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Ophite Gnosticism (Greek=Serpent) Gen. James Green I N PREVIOUS ARTICLES, I have shown that Paul’s 1 Timothy 2:9-15 (“I suffer not a woman to teach”) admonition was not directed at ALL women, but only CERTAIN women. In Paul’s day there was the Gnostic teaching that, as author C.C. Kroeger expounds, there was a: “…life-supplying goddess who dominated religious thought for millennia.” What was being taught by certain women (that Paul directed his attention to) was that Eve, not Adam, was the life-giver (see Gen. 2:21-25 where the man/male, Adam, was the life-source of the woman/female). Gnostic Origins IF ONE WANTED to research this Gnostic Origin more fully, one would find, as I have, that Gnostic literature contains many references to “the generation of the female” (gennematheleias, see Hippolytus “Refutation of All Heresies” 8.13, 3, 4; 14.5; 5.19.14; also see Luise Abromowki, “Female Figures in the Gnostic Sondergut in Hippolytus’ Refutatio,” in “Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism Studies in Antiquity and Christianity, ed. Karen King [1988, p. 137, note #2]). These books will prove out what I write: that Paul was writing AGAINST the Gnostic teachings—by certain women—not against ALL women FOREVER—as too many men hold to these days. Both Church fathers Irenaeus and Tertullian spoke out against the Gnostics for their belief that a female could produce a living being without aid of the male (see Tertullian “Against the Valentinians 10; Irenaeus “Against Heresies 1.2.4.). Hippolytus “Refutation of ALL Heresies” 5.1, Anti-Nicene Fathers, 5.50, wrote that the Naassenes, “placed the Originative nature of the universe in causative seed.” Salvation Through Christ or Women? IT ALL BOILS down to this! In the Gnostic book—“Authentic Teaching” (6.322.26-35, Gnostic tractate), it shows how the “Word” was applied to the soul: “He gave the word (λόγος) to her eyes like a medicine so that she might see with her mind (νος) and take notice (νοιεν) of her kinsfolk (συγγενής) and gain knowledge about her root, so that she might cling to her branch (κλάδος) from which she first issued forth so that she might take that which is hers and leave matter (ὕλη) behind.” Knowledge of “origins” (supposedly) brought salvation. The Bible certainly speaks of “origins” (1 Tim. 1:4; Titus 3:9) but ETERNAL SALVATION only comes by and through Jesus the Christ the Lord—by being “born again” (see John cpt. 3). Kroeger points out that Theodotos wrote: “Knowledge makes us free…It is not only baptism which is freeing, but knowledge of who we were, what we become, what we were, into where we have been thrown; to where we hasten, from where we are redeemed, what birth is, and what rebirth.” (Clement of Alexandria “Excepta ex Theodoto” 78.2). In the “Gospel of Truth” (12.2.22.13-15) we read: “He who is to have knowledge…understands from whence he has come and where he is going.” So, a knowledge of one’s mother as “source of life” was very important (if the soul of the dead was to pass by hostile archons, or lower powers, as it ascended to the highest realms). Gnostic Christianity WHAT WE SEE in today’s Church(ianity) is Gnostic Christianity—a mixture of paganism and Christianity (see Hippolytus “Philosophoumena” 5.8.40; Walter Burkert’s “Homo Necons” (1983) describes that one Gnostic worshipper (of the serpent), left an account of one of their ancient rituals which formed part of the mystery ritual. Burkert says that this Naassene “claims the basic identity of all mysteries with Gnostic Christianity” (naas=the Heb. word for “serpent”). Part of this ritual was based upon the female, not the male (Kotys, Kybele, Rhea or Great Mother, or whatever name used). She was the dominant figure; this is what Paul was refuting. Adam (man/male) was created FIRST, not the other way around. He was refuting and opposing the FALSE teaching which acclaimed “motherhood” as the ultimate reality. While it is (Biblically) true that all life came from Eve, she came from the male. Didymus DIDYMUS (late 4th Cent.) wrote, as he understood Paul’s take on 1 Tim. 2:12: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence,” that the MAN, not the WOMAN, was the SOURCE or HEAD. In Greek, unlike English, “head” was ordinarily used in a metaphorical sense to mean “source” rather than “authority” (see C.C. Kroeger’s, “The Classical Concept of ‘Head’ as ‘Source,’” “I Suffer Not a Woman” [1987]). Back to Didymus. He writes: The Apostle says in First Timothy: “I do not permit women to teach,” and again in First Corinthians: “Every woman who prays or prophesies with uncovered head dishonors her head.” He