Without a doubt, the congregation of Antioch had been sickened by the Hellenist Gnostic teachings of BarNabbas and Paul. Syncretism had launched its first great offensive against the Truth that had been given once to the Jewish saints (set-apart ones). Yes, during that year not only the congregation of Antioch but the entire world took a drastic change for the worst, a change from which it shall not recover until Messiah comes to impose his Kingdom.
Of course, later on other more aggressive Gnostics crept into the Christian church, trying to provoke more radical changes than the ones Paul and his followers had already obtained.
Let us talk a little about the Gnostics.
Gnosticism was/is a highly syncretistic religious orientation which advocates "gnosis" (Gr. knowledge) as the only way to release a person's spiritual constituent. This is done in order to suppress the demands of the physical body, which it considers completely evil.
The second wave of Gnostics who infected the followers of Yashua were very radical and therefore they were much more aggressive in their methods of achieving syncretism than the first wave. But there were others who were much more subtle — just as Paul and his minions had been before them during the first wave. These two Gnostic factions battled one another with just the same rancor as Baptist and Catholics combat one another in our days, or Presbyterians and Pentecostals, or Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses. All these are Christians, but they all incessantly fight one another wishing for their mutual annihilation. Such has been — and still is — the history of Christianity: to fight one another in the Name of the Prince of Peace!
Eventually the subtle Pauline Gnostic faction prevailed over the most radical one, and that gave the impression that Gnosticism had been finally exterminated from the ranks of Christendom. But it was far from the truth. Let us remember that it was the winning Pauline Gnostic faction that mainly wrote the Christian history of those convulsive times — and they had not much use for the truth, much less historical accuracy.
Trying to totally sever themselves from the radical Gnostics, the subtle Gnostic segment refused to be branded as Gnostics. For them the name "Christian" was good enough, since Christianity had arisen from the very teachings of an ingenious Gnostic, Paul. To differentiate themselves from hard-core Gnosticism — just as Charismatics refuse to be called Pentecostals even though they are one and the same — subtle Gnostics shrewdly chose the very deceptive name of "Orthodox" Christians. They knew well that with the name "Christian" they could convey a different character than their rivals in radical Gnosticism.
[ Later on, with the name "Orthodox" they also created the illusion of being a more genuine brand of Yeshua followers than their much hated — but much more attuned with truth — enemies, the non-Trinitarian Arians. ]
The name trick truly worked for these Gnostic followers of Paul. By condemning the hardliners — other weirder factions of Gnosticism — they succeeded at swaying away all suspicion of their true Gnostic character. In this way they deceptively appeared — and therefore were approved by the ignorant Gentile masses — as if they had been the original, standard, mainstream form of religion that had come out of the teachings of Yeshua.
The subtle Gnosticism of Paul finally got definitely entrenched — and set beyond any possible competition — when the so-called New Testament was forcefully imposed by the highly politicized Catholic curia in the 4th century BCE, of course with the help of the Roman Emperor.
Now, after having said all that, the main question is: How can we know that the Monster of Tarsus was a true Gnostic?
Well, first of all we need to understand what is the common denominator among all Gnostics.
Gnosticism (Greek: ?????? gnosis, knowledge) designated a diverse and highly syncretistic religious movement in which it was taught that human souls (all the immaterial part of a human being, i.e. the mind, the psyche) were divine and good. But they said that such a goodness was awfully trapped in the human body — or the flesh — which was innately evil. According to them, the material world — including the human body — had been created by an imperfect spirit, whom they called the "Demiurge."
For some Gnostics (the radical ones) the Demiurge was the very embodiment of all the Evil in the world — what we call Satan (HaSatan).
For other Gnostics — the subtle ones like Paul — the Demiurge was not entirely evil. They thought of him as supreme being who was imperfect but who, in the middle of his shortcomings, was sort of caring although limited by his inadequacies. According to them, this semi-benign Demiurge existed alongside another remote and unknowable supreme being who embodied all goodness and love.
Now, it is very significant to know that some Gnostics identified their Demiurge with the Elohim of Abraham! This explains why they had such an extreme revulsion for the Jewish religion, which is founded upon the Covenant of Abraham with his Elohim. Coming from the Gnostic dualistic supreme being image is the fact that so many Christian/Gnostics conceive the Elohim of the Tanakh as sort of angry, and even cruel at times. But Yeshua — whom they practically disconnect from the Abrahamic Covenant — is in opposition to the lesser patient YHWH of Tanakh, perfectly merciful, patient, benevolent, gracious and good. That is a Gnostic effect which is easily detected in all the writings of Paul.
[ This is also the reason why most of the times Christian/Gnostics pray to Yeshua, rather than to HaShem. And they do it despite of the fact that Yeshua never asked to be prayed to, but he specifically told his disciples to pray to his Father instead. Interesting things happen in the human mind, of which we are not aware. Some think that they obey by being disobedient. That is precisely the main result of the heresies of Paul of Tarsus. ]
Gnostics thought that since the physical human flesh was the origin of all the evil in mankind — since at best it had being formed by an inferior creator, if not an evil one — the flesh had to be constantly struggled with. It is because of this wrong idea that they thought that the only way of finding true righteousness was by denying the demands of the bodily members. Sounds like Paul?
