, since the body, being material, is evil. Thus did they fall into the error of "Docetism," that Christ has merely the appearance of a human body.

We can see from this that the Gnostics were not only heretical in denying the Person and deity of Christ, but also in denying His Incarnation. It ought to be clear that this early heresy attacked the most basic of Christian doctrines. It was a real, dangerous threat, therefore, to the church and the truth delivered to her by the Spirit of Christ.

But for the battle against this heresy the Spirit of truth raised up the man of God, Tertullian; and he battled long and hard during his lifetime against it. To this man and his work we will turn in our next article.

Standard Bearer, November 1, 1998

 Tertullian and the Gnostic Heresy (2)

In our first article we began to treat the subject of the church father Tertullian (circa A.D. 160-220) and the heresy over against which he was called to defend the orthodox faith, namely, Gnosticism (you may want to go back to that article and refresh your memory). Tertullian

certainly was not the only church father to battle this heresy. Irenaeus and Hippolytus were also on the forefront against the Gnostics. But we single out Tertullian because of the positive developments he made in his work against this pernicious error. He is in fact referred to as the "founder of Latin theology" (i.e., the doctrine of the Western church, which is our tradition), and even the "forerunner of Augustine" (Fisher History of Christian Doctrine, p. 90).

Who was Tertullian? We know very little about the personal life of this church father. He was born around A.D. 160, the son of an unbelieving centurion, in Carthage, North Africa where he also did the majority of his work. In early life he was educated in the pagan culture of Carthage, becoming well acquainted with the humanistic philosophies of his time. He was trained in law and rhetoric and entered the career of a lawyer. He was converted in mid-life, married a Christian wife, and became active in the church at Carthage. It is unclear whether he labored as a presbyterian (elder) in the church or simply as a prominent teacher and catechist. Sadly, Tertullian left the church later in life and joined the sect of the Montanists, known for their strict ascetic life-style. This may have been a reaction against the immorality that had once characterized his life as an unbeliever.

It must have been only shortly after his conversion that the Spirit of truth guided Tertullian to take up his pen against the Gnostic heresy, for his writings roughly cover the period from 196-212. He directed several of his writings against the Gnostics: a general work entitled "The Prescription Against the Heretics"; and, more specifically, three works against the noted Gnostics of his day: Marcion, Hermogenes, and Valentinus. From his writings he is known as an uncompromising, vigorous, and fervent supporter of true Christianity.

How did Tertullian meet the attack of Gnosticism? First of all, he rejected the Gnostic attempt to mingle the Christian faith and pagan philosophies and heathen mysticism. The Christian faith according to him is not the "best" religion because it is a combination of teachings from man-made religions. Instead he posited that the Christian faith is the only true doctrine and religion precisely because it is revealed truth. It is not based upon human wisdom but upon the wisdom of God Himself, who has given us the truth concerning Himself and all things in His holy and infallible Word. It is from this Scripture that the church has arrived at the true doctrine, following the "rule of faith," i.e., the right interpretation of the Scriptures according to the tradition of the apostles and their successors.

Writing in his "Prescription Against Heretics," Tertullian expressed himself strongly on this matter. Said he, "These (i.e., heresies, CJT) are 'the doctrines' of men and 'of demons', produced for itching ears of the spirit of this world's wisdom .... For philosophy it is which is the material of the world's wisdom, the rash interpreter of the nature and the dispensation of God. Indeed heresies are instigated by philosophy" (which he then goes on to prove in detail), The AnteNicene Fathers, p. 246.

And so he concludes: "What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the church? What between heretics and Christians? Our instruction comes from 'the porch of Solomon Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! We want no curious disputation after possessing Christ Jesus, no inquisition after enjoying the gospel! With our faith, we desire no further belief. For this is our palmary faith, that there is nothing which we ought to believe besides" (p. 246).

We can see from this how the Spirit used Tertullian's previous education in these very philosophies to prepare him to battle against them. We should also learn that this argument of Tertullian is a critical point, and one which we must bear in mind in dealing with modern-day heresies and cults. Almost without exception they are the result of an attempted compromise between and commingling of Christianity and humanistic philosophy. Over against this we hold that the faith of the church is exclusively derived from and based upon the Holy Scriptures. Such was the general way in which Tertullian answered his foes.

