Antinomianism ( Ancient Greek : ἀντί [ anti ] "against" and νόμος [ nomos ] "law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores ), or is at least considered to do so. The term has both religious and secular meanings.
164-480: In some Christian belief systems, an antinomian is one who takes the principle of salvation by faith and divine grace to the point of asserting that the saved are not bound to follow the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments . Antinomians believe that faith alone guarantees eternal security in heaven, regardless of one's actions. The distinction between antinomian and other Christian views on moral law
328-549: A heresy . As early as 1525, Johannes Agricola advanced his idea, in his commentary on Luke, that the law was a futile attempt of God to work the restoration of mankind. He maintained that non-Christians were still held to the Mosaic law, while Christians were entirely free from it, being under the Gospel alone. He viewed sin as a malady or impurity rather than an offense that rendered the sinner guilty and damnable before God. The sinner
492-612: A new covenant with God , open to both Jews and Gentiles, through the sacrificial death and subsequent exaltation of Jesus Christ. Early Christian beliefs of the person and sacrificial role of Jesus in human salvation were further elaborated by the Church Fathers , medieval writers and modern scholars in various atonement theories, such as the ransom theory , Christus Victor theory , recapitulation theory , satisfaction theory , penal substitution theory and moral influence theory . Variant views on salvation ( soteriology ) are among
656-520: A synergy (or cooperation) between human activity and God's uncreated energies (or operations). The synonymous term divinization is the transforming effect of divine grace , the Spirit of God , or the atonement of Christ. Theosis and divinization are distinguished from sanctification , "being made holy," which can also apply to objects; and from apotheosis , also "divinization," lit. ' making divine ' ). Catholics believe faith which
820-487: A "new devotional pattern unprecedented in Jewish monotheism," that is, the worship of Jesus next to God, giving a central place to Jesus because his ministry, and its consequences, had a strong impact on his early followers. Revelations, including those visions, but also inspired and spontaneous utterances, and "charismatic exegesis" of the Jewish scriptures, convinced them that this devotion was commanded by God. The meaning of
984-512: A Messiah. To this Messiah, however, was actually united with Jesus the Saviour, Who redeemed men. These are either hylikoí or pneumatikoí . The first, or material men, will return to the grossness of matter and finally be consumed by fire; the second, or animal men, together with the Demiurge, will enter a middle state, neither Pleroma nor hyle ; the purely spiritual men will be completely freed from
1148-640: A Woman Clothed with the Sun [That is, the Church Clothed with the righteousness of Christ, to her Justification] and the Moon, [that is, Sanctification] under her Feet." Scholars have speculated that the "sun" and "light" may have been code-words used to surreptitiously reveal antinomian sympathies. Sects such as the Ranters and Christian Science were accused of teaching that sin was nonexistent while New England Theology
1312-415: A broad cultural horizon without committing to any specific poetic or religious tradition'. Moreover, Plato believed that the Demiurge created other, so-called "lower" gods who, in turn, created humanity. Some scholars have argued that the lower gods are gods of traditional mythology, such as Zeus and Hera. In Middle Platonist and Numenius 's Neo-Pythagorean cosmogonies , the Demiurge is second God as
1476-478: A consequence, Satan lost his authority completely, and all humanity gained freedom. In another version, God entered into a deal with Satan, offering to trade Jesus' soul in exchange for the souls of all people, but after the trade, God raised Jesus from the dead and left Satan with nothing. Other versions held that Jesus' divinity was masked by his human form, so Satan tried to take Jesus' soul without realizing that his divinity would destroy Satan's power. Another idea
1640-503: A doctrine he learned from Platonic tradition that did not appear outside the academy or in Plato's text. This tradition of creator God as nous (the manifestation of consciousness), can be validated in the works of pre-Plotinus philosophers such as Numenius , as well as a connection between Hebrew and Platonic cosmology (see also Philo ). The Demiurge of Neoplatonism is the Nous (mind of God), and
1804-474: A fashioner, the demiurge is not necessarily the same as the creator figure in the monotheistic sense, because the demiurge itself and the material from which the demiurge fashions the universe are both considered consequences of something else. Depending on the system, they may be considered either uncreated and eternal or the product of some other entity. Some of these systems are monotheistic while others are henotheistic or polytheistic . The word demiurge
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#17328455890831968-687: A lasting ordinance. In this way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons. It is pointed out that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, and thus Jesus could not be a priest under the Old Testament Law, as Jesus is not a descendant of Aaron. It states that the Law had to change for Jesus to be the High Priest: "For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law." (Hebrews 7:12) The Apostle Paul , in his Letters , says that believers are saved by
2132-475: A living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn't stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever… Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!" The Lutheran Churches label antinomianism as
2296-582: A martyr praying “Be merciful to your people, and let our punishment suffice for them. Make my blood their purification, and take my life in exchange for theirs” (4 Macc. 6:28-29). Clearly there were ideas that existed in the Judaism of the time that helped make sense of the death of the righteous in terms of atonement." 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 contains the kerygma of the early Christians: [3] For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with
2460-466: A means of atoning for the lightest type of sin, that is sins committed in ignorance that the thing was a sin. In addition, korbanot have no expiating effect unless the person making the offering sincerely repents of their actions before making the offering, and makes restitution to any person who was harmed by the violation. Marcus Borg notes that animal sacrifice in Second Temple Judaism
2624-460: A means to participate in faithfulness. In this interpretation, Romans 3:21–26 states that Jesus was faithful, even to the cost of death, and justified by God for this faithfulness. Those who participate in this faithfulness are equally justified by God, both Jews and Gentiles. While this view has found support by a range of scholars, it has also been questioned and criticized. In the Gospels, Jesus
2788-475: A perfect example of self-sacrificial dedication to God." Demiurge In the Platonic , Neopythagorean , Middle Platonic , and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy , the demiurge ( / ˈ d ɛ m i . ɜːr dʒ / ) (sometimes spelled as demiurg ) is an artisan -like figure responsible for fashioning and maintaining the physical universe . Various sects of Gnostics adopted the term demiurge . Although
2952-819: A point of doctrinal contention in the history of Christianity. At its root is an argument between salvation through faith alone and on the basis of good works or works of mercy . The term antinomianism was coined by Martin Luther during the Reformation to criticize extreme interpretations of the new Lutheran soteriology . In the 18th century, John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist tradition, severely attacked antinomianism. According to some Christian denominations , moral laws (as opposed to civil or ceremonial laws) are derivative of what St. Paul indirectly refers to as natural law (Rm 2.14–15). According to this point of view,
3116-496: A position as preacher to the court. After his arrival there, he made peace with the Saxons , acknowledged his "error", and gradually conformed his doctrine to that which he had before opposed and assailed. He still used such terms as gospel and repentance in a different manner from Luther's. The antinomian doctrine, however, was not eliminated from Lutheranism. Melanchthon and those who agreed with him, called Philippists , were checked by
