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Gnostics Vs. Irenaeus: Saving The Orthodox Church

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2nd Century Through Modernity Irenaeus was a wise church father that many might say saved the Orthodox Church from heresies, Gnosticism being one. He played a crucial role in the upbringing of Christian theology—being instrumental in taming Gnosticism within the church, and being one of the first Christian thinkers to work out, as stated by Roger Olson, “theories of original sin and redemption.” Both Christians and Gnostics fought for their points of faith. The major difference, as stated above, are the view of Christ and his divinity. For the many Christians, Christ had to be fully human and fully divine to have the power to save humanity from eternal damnation. Irenaeus saw the Gnostic heresy sweeping the church causing complications and …show more content…

Numerous wars were fought, and countless lives were taken all because of the church having the knowledge to save, and the power to kill or destroy those who opposed them. One way the church controlled the beliefs of the people was by keeping the bible a mystery. The church believed they had the holy people who could correctly interpret its message. It was years before a copy was made for the average person to read; thus, this left a lot of room for misinterpretation and/or misuse. By the 5th and 6th century, the term Gnosticism had been nearly eradicated, but the Gnostic beliefs were still raging war. As mentioned above, it evolved with the church and hid itself …show more content…

As most churches teach that humanity is saved by faith, countless worshippers leave through the church doors believing the message means to read more scripture, pray harder, and have more activities for community; therefore, doing more and separating themselves as the right Christian activist. The realization should be that the body of Christ needs more humility and love rather than holding to the opposite view. Humanity is called to worship God because of His grace, to feed the poor because of His grace, to pray because He has giving us the grace to encounter Him, and to read the Bible for understanding His grace and to teach others. As Paul would say in Romans 2:4, “…do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance…” not a self-satisfying life thinking and doing as one pleases. Countless modern Christians attend worship services seeking to receive the spark, which is actually them worshiping the feeling or special something that, they believe, God gave them. What they seek is actually an out of body experience that connects with God providing them with a revelation, an uncontrollable uttering,

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