means that he does not permit a woman to write books impudently on her own authority, nor to teach a false doctrine, because by doing so, she does violence to her source—man: for “the head of woman is man, and the head [source] of man is Christ.” The reason for this silence imposed on woman is obvious: woman’s teaching in the beginning caused considerable havoc to the human race; for the Apostle writes: “It was not the man who was deceived, but the woman.” Kroeger comments on the quote above: “If 1 Tim. 2:12 is translated as prohibiting women from claiming the power of origin, it fits with the refutation which follows.” It continues, “Women are forbidden to teach that female activity brought man into existence because, according to Scriptures, Adam was created first. Eve, for all her desire to bring enlightenment, DID NOT BRING GNOSIS BUT TRANSGRESSION” (ibid, p. 113). Kroeger is right! One needs only to read 1 Cor. 15:12-57; 1 Tim. 4:3-5 and 2 Tim. 2:17-19. Critics of Gnosticism refute the (false) idea that Eve pre-existed Adam. In one Gnostic version of their account, she is actually the hermaphrodite from whom Adam is drawn; but the Bible’s claim makes Adam created first, and Eve taken from him. Origin of the World Trick of Higher Power: ONE STORY RELATES that the higher powers tricked Adam into believing that he was actually made before Eve: “But let us not tell Adam because he is not from among us but let us bring a sleep upon him, and let us teach him in his sleep as if she (Eve) came into being from his rib so that the woman may be subject and he may be lord over her” (On the Origin of the World NHC, 2.5.116). But, according to the above account, the tricksters tricked both of them, not merely the man. Actually there are several variant accounts of all this deceit. Is it any wonder WHY Paul wrote what he wrote—that a woman should not teach or usurp authority over the man? He knew of these Gnostic superstitions. He was not some “macho-man” that had a big male ego (see my articles on “Women in the Ministry”). There are several other accounts that portray Adam as dumb and lacking in knowledge (see Apocryphon of John NHC 2.69.19-25; ibid 5.18, as quoted in Jonas, Gnostic Religion). The second—5.18, comments that the archons “intended to deceive him.” Kroeger points out that this account is a Coptic translation of the original Greek document, the translator retained the Greek word apate for “deceit.” The verbal form appears in 1 Tim. 2:14, which states Adam was not deceived (apatao). Serpent/Satan WE KNOW by their writings that the Gnostics venerated the Serpent [Ophidia]. They maintained that the beneficent serpent undid the “deceit” perpetrated on Adam. But Adam, according to the Bible was not deceived! His creator—God—spoke directly to Him. It was the woman that was deceived. See how THESE GNOSTICS TWIST IT? Adam had sinned knowingly—logically and theologically. 1 Tim. 2:14 says: “And Adam was NOT DECEIVED, but the woman being DECEIVED was in the transgression” (KJV). Other translations use the words, “being beguiled.” According to the Greek scholar A.T. Robertson, “This may mean in the Greek a perfective state, ‘Completely deceived,’ though it is not certain (cf. 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Cor. 3:18; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rom. 7:11; 16:18). The word “transgression” (v. 14) means, “hath fallen,” the Greek tense indicates an active, permanent state (see 1 Cor. 11:7). So, ALL humanity was brought forth in a FALLEN state. This is why Jesus insisted (several times) that we need to be “born again” (Jn. cpt. 3). Missing? WHAT MOST ENGLISH translations miss from the Genesis story, which both the Hebrew and Septuagint versions contain, is the phrase, “who was with her” (Gen. 3:6). This puts Adam, Eve’s husband/head/source/protector etc. RIGHT BESIDE HER WHEN THE SERPENT CAME. In other words, Adam was by her side during the temptation. My question is, “WHOSE SIN WAS GREATER?” “Apocalypse of Adam” THIS BOOK, was cited as evidence for first Century Gnosticism (see Henry A. Green’s “The Economic and Social Origins of Gnosticism” [1985] p. 179), has Adam saying: “When (ὅταν) God created me out of the earth, together with your mother Eve, I used to walk with her in a glory which she had seen in the aeon (αἰών) from which we had our being. She instructed me with a word of knowledge (γνσις) of the eternal god. And we resembled the great eternal angels (ἄγγελος). For (γάρ) we were exalted above the god who had made us, and above the powers which were with him, whom we did not know.” (64.6-16) Kroeger Comments: THE CRUX of the matter, more than priority of creation, was the sort of activities in which Eve was supposed to have been engaged. We read that she consorted with the celestial powers, especially Satan. It will come as no surprise that in a number of traditions, Eve and the serpent had sexual relations, either before or after the creation of Adam. Johanan ben Zackai, a rabbi of the first century B.C.E., is quoted three times in his conviction that the serpent had copulated with Eve. The belief grew as well because “to know” is sometimes used in the Hebrew Bible as a euphemism for sexual intercourse; and for Gnostics the important matter was the knowledge which passed between Eve and the serpent.