To Gnostics the human experience was framed by a constant battle between the evil present in the physical flesh and the soul which was to be purified by the cleansing effects of an undefiled "gnosis" (knowledge or doctrine). And this was precisely the approach of Paul of Tarsus. Why? Because he was a Gnostic.
In their erroneous mindset Gnostics thought that by repressing the flesh they would free themselves from the inferior and evil physical world where the Demiurge reigned. But they believed that in order to achieve total spiritual freedom it was needed more than just freeing themselves from the physical desires. They believed that the surest way to holiness was through a certain "gnosis" i.e. knowledge. This "gnosis" was an esoteric understanding of spiritual mysteries only available through a mystic knowledge of the perfect supreme being. From such a "gnosis" the follower of this form of mysticism would extract power to control the flesh. Sounds like Paul?
Some Gnostics identified Yeshua as the embodiment of that perfect supreme being, whose incarnation brought "gnosis" (knowledge) to the earth on how to be freed from the "enslaving" flesh, and anything that had to do with it. Sounds like Paul?
Now, since the perfect supreme being was completely alien to — and enemy of — anything physical, he had to come in the similitude of flesh, but not really in a sinful human body. This is so because if he had come in real flesh, then he would have been corrupted by the intrinsic evil of the flesh.
Still, due to their variety, other Gnostics thought that Yeshua simply was another "gnosis" teacher, while yet others saw him as nothing more than a mere man. These types of Gnostics had to face the wrath of the type of Gnostics that Paul created. It is important to understand that Gnostics fought with rancor — just as they still do — because to them the purity of their doctrine was equivalent to their own personal purity, something that was/is intimately attached to their self-esteem. Maybe now you can understand why Christians/Gnostics — the deceived followers of Gnostic Paul — have always fought one another, and anybody else, with such an intense fierceness.
Titus 2:1-10
1 But as for you, speak the things which are fitting of sound doctrine. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith, in love, in perseverance. 3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, 4 so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of Elohim will not be dishonored. 6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. 9 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not stealing, but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of Elohim our Savior in every respect.
It surely sounds nice in the ears of a Christian/Gnostic, does it not?. But the real questions is, does it sound like HaShem' Words in Tanakh or Yeshua's? "But there are good recommendations in it", you might say. And it is true; there are. But mixing good things with poison is what makes it palatable ... and therefore drinkable. However, the deadly effect of the poison is not dependent on the flavor that masquerades it; its fatal effect comes from the lethal element of death hidden in it.
At any rate, having now an elemental understanding of Gnosticism, let us now identify Paul even more as a true Gnostic guru by his own words.
Romans 3:20
20 Because by the works (obedience) of the Law no flesh will be justified in His Sight, due to that through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
For all Gnostics any action or work would while trying to obey Torah was sinful due to the fact that any performance is directly associated with the sin-producing members of the evil human body — which they called the flesh. In other words, any action or work has much to do with the human body or the flesh. And since for them the "sinful body of death" is that corrupted physical tool by which we accomplish every action or work, in their deceived minds therefore any action, performance or work was to be necessarily tainted with the "sin prevalent in the body." For Gnostics this was so, no matter how good the intentions of the human performance (works of the flesh) ... or who commanded it! Sounds like Paul?
Galatians 2:16
16 Having known that a man is not declared righteous by works (obedience) of Law — but through the faith (belief) in Iesous Christos — we believed in Christos Iesous too so that we could be declared righteous by the faith of Christos, and not by works of Law because no flesh shall be declared righteous by works of Law.
Sounds like a Gnostic? Smells like a Gnostic? Of course! He does because he was a closet Gnostic.
Observe that like all Gnostics, Paul thought and taught that by no acts or works of the flesh could any man ever be saved from the consequences of the sin inherent to that flesh, which automatically taint them. For Gnostics only finding the correct "gnosis" was what would liberate them from such a condemnation. And if the person was on the way to loose that belief, it was better for him to die.
1 Corinthians 5:5
5 Turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Master.
For all Gnostics, the destruction of the flesh meant the final liberation or salvation of the spirit of man. Oh, yes, Paul was a Gnostic indeed!
Now drastically opposed to that Gnostic approach to the flesh that Paul, and the rest of his Gnostic comrades, had was the diametrically divergent attitude of Yeshua. He not only wanted to save the spirit of man, but also the body, or flesh, of the Chosen Ones:
Matthew 24:22
22 And if those Days were not reduced in number, no flesh would be kept safe. But for the sake of the Chosen Ones those Days will be shorten.
The reduction of the extent of time of the Tribulation period is done so that the physical bodies of the Chose Ones would be kept in a safe condition, thus allowing them to enter alive into the Messianic Kingdom. If the flesh was inherently evil he would not be interested in keeping their bodies safe, because nothing sinful shall enter into his Messianic Kingdom.
It is because of the nonsensical and completely unscriptural belief that the Gnostics held concerning the flesh being innately evil that in their heretical model only the thoughts of man — with the right knowledge, doctrine or belief, i.e. "gnosis" — could lead mankind to righteousness and thus salvation. But, like Paul and all Christians/Paulinists, Gnostics also thought that a wrong doctrine or erroneous belief could lead anyone away from such a righteousness and salvation since such incorrect belief or doctrine would eventually lead anyone to perform actions and works with his "body of death." (Sounds like Paul?) For them that meant "getting in the flesh", which was a capital sin.