3280-573: A product of faith, as a good tree produces good fruit. For Lutherans, justification can be lost with the loss of faith. Recapitulation (Patristic) Governmental (Arminian) The word "atonement" often is used in the Old Testament to translate the Hebrew words kippur ( כיפור \ כִּפּוּר , kipúr , m.sg.) and kippurim ( כיפורים \ כִּפּוּרִים , kipurím , m.pl.), which mean "propitiation" or "expiation"; The English word atonement
3444-401: A record of debt. 2 Corinthians 3:6–17 says, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory
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#17328455890833608-632: A result, the Book of Concord rejects antinomianism in the last confession of faith. The Formula of Concord rejects antinomianism in the fifth article, On the Law and the Gospel and in the sixth article, On the Third Use of the Law . The Articles of the Church of England , Revised and altered by the Assembly of Divines, at Westminster , in the year 1643 condemns antinomianism, teaching that "no Christian man whatsoever
3772-554: A spark of the true divine nature within them, which can be liberated by gnosis (knowledge) of this divine spark. This knowledge is revealed by the Logos , "the very mind of the supreme God," who entered the world in the person of Jesus. Nevertheless, the Logos could not simply undo the power of the Demiurge, and had to hide his real identity, appearing in a physical form, thereby misleading the Demiurge, and liberating mankind. In Irenaeus' writings,
3936-521: A veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now
4100-496: A world as good as possible. The result of his work is a universe as a living god with lesser gods, such as the stars, planets, and gods of traditional religion, inside it. Plato argues that the cosmos needed a Demiurge because the cosmos needed a cause that makes Becoming resemble Being . Timaeus is a philosophical reconciliation of Hesiod 's cosmology in his Theogony , syncretically reconciling Hesiod to Homer , though other scholars have argued that Plato's theology 'invokes
4264-489: Is "man's reconciliation with God through the sacrificial death of Christ." Many Christians believe in unlimited atonement ; however, some Christians teach limited atonement to those who are predestined unto salvation, as its primary benefits are not given to all of mankind but rather to believers only. A number of metaphors (and Old Testament terms) and references have been used in New Testament writings to understand
4428-467: Is a critical component in the ontological construct of human consciousness used to explain and clarify substance theory within Platonic realism (also called idealism ). In order to reconcile Aristotelian with Platonian philosophy, Plotinus metaphorically identified the demiurge (or nous ) within the pantheon of the Greek Gods as Zeus . The first and highest aspect of God is described by Plato as
4592-595: Is accused of "persuading ... people to worship God in ways contrary to the law." In Acts 21:21 James the Just explained his situation to Paul: And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. Colossians 2:13–14 is sometimes presented as proof of Paul's antinomistic views. For example,
4756-509: Is achieved by an act of God, namely by his appointment of the sacrificial system, or, in the prophetic view, "by the future Divine gift of a new covenant to replace the old covenant which sinful Israel has broken." The Old Testament describes three types of vicarious atonement which result in purity or sinlessness: the Paschal Lamb ; "the sacrificial system as a whole," with the Day of Atonement as
4920-641: Is active in charity and good works ( fides caritate formata ) can justify, or remove the burden of guilt in sin, from man. Forgiveness of sin exists and is natural, but justification can be lost by mortal sin. In the Protestant doctrine, sin is merely "covered" and righteousness imputed. In Lutheranism and Calvinism, righteousness from God is viewed as being credited to the sinner's account through faith alone , without works . Protestants believe faith without works can justify man because Christ died for sinners, but anyone who truly has faith will produce good works as
5084-635: Is also described as a creator in the Platonic ( c. 310–90 BC) and Middle Platonic ( c. 90 BC–AD 300) philosophical traditions. In the various branches of the Neoplatonic school (third century onwards), the demiurge is the fashioner of the real, perceptible world after the model of the Ideas , but (in most Neoplatonic systems) is still not itself " the One ". Within the vast spectrum of Gnostic traditions views of
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5248-610: Is also found in Judaism as the Angel of Death and in Christian demonology . This link to Judeo-Christian tradition leads to a further comparison with Satan . Another alternative title for the demiurge is "Saklas", Aramaic for "fool". In the Apocryphon of John , Yaldabaoth is also known as both Sakla and Samael. The angelic name " Ariel " (Hebrew: 'the lion of God') has also been used to refer to
5412-471: Is an English word derived from demiurgus , a Latinised form of the Greek δημιουργός or dēmiurgós . It was originally a common noun meaning "craftsman" or "artisan", but gradually came to mean "producer", and eventually "creator". The philosophical usage and the proper noun derive from Plato's Timaeus , written c. 360 BC, where the demiurge is presented as the creator of the universe. The demiurge
5576-653: Is an archon with the face of a lion, half flame, and half darkness. In the Nag Hammadi text On the Origin of the World , the three sons of Yaldabaoth are listed as Yao , Eloai, and Astaphaios . Under the name of Nebro (rebel), Yaldabaoth is called an angel in the apocryphal Gospel of Judas . He is first mentioned in "The Cosmos, Chaos, and the Underworld" as one of the twelve angels to come "into being [to] rule over chaos and
5740-538: Is derived from the original meaning of "at-one-ment" (i.e., being "at one" or in harmony, with someone). According to Collins English Dictionary , atonement is used to describe the saving work that God granted (through Christ) to reconcile the world to himself, and also of the state of a person having been reconciled to God. According to The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church , atonement in Christian theology
5904-545: Is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral. By the moral law, we understand all the Ten Commandments taken to their full extent." The Westminster Confession , held by Presbyterian Churches , holds that the moral law contained in the Ten Commandments "does forever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof". The Westminster Confession of Faith further states: "Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness,
6068-499: Is in line with Judaism of c. 200 BCE until 200 CE, which saw God's covenant with Israel as an act of grace of God. Observance of the Law is needed to maintain the covenant, but the covenant is not earned by observing the Law, but by the grace of God. Several passages from Paul, such as Romans 3:25, are traditionally interpreted as meaning that humanity is saved by faith in Christ. According to Richard B. Hays , who initiated
6232-487: Is likeness to or union with God, as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches . As a process of transformation, theosis is brought about by the effects of catharsis (purification of mind and body) and theoria ('illumination' with the 'vision' of God). According to Eastern Christian teaching, theosis is very much the purpose of human life. It is considered achievable only through
6396-400: Is not in the "legal terms" regarding the expiation of sin, but the act of "participation in Christ through dying and rising with him ." According to Sanders, "those who are baptized into Christ are baptized into his death, and thus they escape the power of sin [...] he died so that the believers may die with him and consequently live with him." James F. McGrath notes that Paul "prefers to use
6560-535: Is one of the three ordering principles: Before Numenius of Apamea and Plotinus' Enneads , no Platonic works ontologically clarified the Demiurge from the allegory in Plato's Timaeus . The idea of Demiurge was, however, addressed before Plotinus in the works of Christian writer Justin Martyr who built his understanding of the Demiurge on the works of Numenius. Later, the Neoplatonist Iamblichus changed
6724-503: Is portrayed as calling for repentance from sin, and saying that God wants mercy rather than sacrifices (Matthew 9:13). Yet, he is also portrayed as "giving His life [as] a ransom for many" and applying the "suffering servant" passage of Isaiah 53 to himself (Luke 22:37). The Gospel of John portrays him as the sacrificial Lamb of God , and compares his death to the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb at Pesach . Christians assert that Jesus