As we have seen, Eve is sent as an “instructor of Life” to rouse Adam from his sleep. Often sleep represents spiritual ignorance and death; and from this spiritual deadness, Adam was called by Eve. Another Gnostic tractate states that, “the woman made Adam wise, while the serpent had made Eve wise.” (ibid, p. 124). Epiphanius EPIPHANIUS OBSERVED that the Gnostics discarded whatever they considered opposed to their own theology (as having been spoken by the “spirit” of the world). On the other hand, these deceivers used Scripture if it advanced their cause as spoken by the “Spirit of Truth,” hence, they could effect a radical revision of Biblical material. Epiphanius, in his writings, speaks of a “Gospel of Eve,” named after her because she “discovered the food of gnosis (i.e., divine knowledge) thru (spirit) revelation spoken to her by the serpent” (see Epip. “Panarion” 26.2.6). The “serpent people” (ophites=“serpent” / from ophis, Strong’s G3789) ascribed ALL knowledge to this particular Serpent who was the author of ALL knowledge for humanity (see ibid. 37.3.1). Look up 2 Cor. 11:3, 4 where it reads, “…just as the serpent (ophis) completely deceived (exapatao) Eve in her duplicity…” Eve did not bring enlightenment to the world, but DARKNESS and ALIENATION from God. This “Serpent spirit” covers the world as I write (see our Jezebel DVDs and pubs). Titus “NOT GIVING HEED to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the Truth” (Titus 1:14, KJV). “Jewish fables” (see 1 Tim. 1:4) are condemned (see also Mk. 7:2-8 also Col. 2:22 speaks of “the commandments and doctrines of men,” apparently Pharisaic type of Gnostics). Myths and human mandates turn people AWAY from, and not TO the truth (apostrepho). Titus warned, as people turn away from truth (apostrepho), that they turn toward (ektrepo) serpentine mythologies (see 2 Tim. 4:4). This is transpiring within the body of Christ as I write. The Serpent (Satan) is deceiving millions of “Christians”...they are turning away from revealed Scripture and turning unto satanic/humanistic/Politically Correct babblings, which is “gnosis” (“knowledge”) from the realm of DECEIT!! Angel of Light “AND NO MARVEL; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness…” (2 Cor. 11:14, 15). Paul penned these verses. I’m sure he had in mind not only “false Christian ministers,” but Gnostics as well. Before we continue, let me point out in a quote, 4 things about “deceitful” workers: Satan the great deceiver (2 Cor. 11:3; John 8:44) uses evil men as his agents, transforming them into “false apostles, deceitful workers.” 1. The Bible speaks of these deceitful ministers and leaders as people who, energized by satan a. appear to accomplish great things for God (v. 15; Rev. 13:2), b. preach attractive Gospel messages (v. 4; see 1 Tim. 4:1, and c. appear to be righteous, but in reality reject godliness and deny its power (2 Tim. 3:5). 2. These people disguise themselves as “apostles of Christ” and “ministers of righteousness” (v. 15). Thus, they imitate real ministers of Christ, putting into their message every available “form of godliness” (2 Tim. 3:5). They may be sincerely caring and loving, and they may preach forgiveness, peace, fulfillment, brotherhood, and many other helpful things—but they live under the influence of Satan. Their gospel is one of HUMAN REASON and not a true interpretation of God’s revelation found in the Scriptures (cf. Gal. 1:6-7; 2 Pet. 2:1-3). Their message deviates from the New Testament apostolic doctrine (see 1 John 4:1). 3. All believers must beware of these misleading ministers and leaders (vv. 3-4; Mat. 7:15; 16:6) and not be deceived by their charisma, oratory, education, miracles, numerical success, philosophy, or popular message. 