Ireneaus, Gnosticism, and Psychotherapy

Admittedly, I know very little of Ireneaus nor do I know much about the vast array of 'sects' collectively known as gnosticism. What I do know of Ireneaus is that he was popularly known, within the early life of church history, for his stance against heresy. One such popular heresy was 'Valentianism', a widely and culturally accepted form of gnosticism, which aimed to mix the truth of the gospel (Biblically speaking) and other 'truths' that existed elsewhere.

At its root, Valentianism states that the cause for everything in the universe started with the pre-existence of thirty eons (which are some sort of spirit-beings). So, the story goes that a 'junior eon' had an evil thought, and that this single evil thought introduced the concept of evil into existence. Valentianism, then tries to explain Biblical narratives with everything from the Old to the New Testaments into this paradigm. What we have here then is that God, whom the Jews have always believed to be the One and Only Eternal Being, who had no beginning, no end and the First Mover of ALL THINGS - reduced to a junior eon. According to Valentinianism, God is a mere collator of materials that already existed.

Furthermore, Valentianism (as many other types of Gnostic thought) tries to explain the life of Jesus in a way completely devoid from what the Bible simply states, similar to the contemporary works made by Brown with 'The Da Vinci Code' and Pullman with 'His Dark Materials'. According to Valentianism, Jesus is NOT the one who has propitiated sin etc., but that his life was to simply reflect the events that happened during the pre-existent age. i.e. Jesus' 30 years on earth reflects that there are 30 Eons etc. (see Zeitgeist the movie). A hallmark of gnosticism is that it holds the idea that Joe-Public cannot know these things unless otherwise told. We know something you don't know, dooda, dooda. Another hallmark of gnosticism is that it is not about 'salvation' (well, not in the way that is Biblically explained - that Jesus is the expressed image of the invisible God who propitiates our sin so that by His grace and through faith alone, we receive HIS righteousness), but about acquiring knowledge and that this knowledge is that: we are all, in fact, gods. This is a direct opposition to what the Bible says: we are not gods.

Shocking.

Valentianism obliterated the gospel. In the least, it was bad exegesis. Instead of letting the Bible speak for itself, it speaks over and above it by way of introducing concepts that do not Biblically exist. Where in the Bible does it speak about a plurality of gods? Where in the Bible does it speak about God himself having his own god? The Jewish faith of today acknowledge that there is only one God and besides Him, there is no other.

Gnosticism states that "we are gods". Gnosticism makes little of the gospel; it pays lip service to it. Gnosticism holds to the view that Jesus is someone who simply showed us the way - the path that we ourselves must follow in order to see for ourselves that we too are gods. Gnosticism then, is not about self-DEPRECIATION, as Paul and Jesus taught but the exact opposite. Gnosticism is about self-improvement, self-healing and self-empowerment.

So, what does this have to do with psychotherapy? Am I being unfair in my attempt to draw similarities between the principles found in psychotherapy with gnosticism? Perhaps. It may be fair to note that it is not just psychotherapy that this exists within. The idea that "I am god" and self-determination can be found in all aspects of our lives, if we are honest enough to admit. But, what is interesting is that when a person seeks for help in psychotherapy, the help offered comes by way of finding it within themselves; a direct opposition with what the Bible states, that help comes by way of Him - who has finished the work.

I heard an excellent talk this Sunday by one of our elders , who like Ireneaus, makes a stand against un-Biblical beliefs that we as professing Christians tend to carry around. The talk is entitled, 'Basic Christianity'. What is Christianity? Who is God? What does the Bible really say about who we are? And what did Jesus do, exactly?