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6888-733: Is rejected by liberal Christians as un-Biblical, and an offense to the love of God. According to Richard Rohr, "[t]hese theories are based on retributive justice rather than the restorative justice that the prophets and Jesus taught." Advocates of the New Perspective on Paul also argue that many New Testament epistles of Paul the Apostle , which used to support the theory of penal substitution, should be interpreted differently. The "governmental theory of atonement" teaches that Christ suffered for humanity so that God could forgive humans without punishing them while still maintaining divine justice. It
7052-471: Is that Jesus came to teach how not to sin and Satan, in anger with this, tried to take his soul. The ransom theory was first clearly enunciated by Irenaeus ( c. 130 – c. 202 ), who was an outspoken critic of Gnosticism , but borrowed ideas from their dualistic worldview. In this worldview, mankind is under the power of the Demiurge , a lesser god who created the world. Yet, humans have
7216-456: Is that antinomians believe that obedience to the law is motivated by an internal principle flowing from belief rather than from any external compulsion. Antinomianism has been considered to teach that believers have a "license to sin" and that future sins do not require repentance. Johannes Agricola , to whom Antinomianism was first attributed, stated "If you sin, be happy, it should have no consequence." Examples of antinomians being confronted by
7380-479: Is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love." However, a number of seventeenth-century English writers in the Reformed tradition held antinomian beliefs. None of these individuals argued that Christians would not obey the law. Instead, they believed that believers would spontaneously obey
7544-471: Is the remark concerning the second hypostasis or Creator and third hypostasis or World Soul . Plotinus criticizes his opponents for "all the novelties through which they seek to establish a philosophy of their own" which, he declares, "have been picked up outside of the truth"; they attempt to conceal rather than admit their indebtedness to ancient philosophy, which they have corrupted by their extraneous and misguided embellishments. Thus their understanding of
7708-694: Is the saving of human beings from sin and its consequences —which include death and separation from God —by Christ's death and resurrection , and the justification entailed by this salvation. The idea of Jesus' death as an atonement for human sin was recorded in the Christian Bible , and was elaborated in Paul's epistles and in the Gospels . Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus' death and rising. Early Christians regarded themselves as partaking in
7872-515: Is traditionally taught in Arminian circles that draw primarily from the works of Hugo Grotius . The "moral influence theory of atonement" was developed, or most notably propagated, by Abelard (1079–1142), as an alternative to Anselm's satisfaction theory. Abelard not only "rejected the idea of Jesus' death as a ransom paid to the devil", which turned the Devil into a rival god, but also objected to
8036-628: Is used, which occurs nowhere in Irenaeus except in connection with the Valentinian system. When it is employed by other Gnostics either it is not used in a technical sense, or its use has been borrowed from Valentinus. But it is only the name that can be said to be specially Valentinian; the personage intended by it corresponds more or less closely with the Yaldabaoth of the Ophites, the great Archon of Basilides,
8200-543: The kerygma of 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 for Paul is a matter of debate, and open to multiple interpretations. For Paul, "dying for our sins" gained a deeper significance, providing "a basis for the salvation of sinful Gentiles apart from the Torah." Traditionally, this kerygma is interpreted as meaning that Jesus' death was an "atonement" for sin, or a ransom, or a means of propitiating God or expiating God's wrath against humanity because of their sins. With Jesus' death, humanity
8364-421: The Apocryphon of John c. AD 120–180, the demiurge declares that he has made the world by himself: Now the archon ["ruler"] who is weak has three names. The first name is Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas ["fool"], and the third is Samael ["blind god"]. And he is impious in his arrogance which is in him. For he said, 'I am God and there is no other God beside me,' for he is ignorant of his strength,
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#17328455890838528-594: The nous or thought of intelligibles and sensibles ( Middle Platonism and Neo-Pythagoreanism overlapped: both originating in the early 1st century BC and extending through to the end of the 2nd century AD or even into the 3rd century). The work of Plotinus and other later Platonists in the 3rd century AD to further clarify the Demiurge is known as Neoplatonism . To Plotinus, the second emanation represents an uncreated second cause (see Pythagoras ' Dyad ). Plotinus sought to reconcile Aristotle's energeia with Plato's Demiurge, which, as Demiurge and mind ( nous ),
8692-498: The 1527 Articles of Visitation in June, Agricola began to be verbally aggressive toward him, but Martin Luther succeeded in smoothing out the difficulty at Torgau in December 1527. However, Agricola did not change his ideas and later depicted Luther as disagreeing with him. After Agricola moved to Wittenberg, he maintained that the law must be used in the courthouse but it must not be used in
8856-635: The Council of Jerusalem , which is dated to about 50 AD and recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: "And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." The apostles and elders met at Jerusalem , and after a spirited discussion, their conclusion, later called the Apostolic Decree , possibly a major act of differentiation of
9020-606: The Gnesio-Lutherans in the Second Antinomian Controversy during the Augsburg Interim . The Philippists ascribed to the Gospel alone the ability to work repentance, to the exclusion of the law. They blurred the distinction between Law and Gospel by considering the Gospel itself to be a moral law. They did not identify Christ's fulfillment of the law with the commandments which humans are expected to follow. As
9184-553: The Greek Orthodox . The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church also preserves many Judaic customs. In the Letter to the Hebrews ( Hebrews 7:11–28 ), it is written that under the Old Testament Law, priests had to be from the tribe of Levi, Aaron, and his sons: Bring his sons and dress them in tunics and put headbands on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by
9348-491: The NIV translates these verses: "... he forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." But, the NRSV translates this same verse as: "... he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to
9512-591: The Nicolaitans , possibly an early Gnostic sect. The term "antinomianism" was coined by Martin Luther during the Reformation, to criticize extreme interpretations of the new Lutheran soteriology . The Lutheran Church benefited from early antinomian controversies by becoming more precise in distinguishing between law and gospel and justification and sanctification . Martin Luther developed 258 theses during his six antinomian disputations, which continue to provide doctrinal guidance to Lutherans today. Upon hearing that he
9676-454: The West , developing it into a notion of "hereditary sin," arguing that God holds all the descendants of Adam and Eve accountable for Adam's sin of rebellion, and as such all people deserve God's wrath and condemnation—apart from any actual sins they personally commit. Total depravity (also called "radical corruption" or "pervasive depravity") is a Protestant theological doctrine derived from
9840-462: The afterlife , due to the fall of man and inherited sin . During the first millennium CE, the ransom theory of atonement was the dominant metaphor for atonement, both in eastern and western Christianity, until it was replaced in the west by Anselm 's satisfaction theory of atonement. In one version of the idea of deception, Satan attempted to take Jesus' soul after he had died, but in doing so over-extended his authority, as Jesus had never sinned. As
10004-437: The " Pistis Christou debate," a different reading of these passages is also possible. The phrase pistis Christou can be translated as 'faith in Christ', that is, salvation by believing in Christ, the traditional interpretation; or as 'faithfulness of Christ', that is, belief "through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ." In this view, according to Cobb, Jesus' life and death was not seen by Paul as an atonement, but as
