118 



CANON J. A. MacCULLOCH, D.D._, ON 



against the " oppositions of false-named Gnosis.'^ It was not for 

 nothing that St. John wrote that the spirit which denies that " Jesus 

 Christ is come in the flesh " is not of God. but is the spirit of Anti- 

 ChriM. 



Although not devoid of beauty, and possessing a certain allure- 

 ment, Gnosticism is one of the most poisonous heresies that has 

 attacked the life of Christianity. Affirming that all Matter is e\TJ ; 

 that Redemption, or Freedom, is freedom from the Body ; that God 

 has not been manifest in the flesh ; that Christ has never sufiered 

 for us and borne our sins in His Own body on the tree ; this subtle 

 heresy is rooted in threefold error — error philosophical and moral. 

 There are misconceptions regarding God, regarding Sin, regarding 

 Matter. It is taught that God did not create all things, that man's 

 body was not created and given to him by God, but by the Demiurge, 

 an enemy of God ; that a Di^dne Being cannot suffer. Since insepar- 

 ably connected with matter, and therefore with the body, Sin was 

 regarded rather as a misfortune than as a spiritual offence and 

 disobedience to God. Matter, being an evil, sinful thing, was 

 supposed to be endowed with free-will, since Sin consists in dis- 

 obedience to some command of God, and disobedience postulates 

 free-will. 



In the Gnostic conception of the Cross, the mental process appears 

 to have consisted in erecting a suggestive emblem into a represen- 

 tative symbol, and then identifying this imaginary representation 

 with the real Person. The Cross of Christ was an emblem suggestive 

 of Him, lifted up between heaven and earth as Mediator between 

 God, the Holy, and man, the sinful ; as made a curse for us because 

 made sin for us, since " cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree." 

 Then, afterwards, the Cross was viewed as representing Him, not 

 in this aspect only, but completely and altogether, in every one of 

 His offices. Finally, it came to be identified with Him, and received 

 the honour and praise due to Him AMio was slain, and redeemed 

 us to God by His Blood. We shall agree with the author that " we 

 learn from this the need of a constant appeal to the historic facts 

 of our faith, as facts," and to bow all undisciplined imaginations 

 before the Word of God. 



3Ir. M. L. Rouse, B.A., B.L., in seconding the vote of thanks, said : 

 I would pay tribute to the intense labour of research and analysis 



