There are several reasons why the meal that was in Jesus’ presence which he constituted as the Lord’s Supper cannot be shared across the internet’s bandwidth. First, this Supper is a churchly meal. The Supper that we receive has to be “this . . . Continue reading →
gnosticism
QAnon, Evangelical Gnosticsm, Manichaeism, And The Kingdom Of The Cults
In the early 2nd century one of the gravest threats faced by the early Christians was a movement that we know as Gnosticism. It thrived by radically revising Christianity. According to the Gnostics, the material world is evil, the Creator God of the . . . Continue reading →
Critical Theory Is A New Species Of Gnosticism
Now, what Voegelin saw in these ideologies is manifestly present in Critical Race Theory and the rest of the “woke” insanity now spreading like a cancer through the body politic. But it is also to be found in certain tendencies coming from . . . Continue reading →
Therapeutic-Gnostic Pentecostalism?
If the mainstream of American evangelicalism has become entirely captive to what Christian Smith, in 2009, called “moralistic therapeutic deism” much of the rest of it has become a subsidiary: Gnostic therapeutic pentecostalism. Continue reading →
Valentinus, Marcion, And Contemporary Christianity
In our ancient church course we have been working through the basic ideas and foundational figures in the Gnostic movement of the second century AD.
Heidelcast 206—What Must A Christian Believe? (22): The Resurrection Of The Dead
Happy New Year from the Heidelcast! This is episode 22 in the series, What Must A Christian Believe? In our survey of the rule of faith, i.e., the Apostles’ Creed, we have reached the eleventh article, “the resurrection of the dead.” The Ancient . . . Continue reading →
On “Meta” Ministry, Docetism, VR Church, And The Communion Of The Saints
Already in the apostolic period of the church there were heretics, John calls them “antichrists” (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:2–3; 2 John 1:7) who taught that Jesus only appeared to be human but that he did not have a true human body. . . . Continue reading →
Found: One Lost Category
To follow up on the earlier essay on Christ and culture, I want to make a further observation about the importance of creation or nature as a category of thought. When many conservative Christians think of creation, the first thing they think . . . Continue reading →
Heidelminicast: Irenaeus—Christianity Is A Public Religion Not A Private, Unwritten Tradition
These are some of our favorite Heidelquotes. Something to think about from the Heidelcast. If you are subscribed to the Heidelcast or the Heidelblog (see below) you will receive these episodes automatically. All the Episodes of the Heidelcast How To Subscribe To Heidelmedia . . . Continue reading →
On Churchless Evangelicals (Part 1)
I was once a churchless evangelical. As a young Christian I attended a medium-sized (three-hundred member) Southern Baptist congregation for a few years without joining. It was not really a problem. Of course they would like to have seen me baptized (as . . . Continue reading →
Conspiracies: The Temptation Of Cultural Gnosticism
If you ever want to get the ear of a crowd just whisper these words: I have a secret. The crowd will come to order quickly and listen with rapt attention. It is almost as if we are wired to hear secrets. . . . Continue reading →