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#173284558908310168-415: The " divine law ", or Jewish laws on morality, such as the Ten Commandments . Thus, the early Christian church incorporated ideas sometimes seen as partially antinomian or parallel to Dual-covenant theology , while still upholding the traditional laws of moral behavior. The first major dispute over Christian antinomianism was a dispute over whether circumcision was required of Christians. This happened at
10332-471: The "Demiurge" or creator. The second principle is organization in its reflection of the nonsentient force or dynamis , also called the one or the Monad. The dyad is energeia emanated by the one that is then the work, process or activity called nous , Demiurge, mind, consciousness that organizes the indeterminate vitality into the experience called the material world, universe, cosmos. Plotinus also elucidates
10496-590: The Antinomians (1539) was to serve as Agricola's recantation. This was the first use of the term Antinomian. But the conflict flared up again, and Agricola sued Luther. He said that Luther had slandered him in his disputations, Against the Antinomians , and in his On the Councils and Churches (1539). But before the case could be brought to trial, Agricola left the city, even though he had bound himself to remain at Wittenberg , and moved to Berlin where he had been offered
10660-577: The Catholic from the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism during the Reformation . Broadly speaking, Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Christians distinguish between initial justification, which in their view ordinarily occurs at baptism ; and final salvation, accomplished after a lifetime of striving to do God's will ( theosis or divinization ). Theosis is a transformative process whose aim
10824-473: The Church from its Jewish roots (the first being the idea that Jesus was the messiah), was recorded in Acts 15:19–21 : Acts 15:(19) Wherefore my [James] sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: (20) But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. (21) For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in
10988-400: The Demiurge and is called his "perfect" name; in some Gnostic lore, Ariel has been called an ancient or original name for Ialdabaoth. The name has also been inscribed on amulets as "Ariel Ialdabaoth", and the figure of the archon inscribed with "Aariel". According to Marcion , the title God was given to the Demiurge, who was to be sharply distinguished from the higher Good God. The former
11152-422: The Demiurge as a well-meaning but limited figure whose rule reflects ignorance rather than malice. Plato , as the speaker Timaeus, refers to the Demiurge frequently in the Socratic dialogue Timaeus (28a ff. ), c. 360 BC. The main character refers to the Demiurge as the entity who "fashioned and shaped" the material world. Timaeus describes the Demiurge as unreservedly benevolent , and so it desires
11316-452: The Demiurge is a proposed solution to the problem of evil : while the divine beings are omniscient and omnibenevolent, the Demiurge who rules over our own physical world is not. Psalm 82 begins, "God stands in the assembly of El [ LXX : assembly of gods], in the midst of the gods he renders judgment", indicating a plurality of gods, although it does not indicate that these gods were co-actors in creation. Philo had inferred from
11480-450: The Demiurge is replaced by the devil. Origen (184–253) introduced the idea that the devil held legitimate rights over humans, who were bought free by the blood of Christ. He also introduced the notion that the Devil was deceived in thinking that he could master the human soul. Gustaf Aulén reinterpreted the ransom theory in his study Christus Victor (1931), calling it the Christus Victor doctrine, arguing that Christ's death
11644-430: The Demiurge is similarly flawed in comparison to Plato's original intentions. Whereas Plato's Demiurge is good wishing good on his creation, Gnosticism contends that the Demiurge is not only the originator of evil but is evil as well. Hence the title of Plotinus' refutation: "Against Those That Affirm the Creator of the Kosmos and the Kosmos Itself to be Evil" (generally quoted as "Against the Gnostics"). Plotinus argues of
11808-405: The Demiurge range dramatically. It is generally understood and agreed upon to be a lesser divinity who governs the material universe. However the nature of its rule over the material realm differs from sect to sect. Sethian Gnosticism portrays the Demiurge as an oppressive, ignorant ruler, intentionally binding souls in an inherently corrupt material realm. In contrast, Valentinian Gnosticism sees
11972-460: The Demiurge, who is only animal, has no real knowledge. The devil resides in this lower world, of which he is the prince, the Demiurge in the heavens; his mother Sophia in the middle region, above the heavens and below the Pleroma. The Valentinian Heracleon interpreted the devil as the principle of evil, that of hyle (matter). As he writes in his commentary on John 4:21, The mountain represents
12136-591: The Devil, or his world, since the Devil was one part of the whole of matter, but the world is the total mountain of evil, a deserted dwelling place of beasts, to which all who lived before the law and all Gentiles render worship. But Jerusalem represents the creation or the Creator whom the Jews worship. ... You then who are spiritual should worship neither the creation nor the Craftsman, but the Father of Truth. This vilification of
12300-460: The Elohim of Justinus , etc. The Valentinian theory elaborates that from Achamoth ( he kátō sophía or lower wisdom) three kinds of substance take their origin, the spiritual ( pneumatikoí ), the animal ( psychikoí ) and the material ( hylikoí ). The Demiurge belongs to the second kind, as he was the offspring of a union of Achamoth with matter. And as Achamoth herself was only the daughter of Sophía
12464-537: The Enlightenment philosopher Immanuel Kant . In the 19th and 20th century, it has been popular among liberal Protestant thinkers in the Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran, and Presbyterian churches, including the Anglican theologian Hastings Rashdall . A number of English theological works in the last hundred years have advocated and popularized the moral influence theory of atonement. A strong division has remained since
12628-514: The Gnostic doctrine of Sophia and her emission of the Demiurge. Though the former understanding certainly enjoys the greatest popularity, the identification of Plotinus' opponents as Gnostic is not without some contention. Christos Evangeliou has contended that Plotinus' opponents might be better described as simply "Christian Gnostics", arguing that several of Plotinus' criticisms are as applicable to orthodox Christian doctrine as well. Also, considering
12792-592: The Gnostics. A. H. Armstrong identified the so-called "Gnostics" that Plotinus was attacking as Jewish and Pagan, in his introduction to the tract in his translation of the Enneads . Armstrong alluding to Gnosticism being a Hellenic philosophical heresy of sorts, which later engaged Christianity and Neoplatonism. John D. Turner , professor of religious studies at the University of Nebraska, and famed translator and editor of
12956-672: The God of the Hebrew Bible . Several systems of Gnostic thought present the Demiurge as antagonistic to the will of the Supreme Being , with his creation initially having the malevolent intention of entrapping aspects of the divine in materiality. In other systems, the Demiurge is instead portrayed as "merely" incompetent or foolish: his creation is an unconscious attempt to replicate the divine world (the pleroma ) based on faint recollections, and thus ends up fundamentally flawed. Thus, in such systems,
13120-716: The Greek myth of the noble dead, to which the Maccabean notion of martyrdom and dying for ones people is related; and the Jewish myth of the persecuted sage or righteous man, in particular the "story of the child of wisdom ." For Paul, the notion of 'dying for' refers to this martyrdom and persecution. According to Burton Mack , 'Dying for our sins' refers to the problem of Gentile Torah-observers, who, despite their faithfulness, cannot fully observe commandments, including circumcision, and are therefore 'sinners', excluded from God's covenant. Jesus' death and resurrection solved this problem of
13284-502: The Jerusalem ekklēsia , from which Paul received this creed, the phrase "died for our sins" probably was an apologetic rationale for the death of Jesus as being part of God's plan and purpose, as evidenced in the scriptures. The phrase "died for our sins" was derived from Isaiah , especially Isaiah 53:1–11, and 4 Maccabees, especially 4 Maccabees 6:28–29. "Raised on the third day" is derived from Hosea 6:1–2: Come, let us return to