From this fundamental starting point Tertuilian rose up to the defense of the biblical doctrine concerning God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Against the Gnostic teaching which denied that the supreme God can be known and that He created the world, Tertullian set forth that God, while He is indeed supreme and transcendent, is the God who has made Himself known by His Word and works. He is the one God revealed both in the Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures, and He is the sovereign Maker of the universe and all it contains.

In a section of "The Prescription Against Heretics" in which he gives a brief summary of the faith of the church, Tertullian states this concerning God: "How with regard to this rule of faith ... it is ... that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word . . ." (Fathers, p. 249).

Tertullian in fact found it incredible that these heretics denied the doctrine of creation. In another section of his "Prescription" he writes that this was a doctrine which had always been accepted and never before attacked as it was by the Gnostics. After referring to all kinds of other heretical teachings, he says, "And yet we find amongst so many various perversions of truth, not one school which raised any controversy concerning God as the Creator of all things. No man was bold enough o surmise a second god" (p. 59). That ought to sound a warning to those within the church who currently deny the orthodox doctrine of creation. Such a denial has its origin in these second century heresies.

It was in dealing with the doctrine of God that Tertullian defended and developed the truth of the Trinity. Attacking the Gnostic idea of a series of divine beings ("aeons") emanating from the supreme God to the world, one of whom was Christ, he set forth the truth of the unity of God, namely, that God is only one divine Being or Essence. Hence, there are no other divine beings beside Him. Yet at the same time he taught that there are three distinct Persons in the Godhead, each of Whom shares equally in the fullness of the one divine Being, these being the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Christ therefore is not an 11 aeon," a subordinate being to God, but the divine Son of God, of the same substance of the Father and equal to Him as a Person.

Thus Tertullian could write in another of his works, "We . . . believe that there is one only God, but under the following dispensation.... that this one only God has a Son, His Word, who proceeded from Himself, by Whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made .... Who sent also from heaven from the Father ... the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, the sanctifier of those who believe in the Father, and in the Son, and in the Holy Ghost" ("Against Praxeas", Fathers, p. 598).

It is to this church father that the Western church owes the beginnings of her concepts and terminology concerning the truth of the Trinity. Tertullian was in fact the first to use the term "Trinity." And it was his concepts of 11 substance" and "person" that were later incorporated into the Nicene Creed in A.D. 325.

Furthermore, in his fight against the Gnostics Tertullian also defended the true doctrine of salvation in Jesus Christ. He rejected first of all their explanation of the origin of evil and instead maintained the biblical account of the Fall on the part of Adam and Eve in paradise. Sin came on account of Adam's disobedience, which also brought death upon the whole human race. Salvation, then, according to Tertullian, is not that Gnostic idea of the release of the soul from the evil body and ascension into the world of pure spirit, but it is deliverance of both soul and body from the misery of sin and death.

Secondly, Tertullian taught that it was for this purpose that Jesus Christ came into the world and became man. Because the Gnostics denied that Christ assumed a real human flesh, Tertullian went out of his way to stress the reality of Christ's Incarnation and His full humanity. The Son of God truly became man and took on the complete human nature while retaining the fullness of the divine nature. He directed a special work to this subject, entitled "On The Flesh of Christ." We do not have room to quote from it, but it is an excellent treatise on "the Word become flesh."

Finally, in connection with the doctrine of salvation, Tertullian set forth the truth that it was in this human nature that Christ accomplished deliverance for His people by His suffering, death, and resurrection. Christ's death is the sacrifice for and payment of sins. By His perfect obedience as the second Adam He atones for the first Adam's disobedience.

Even though the doctrine of the atonement of Christ was not very well developed yet, Tertullian contributed to its development by applying legal terminology to the work of salvation. His ideas of God as Lawgiver and Judge, and of sin as guilt which demands satisfaction through punishment, were later applied to Christ's redemptive work. We can see from this too how the Spirit of truth used Tertullian's background for the progress of the faith, in this instance his previous labors as a lawyer.

This brings us to the end of our first subject on Tertullian and the Gnostics. From our perspective now I believe that we can more fully appreciate the work of the Spirit of truth in leading the church into the truth through men such as Tertullian. Moreover we can learn that this heresy of Gnosticism is a heresy which is still applicable for us today. And therefore the way in which Tertullian defended the Christian faith is an example for us too in our dealings with such errors. May the Lord remind us of our calling to be "valiant for the faith" in this age of apostasy and doctrinal indifference.

Standard Bearer, November 15,1988
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