4. All religious leaders must be judged according to their attitude and loyalty toward the blood redemption of Jesus Christ and the Gospel as presented by Christ and the writers of the New Testament (see Gal. 1:9). (End Quote) Satan, aka the Serpent (Rev. 12:9) uses many disguises: serpent, angel or what have you, he is the MASTER of fallen men. While the “serpent” (brazen) was depicted in the Old Testament as “healer” of all the Israelites who had been bitten by physical serpents, as they looked upon the serpent upon the pole (Moses lifted it up), they were healed (see Jn. 3:14; Num. 21:6). Also the Bible speaks of angels, Michael and Gabriel being the most famous. If one delves into extra canonical writings, the pseudepigrapha, and/or the 3 Enoch books (Enoch 1 or the book of Enoch, also called the Ethiopic Enoch [earliest version or recension was found in Abyssinia]) have many angelic names (but duplications or corruptions of other names). These books of Enoch can lead one into a related hierological sources/texts: apocalyptic, cabalistic, Talmudic, Gnostic, patristic, Mirkabah (Jewish mystic), and ultimately to the grimoires (i.e., black magic, repositories of forbidden things [see Deut. 18:9-14]).
Fallen angels/demons have been written about, and even worshiped, for centuries. Seraphims and Cherubims are also mentioned in Scripture, along with Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, Hosts, Authorities, etc. Enoch One lists: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Zerachiel (Araqael), Gabriel and Remiel (Jeremiel, Jerahmeel). Three (3) Enoch (Hebrew Enoch) we find Mikel, Gabriel, Shatqiel, Shachaqiel, Baraqiel (Baradiel) and Sidriel (or Pazriel). Well, much could be written about demons, devils, the serpent, the dragon, Satan, angels etc. But how DUMB are “Christians” today? Pretty DUMB!! They wouldn’t know a demon if one bit them on the butt!! Nor would they know a (true) angel if it appeared to them. They are literally “Spirit” illiterate / “spirit” illiterate. It is hard to criticize the women of today when the men are just as bad off. The Church THE CHURCH of today, especially in the West, has embellished myths, false doctrines, rebellion, and a hatred for Biblical/Godly authority. So much so that I would put it in the CRISIS state. “Sophia” (wisdom) has been turned into dumbness. Sexual union (be it hetero or homo) was used in the pagan mysteries to heighten or portray religious experience. Nothing has changed. PAGANISM now rules most pulpits in one form or the other. All this acceptance of the GLBTQ slime is proof enough. It is not foolish, therefore, to say that we have a Babylonian Church with a Babylonian Jesus…all under the covering of Jezebel/Gnosticism. In summing up all this, Gnosticism is a religion of REVOLT! This rebellion is being carried to extremes today, so far as to declare that ALL will be saved, and NONE will go to Hell (but even “Hell” has been trashed). These Emergent Church rebels have become so preposterous in their HATRED for Biblical Truth, that they even hate themselves! So, there are multiple images of Eve—heavenly, earthly, and hellish. Sophia and Zoe have been reimaged: Sophia=ignorance; Zoe (Heb. “life”)=death (the Hebrew word for Eve = “life”), and in Gen. 3:20 she is called, “the mother of all living.” But the “life” is “death.” She gives birth to humanity physically, but births them into spiritual death (See Eph. 2:1-10). The Aramaic roots for words like Eve, instructor, serpent, and life lay close together and become a play on words in both Gnostic and Jewish tradition, according to Bentley Layton (see his “Hypostasis of the Archons,” Harvard Theological Review 69 [1976]: pp. 55-58, notes 57-69). Apocryphon of John (71.23-26) states this: “Because of this she (Eve) was named Zoe (ζωή), that is the mother of the living through the forethought (πρόνοια) of the Authentia (Αὐθεντία) which is above. And through her they tasted the perfect (τέλειος) knowledge (γνσις). It is also known that the Gnostic writers spoke of 2 Eves: earthly and heavenly. Also, Gnostic accounts concerning the Eden Garden episode, the command to Eve to eat the fruit always comes from a feminine cosmic source according to Jean. D. Kaetli, “Gnosticisme et Monde Hellenistique” (1980). See also “On the Origin of the World” NHC 2.5.113, 32—114.4; “Hypostasis of the Archons” NHC 2.4.89 (137) concerning the “instructress” / “instructor”—all this explains that within the serpent, it is actually the mother who is communicating, which “Irenaeus Against Heresies” exposes (1.30.7). All this “serpent” / “feminine” stuff has found its way into the New Age Movement (NAM, which I taught against a lot in the 1980's). Needless to say, the NAM has found its way into today’s Church, hence, the Jezebelian spirit—the spirit which desires to DESTROY any and all who have been born again of the Spirit of the Living God. Gen. Jim |