13448-513: The Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." ( KJV ) Some cite Acts 13:39 : "And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Romans 6 states twice that believers are not under the law: Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." and Romans 6:15 "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under
13612-513: The Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him." Soon after his death, Jesus' followers believed he was raised from death by God and exalted to divine status as Lord ( Kyrios ) "at God's 'right hand'," which "associates him in astonishing ways with God." According to Hurtado, powerful religious experiences were an indispensable factor in
13776-409: The Mosaic law has authority only insofar as it reflects the commands of Christ and the natural law. Christian sects and theologians who believe that they are less constrained by laws than critics consider customary are often called "antinomian" by those critics. Thus, classic Methodist commentator Adam Clarke held, "The Gospel proclaims liberty from the ceremonial law, but binds you still faster under
13940-409: The New Testament. The ransom theory of atonement says that Christ liberated humanity from slavery to sin and Satan , and thus death, by giving his own life as a ransom sacrifice to Satan, swapping the life of the perfect (Jesus), for the lives of the imperfect (other humans). It entails the idea that God deceived the devil, and that Satan, or death, had "legitimate rights" over sinful souls in
14104-748: The Old Testament moral law. For example, the Manichaeans held that their spiritual being was unaffected by the action of matter and regarded carnal sins as being, at worst, forms of bodily disease. The Old Testament was absolutely rejected by most of the Gnostics. Even the so-called Judaeo-Christian Gnostics ( Cerinthus ), the Ebionite (Essenian) sect of the Pseudo-Clementine writings (the Elkesaites ), take up an inconsistent attitude towards Jewish antiquity and
14268-444: The Old Testament. In this respect, the opposition to Gnosticism led to a reactionary movement. If the growing Christian Church, in quite a different fashion from Paul, laid stress on the literal authority of the Old Testament, interpreted, it is true, allegorically; if it took up a much more friendly and definite attitude towards the Old Testament, and gave a wider scope to the legal conception of religion, this must be in part ascribed to
14432-465: The One (Τὸ Ἕν, 'To Hen'), the source, or the Monad . This is the God above the Demiurge, and manifests through the actions of the Demiurge. The Monad emanated the demiurge or Nous (consciousness) from its "indeterminate" vitality due to the monad being so abundant that it overflowed back onto itself, causing self-reflection. This self-reflection of the indeterminate vitality was referred to by Plotinus as
14596-525: The Reformation between liberal Protestants (who typically adopt a moral influence view) and conservative Protestants (who typically adopt a penal substitutionary view). Both sides believe that their position is taught by the Bible. A related theory, the "moral example theory", was developed by Faustus Socinus (1539–1604) in his work De Jesu Christo servatore (1578). He rejected the idea of "vicarious satisfaction". According to Socinus, Jesus' death offers us
14760-465: The Reformation maintained a belief in the moral influence view of the atonement. Socinianism was an early form of Unitarianism , and the Unitarian Church today maintains a moral influence view of the atonement, as do many liberal Protestant theologians of the modern age. During the 18th century, versions of the moral influence view found overwhelming support among German theologians, most notably
14924-685: The Spirit (as revealed by the Inner Light of God within each person) rather than the Scriptures. They also rejected civil legal authorities and their laws (such as the paying of tithes to the State church and the swearing of oaths) when they were seen as inconsistent with the promptings of the Inner Light of God. Other Protestant groups that have been accused of antinomianism include the Anabaptists and Mennonites . The Ranters of 17th century England were one of
15088-483: The West (differentiating from Eastern Orthodoxy) Christian hamartiology describes sin as an act of offence against God by despising his persons and Christian biblical law , and by injuring others. It is an evil human act, which violates the rational nature of man, as well as God's nature and his eternal law . According to the classical definition of Augustine of Hippo , sin is "a word, deed, or desire in opposition to
15252-437: The [underworld]". He comes from heaven, and it is said his "face flashed with fire and [his] appearance was defiled with blood". Nebro creates six angels in addition to the angel Saklas to be his assistants. These six, in turn, create another twelve angels "with each one receiving a portion in the heavens". The etymology of the name Yaldabaoth has been subject to many speculative theories. Until 1974, etymologies deriving from
15416-445: The atonement itself, but also the question of how one partakes of this salvation, by faith, baptism, or obedience; and the question of whether this salvation is individual or universal . It further involves questions regarding the afterlife, e.g. " heaven , hell , purgatory , soul sleep , and annihilation ." The fault lines between the various denominations include conflicting definitions of sin, justification, and atonement. In
15580-524: The biblical scholar C. Marvin Pate, "...there are three aspects to Christ's atonement according to the early Church: vicarious atonement [ substitutionary atonement ], the eschatological defeat of Satan [Christ the Victor], and the imitation of Christ [participation in Jesus' death and resurrection]." Pate further notes that these three aspects were intertwined in the earliest Christian writings but that this intertwining
15744-416: The church. He said that repentance comes from hearing the good news only and does not precede but rather follows faith. He continued to disseminate this doctrine in books, despite receiving various warnings from Luther. Luther, with reluctance, at last, believed that he had to make a public comment against antinomianism and its promoters in 1538 and 1539. Agricola apparently yielded, and Luther's book Against
15908-649: The concept of original sin. It is the teaching that, as a consequence of the fall of man, every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin as a result of their inherent fallen nature and, apart from the irresistible or prevenient grace of God , is utterly unable to choose to follow God, refrain from evil, or accept the gift of salvation as it is offered. It is advocated to various degrees by many Protestant confessions of faith and catechisms, including those of some Lutheran synods, and Calvinism , teaching irresistible grace. Arminians , such as Methodists , also believe and teach total depravity, but with
16072-417: The creator is from a fallen, ignorant, or lesser—rather than evil—perspective, such as that of Valentinius . The Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus addressed within his works Gnosticism's conception of the Demiurge, which he saw as un- Hellenic and blasphemous to the Demiurge or creator of Plato. Plotinus, along with his teacher Ammonius Saccas , was the founder of Neoplatonism . In the ninth tractate of
16236-399: The creator was held to be inimical to Christianity by the early fathers of the church. In refuting the beliefs of the gnostics, Irenaeus stated that "Plato is proved to be more religious than these men, for he allowed that the same God was both just and good, having power over all things, and himself executing judgment." Catharism apparently inherited their idea of Satan as the creator of
16400-422: The cross." This latter translation makes it sound as though it is a record of trespasses , rather than the Law itself , that was "nailed to the cross." The interpretation partly depends on the original Greek word χειρόγραφον which, according to Strong's G5498, literally means "something written by hand;" it is variously translated as "the bond" (RSV, NAB), "written code" (NIV), or "record" (ESV, NRSV, CEB), as in
16564-615: The demonstration of God's love", a demonstration which can change the hearts and minds of the sinners, turning back to God. During the Protestant Reformation in Western Christianity , the majority of the Reformers strongly rejected the moral influence view of the atonement in favor of penal substitution , a highly forensic modification of the honor-oriented Anselmian satisfaction model . Fausto Sozzini 's Socinian arm of
16728-567: The disconnect or great barrier that is created between the nous or mind's noumenon (see Heraclitus ) and the material world ( phenomenon ) by believing the material world is evil. The majority of scholars tend to understand Plotinus' opponents as being a Gnostic sect—certainly (specifically Sethian ), several such groups were present in Alexandria and elsewhere about the Mediterranean during Plotinus' lifetime. Plotinus specifically points to
16892-429: The distinct difference of teaching prevenient grace. In Christian theology, justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time making a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice. The means of justification is an area of significant difference among Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Justification is often seen as being the theological fault line that divided
17056-455: The divine punishment of their past wrongdoings. However, this salvation is not presented as automatic. Rather, a person must have faith in order to receive this free gift of salvation. In the penal substitution view, salvation is not dependent upon human effort or deeds. The penal substitution paradigm of salvation is widely held among Protestants, who often consider it central to Christianity. However, it has also been widely critiqued, and
17220-425: The domain of thought. Thus, a triad is formed of the intelligible nous , the intellective nous , and the psyche in order to reconcile further the various Hellenistic philosophical schools of Aristotle 's actus and potentia (actuality and potentiality) of the unmoved mover and Plato's Demiurge. Then within this intellectual triad Iamblichus assigns the third rank to the Demiurge, identifying it with
17384-410: The earth: (12) Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. (13) And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. (14) But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. (15) And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. (16) This
17548-473: The emergence of this Christ-devotion. Those experiences "seem to have included visions of (and/or ascents to) God's heaven, in which the glorified Christ was seen in an exalted position." Those experiences were interpreted in the framework of God's redemptive purposes, as reflected in the scriptures, in a "dynamic interaction between devout, prayerful searching for, and pondering over, scriptural texts and continuing powerful religious experiences." This initiated
17712-511: The equation of matter with nothing or non-being in The Enneads which more correctly is to express the concept of idealism or that there is not anything or anywhere outside of the "mind" or nous (c.f. pantheism ). Plotinus' form of Platonic idealism is to treat the Demiurge, nous , as the contemplative faculty ( ergon ) within man which orders the force ( dynamis ) into conscious reality. In this, he claimed to reveal Plato's true meaning:
17876-505: The eternal law of God". Christian tradition has explained sin as a fundamental aspect of human existence, brought about by original sin —also called ancestral sin , the fall of man stemming from Adam's rebellion in Eden by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Paul espouses it in Romans 5:12–19, and Augustine of Hippo popularized his interpretation of it in
18040-522: The evidence from the time, Evangeliou thought the definition of the term "Gnostics" was unclear. Of note here is that while Plotinus' student Porphyry names Christianity specifically in Porphyry's own works, and Plotinus is to have been a known associate of the Christian Origen , none of Plotinus' works mention Christ or Christianity—whereas Plotinus specifically addresses his target in the Enneads as
18204-410: The evil world from Gnosticism. Gilles Quispel writes, "There is a direct link between ancient Gnosticism and Catharism. The Cathars held that the creator of the world, Satanael, had usurped the name of God, but that he had subsequently been unmasked and told that he was not really God." Gnosticism attributed falsehood or evil to the concept of the Demiurge or creator, though in some Gnostic traditions
18368-423: The exclusion of the Gentiles from God's covenant, as indicated by Romans 3:21–26. According to E.P. Sanders , who initiated the New Perspective on Paul , Paul saw the faithful redeemed by participation in Jesus' death and rising. But "Jesus' death substituted for that of others and thereby freed believers from sin and guilt," a metaphor derived from "ancient sacrificial theology," the essence of Paul's writing
18532-490: The expression "Let us make man" of the Book of Genesis that God had used other beings as assistants in the creation of man, and he explains in this way why man is capable of vice as well as virtue, ascribing the origin of the latter to God, of the former to his helpers in the work of creation. The earliest Gnostic sects ascribe the work of creation to angels, some of them using the same passage in Genesis. So Irenaeus tells of
18696-419: The following vision, which was used to excuse early gentile Christians from the Mosaic dietary laws. (9) ...Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: (10) And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, (11) And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to
18860-517: The hearing of faith? (3) Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? (4) Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. (5) He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" KJV Salvation in Christianity In Christianity , salvation (also called deliverance or redemption )
19024-408: The human race, as it was on their account the devil was cast down into this world. According to one variant of the Valentinian system, the Demiurge is also the maker, out of the appropriate substance, of an order of spiritual beings, the devil, the prince of this world, and his angels. But the devil, as being a spirit of wickedness, is able to recognise the higher spiritual world, of which his maker
19188-469: The idea that Jesus' death was a "debt paid to God's honor". He also objected to the emphasis on God's judgment, and the idea that God changed his mind after the sinner accepted Jesus' sacrificial death, which was not easily reconcilable with the idea of "the perfect, impassible God [who] does not change". Abelard focused on changing man's perception of God – not to be seen as offended, harsh, and judgemental, but as loving. According to Abelard, "Jesus died as
19352-530: The individual's relation to God." According to Krister Stendahl , the main concern of Paul's writings on Jesus' role, and salvation by faith, is not the individual conscience of human sinners, and their doubts about being chosen by God or not, but the problem of the inclusion of Gentile (Greek) Torah observers into God's covenant. Paul draws on several interpretative frames to solve this problem, but most importantly, his own experience and understanding. The kerygma from 1 Cor.15:3-5 refers to two mythologies:
19516-466: The influence of the Demiurge and together with the Saviour and Achamoth, his spouse, will enter the Pleroma divested of body ( hyle ) and soul ( psyché ). In this most common form of Gnosticism the Demiurge had an inferior though not intrinsically evil function in the universe as the head of the animal, or psychic world. Opinions on the devil , and his relationship to the Demiurge, vary. The Ophites held that he and his demons constantly oppose and thwart
19680-585: The involuntary reaction upon it of Gnosticism. Marcion of Sinope was the founder of Marcionism which rejected the Hebrew Bible in its entirety. Marcion considered the God portrayed in the Bible to be a lesser deity, a demiurge , and he claimed that the law of Moses was contrived. Such deviations from the moral law were criticized by proto-orthodox rivals of the Gnostics, who ascribed various aberrant and licentious acts to them. A biblical example of such criticism can be found in Revelation 2:6–15 , which criticizes
19844-481: The land of Egypt , and to have given them their law. The prophecies are ascribed not to the chief but to the other world-making angels. The Latin translation, confirmed by Hippolytus of Rome , makes Irenaeus state that according to Cerinthus (who shows Ebionite influence), creation was made by a power quite separate from the Supreme God and ignorant of him. Theodoret , who here copies Irenaeus, turns this into
20008-424: The language of participation. One died for all, so that all died (2 Corinthians 5:14). This is not only different from substitution , it is the opposite of it." By this participation in Christ's death and rising, "one receives forgiveness for past offences, is liberated from the powers of sin, and receives the Spirit." Paul insists that salvation is received by the grace of God; according to Sanders, this insistence
20172-609: The larger congregation. This passage shows that the remainder of the commandments would follow as they studied "Moses" in the Synagogues. If Gentiles did not follow this reduced requirement, they risked being put out of the Synagogue and missing out on a Torah education (in Leviticus 17 and 20 ). James's list still includes some dietary commands, but many of those also passed out of some Christian traditions quite early. Acts 10:9–16 describes
20336-461: The last of the thirty Aeons, the Demiurge was distant by many emanations from the Propatôr, or Supreme God. In creating this world out of Chaos the Demiurge was unconsciously influenced for good; and the universe, to the surprise even of its Maker, became almost perfect. The Demiurge regretted even its slight imperfection, and as he thought himself the Supreme God, he attempted to remedy this by sending
20500-437: The law without external motivation. Antinomianism during this period is likely a reaction against Arminianism , as it emphasized free grace in salvation to the detriment of any participation on the part of the believer. John Eaton ( fl. 1619) is often identified as the father of English antinomianism. Tobias Crisp (1600–1643), a Church of England priest who had been Arminian and was later accused of being an antinomian. He
20664-499: The law, but under grace? God forbid.". KJV Galatians 3:1–5 describes the Galatians as "foolish" for relying on being observant to the Law: "(1) O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? (2) This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
20828-667: The lower depths. Yaldabaoth is frequently called "the Lion-faced", leontoeides , and is said to have the body of a serpent. The demiurge is also described as having a fiery nature, applying the words of Moses to him: "the Lord our God is a burning and consuming fire". Hippolytus claims that Simon used a similar description. In Pistis Sophia , Yaldabaoth has already sunk from his high estate and resides in Chaos, where, with his forty-nine demons, he tortures wicked souls in boiling rivers of pitch, and with other punishments (pp. 257, 382). He
20992-597: The main fault lines dividing the various Christian denominations , including conflicting definitions of sin and depravity (the sinful nature of mankind), justification (God's means of removing the consequences of sin), and atonement (the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus). Salvation in Christianity, or deliverance or redemption, is the "saving [of] human beings from death and separation from God" by Christ 's death and resurrection. Christian salvation not only concerns
21156-487: The moral law is needed to produce repentance. He later wrote in the Augsburg Confession that repentance has two parts. "One is contrition, that is, terrors smiting the conscience through the knowledge of sin; the other is faith, which is born of the Gospel, or of absolution, and believes that for Christ's sake, sins are forgiven, comforts the conscience, and delivers it from terrors." Shortly after Melanchthon drew up
21320-487: The moral law. To be freed from the ceremonial law is the Gospel liberty; to pretend freedom from the moral law is Antinomianism." The term antinomian came into use in the sixteenth century; however, the doctrine itself can be traced in the teaching of earlier beliefs. Early Gnostic sects were accused of failing to follow the Mosaic Law in a manner that suggests the modern term "antinomian". Most Gnostic sects did not accept
21484-481: The most essential element; and the idea of the suffering servant (Isaiah 42:1–9, 49:1–6, 50:4–11, 52:13–53:12), "the action of a Divinely sent Servant of the Lord who was 'wounded for our transgressions' and 'bear the sin of many'." The Old Testament Apocrypha adds a fourth idea, namely the righteous martyr (2 Maccabees, 4 Maccabees, Wisdom 2–5). These traditions of atonement offer only temporary forgiveness, and korbanot (offerings) could only be used as
21648-489: The most outright antinomian sects in the history of Christianity. New Covenant Theology has been accused of antinomianism for their belief that the Ten Commandments have been abrogated, but they point out that nine of these ten are renewed under the New Covenant's Law of Christ . John Eaton , a leader in the antinomian underground during the 1630s, interpreted Revelation 12:1 with a quote recorded by Giles Firmin : "I saw
21812-407: The necessity of following the moral law as contained in the Ten Commandments, citing Jesus' teaching, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (cf. John 14:15). The Methodist Churches consider antinomianism to be a heresy . Religious Society of Friends were charged with antinomianism due to their rejection of a graduate clergy and a clerical administrative structure, as well as their reliance on
21976-404: The notable Arminian critique of Calvinism: Fletcher 's Five Checks to Antinomianism (1771–75). John Wesley , the founder of the Methodist tradition, harshly criticized antinomianism, considering it the "worst of all heresies". He taught that Christian believers are bound to follow the moral law and that they are to partake in the means of grace for their sanctification . Methodists teach
22140-448: The perfect or Divine nous with the intellectual triad being promoted to a hebdomad (pure intellect). In the theoretic of Plotinus, nous produces nature through intellectual mediation, thus the intellectualizing gods are followed by a triad of psychic gods. Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God or Supreme Being and the demiurgic "creator" of the material, identified in some traditions with Yahweh ,
22304-430: The person and death of Jesus. Starting in the 2nd century CE, various understandings of atonement have been put forth to explain the death and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the metaphors applied by the New Testament to understand his death. Over the centuries, Christians have held different ideas regarding how Jesus saves people, with different views still existing within various Christian denominations. According to
22468-463: The place from which he had come. He is Demiurge and maker of man, but as a ray of light from above enters the body of man and gives him a soul, Yaldabaoth is filled with envy; he tries to limit man's knowledge by forbidding him the fruit of knowledge in paradise. At the consummation of all things, all light will return to the Pleroma . But Yaldabaoth, the Demiurge, with the material world, will be cast into
22632-525: The plural number "powers", and so Epiphanius of Salamis represents Cerinthus as agreeing with Carpocrates in the doctrine that the world was made by angels. In the Archontic , Sethian , and Ophite systems, which have many affinities with the doctrine of Valentinus , the making of the world is ascribed to a company of seven archons , whose names are given, but still more prominent is their chief, "Yaldabaoth" (also known as "Yaltabaoth" or "Ialdabaoth"). In
22796-401: The process of henosis . Iamblichus describes the One as a monad whose first principle or emanation is intellect ( nous ), while among "the many" that follow it there is a second, super-existent "One" that is the producer of intellect or soul ( psyche ). The "One" is further separated into spheres of intelligence; the first and superior sphere is objects of thought, while the latter sphere is
22960-506: The reading of an earlier etymology, whose explanation seemingly equated " darkness " and "chaos" when translating an unattested supposed plural form of Hebrew : בוהו , romanized : bōhu . " Samael " literally means "Blind God" or "God of the Blind" in Hebrew ( סמאל ). This being is considered not only blind, or ignorant of its own origins, but may, in addition, be evil; its name
23124-564: The religious establishment include Martin Luther's critique of antinomianism , the Ranters of the English Civil War , and the Antinomian Controversy of the seventeenth-century Massachusetts Bay Colony . The charge of antinomianism has been levelled at Reformed, Baptist and some Nondenominational churches. By extension, the word "antinomian" is used to describe views in religions other than Christianity: Antinomianism has been
23288-458: The role of the "One", effectively altering the role of the Demiurge as second cause or dyad, which was one of the reasons that Iamblichus and his teacher Porphyry came into conflict. The figure of the Demiurge emerges in the theoretic of Iamblichus, which conjoins the transcendent, incommunicable “One,” or Source. Here, at the summit of this system, the Source and Demiurge (material realm) coexist via
23452-605: The satisfaction view, it was immediately criticized by Peter Abelard . In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformers reinterpreted Anselm's satisfaction theory of salvation within a legal paradigm. In the legal system, offences required punishment, and no satisfaction could be given to avert this need. They proposed a theory known as penal substitution , in which Christ takes the penalty of people's sin as their substitute, thus saving people from God's wrath against sin. Penal substitution thus presents Jesus saving people from
23616-439: The scriptures, [4] and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, [5] and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. [6] Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. [7] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. [8] Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. In
23780-714: The second of his Enneads , Plotinus criticizes his opponents for their appropriation of ideas from Plato: From Plato come their punishments, their rivers of the underworld and the changing from body to body; as for the plurality they assert in the Intellectual Realm—the Authentic Existent, the Intellectual-Principle, the Second Creator and the Soul —all this is taken over from the Timaeus. Of note here
23944-415: The sins of mankind. In this view, people needed salvation from the divine punishment that these offences would bring, since nothing they could do could repay the honor debt. Anselm held that Christ had infinitely honored God through his life and death and that Christ could repay what humanity owed God, thus satisfying the offence to God's honor and doing away with the need for punishment. When Anselm proposed
24108-416: The synagogues every Sabbath day. Beginning with Augustine of Hippo , many have seen a connection to Noahide Law , while some modern scholars reject the connection to Noahide Law and instead see Lev 17–18 as the basis. James sets out a preliminary list of commands which Gentiles should obey. Gentiles were not required to be circumcised but were required to obey the four beginning requirements to be part of
24272-454: The system of Simon Magus , of the system of Menander , of the system of Saturninus , in which the number of these angels is reckoned as seven, and of the system of Carpocrates . In Basilides 's system, he reports, the world was made by the angels who occupy the lowest heaven; but special mention is made of their chief, who is said to have been the God of the Jews , to have led that people out of
24436-453: The unattested Aramaic : בהותא, romanized: bāhūthā , supposedly meaning " chaos ", represented the majority view. Following an analysis by the Jewish historian of religion Gershom Scholem published in 1974, this etymology no longer enjoyed any notable support. His analysis showed the unattested Aramaic term to have been fabulated and attested only in a single corrupted text from 1859, with its claimed translation having been transposed from
24600-594: The unearned grace of God, not by good works, "lest anyone should boast", and placed a priority on orthodoxy (right belief) before orthopraxy (right practice). The soteriology of Paul's statements in this matter has long been a matter of dispute. In modern Protestant orthodoxy, this passage is interpreted as a reference to justification by trusting Christ. Paul used the term freedom in Christ , for example, Galatians 2:4 . Some understood this to mean "lawlessness" (i.e. not obeying Mosaic Law). For example, in Acts 18:12–16 , Paul
24764-403: The wrong that Adam did and, because of his union with humanity, leads humanity on to eternal life , including moral perfection . Theosis ("divinisation") is a "corollary" of the recapitulation. In the 11th century, Anselm of Canterbury rejected the ransom view and proposed the satisfaction theory of atonement . He allegedly depicted God as a feudal lord whose honor had been offended by
24928-567: Was díkaios , severely just, the latter agathós , or loving-kind; the former was the "god of this world", the God of the Old Testament , the latter the true God of the New Testament . Christ, in reality, is the Son of the Good God. The true believer in Christ entered into God's kingdom; the unbeliever remained forever the slave of the Demiurge. It is in the system of Valentinus that the name Dēmiurgos
25092-525: Was a divisive figure for English Calvinists , with a serious controversy arising from the republication of his works in the 1690s. Also lesser known was John Saltmarsh (priest) . From the latter part of the 18th century, critics of Calvinists accused them of antinomianism. Such charges were frequently raised by Arminian Methodists, who subscribed to a synergistic soteriology that contrasted with Calvinism's monergistic doctrine of justification. The controversy between Arminian and Calvinistic Methodists produced
25256-479: Was accused of teaching that sin was beneficial. The question of the obligation to follow the Mosaic Law was a point of contention in the Early Christian Church. Many early converts were Greek and thus had less interest in adherence to the Law of Moses than did the earliest Christians, who were primarily Jewish and already accustomed to the Law. Thus, as Christianity spread into new cultures, the early church
25420-611: Was being charged with the rejection of the Old Testament moral law, Luther responded: "And truly, I wonder exceedingly, how it came to be imputed to me, that I should reject the Law or Ten Commandments, there being extant so many of my own expositions (and those of several sorts) upon the Commandments, which also are daily expounded, and used in our Churches, to say nothing of the Confession and Apology, and other books of ours." In his "Introduction to Romans," Luther stated that saving faith is,
25584-410: Was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. Peter was perplexed about the vision in Acts 10. His subsequent explanation of the vision in Acts 11 gives no credence to antinomianism as it relates to the admission of Gentiles into covenant relationship with God. Though the Apostolic Decree is no longer observed by many Christian denominations today, it is still observed in full by
25748-580: Was freed from this wrath. In the classical Protestant understanding humans partake in this salvation by faith in Jesus Christ; this faith is a grace given by God, and people are justified by God through Jesus Christ and faith in him. A predecessor researcher for the New Perspective on Paul (in 1963) raised several concerns regarding these interpretations. The traditional interpretation sees Paul's understanding of salvation as involving "an exposition of
25912-494: Was lost since the Patristic times. Because of the influence of Gustaf Aulén 's 1931 Christus Victor study, the various theories or paradigms of atonement which developed after the New Testament writings are often grouped under the "classic paradigm," the "objective paradigm," and the "subjective paradigm". In the Hebrew writings, God is absolutely righteous, and only pure and sinless persons can approach him. Reconciliation
26076-451: Was not a "payment for sin", but had a basic meaning as "making something sacred by giving it as a gift to God," and included a shared meal with God. Sacrifices had numerous purposes, namely thanksgiving, petition, purification, and reconciliation. None of them was a "payment or substitution or satisfaction", and even "sacrifices of reconciliation were about restoring the relationship." James F. McGrath refers to 4 Maccabees 6, "which presents
26240-494: Was not a payment to the Devil, but defeated the powers of evil, particularly Satan , which had held mankind in their dominion. According to Pugh, "Ever since [Aulén's] time, we call these patristic ideas the Christus Victor way of seeing the cross." The recapitulation view, first comprehensively expressed by Irenaeus , went "hand-in-hand" with the ransom theory. It says that Christ succeeds where Adam failed , undoing
26404-546: Was predicted by Isaiah, as attested in Luke 4:16–22, where Jesus is portrayed as saying that the prophecies in Isaiah were about him. The New Testament explicitly quotes from Isaiah 53 in Matthew 8:16–18 to indicate that Jesus is the fulfillment of these prophecies. The classic paradigm entails the traditional understandings of the early Church Fathers , who developed the themes found in
26568-402: Was pressured by Judaizers and Pharisees to decide which laws were still required of Christians, and which were no longer required under the New Covenant. The New Testament, (especially the book of Acts ) is interpreted by some as recording the church slowly abandoning the "ritual laws" of Judaism, such as circumcision, Sabbath and kosher law, while remaining in full agreement on adherence to
26732-418: Was the subject of God's pity rather than of his wrath. To Agricola, the purpose of repentance was to abstain from evil rather than the contrition of a guilty conscience. The law had no role in repentance, which came about after one came to faith, and repentance was caused by the knowledge of the love of God alone. In contrast, Philipp Melanchthon urged that repentance must precede faith and that knowledge of
26896-495: Was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put
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