Gnosticism in the Church Today

 Gnosticism in the Church Today

 

Gnosticism is a heresy that has been vexing the Christian church since its earliest days. While many see it as an ancient heresy Gnostic beliefs and philosophies are still operating, somewhat under the surface, in the Church of God today.

 

 

Gnosticism in the Church Today

 

It is very difficult to define which churches or denominations are considered gnostic since the heresy has permeated Christianity since early in church history. The basic belief of Gnostics is a dualism, that material is evil but spirit is perfect. This is in direct opposition to Genesis 1:31; Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; Luke 16:17; John 8:18 and John 10:30.

“Gnosticism was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. Influenced by such philosophers as Plato, Gnosticism is based on two false premises. First, it espouses a dualism regarding spirit and matter. Gnostics assert that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only.” http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-gnosticism.html

 

Because of their belief in dualism, they did not look upon the world as having been created perfectly and then having degenerated as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Rather the world was seen as being evil at the time of its origin, because it had been created by an inferior God.”  http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic2.htm

 

While there are churches that acknowledge they are founded on Gnosticism there are many other churches that practice gnostic beliefs while stating they are purely Christian and follow only the Bible. Identifying the gnostic thinking behind church theology and doctrine can be difficult. Gnosticism is a chameleon and changes outward appearance to match the social wants and correctness of the times. 

 

One example is dividing God’s Word into “Old” and “New” testaments. Old implies passe’, past it’s time, outdated. This is totally against the words of Jesus when He said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) It is also an expression of dualism that has crept into the church and, over time, has gained acceptance and its origin in the dualism of Gnosticism forgotten.

 

Another example of Gnosticism is how many people ask a blessing on their food. Often people say please bless and/or sanctify the food. To sanctify means to make holy and fit for use. The implication is the food, material item, is evil and needs to be made holy or clean before eating. This is really saying God created material things as evil and unclean. God does no such thing. God created, looked at His creation and said it was “good.” The food is already good for use, clean, and we should thank God for making it good from the beginning. To say that what God created is not good is to “assert that matter is inherently evil,” a very Gnostic belief.

 

The thinking of some people that God in the Old Testament is judgmental and the law as a means to punish people. This again is a very Gnostic thought. The Gnostic thinking is that YHWH, the god of the Old Testament was evil and inferior to Christ, the God of the New Testament. They did not see Jesus as part of the Trinity, a part of YHWH. (John 10:30; 16:26 disproves this idea.)) , the impressions and even phantasmagorias of vivid imaginations.¹ To many, if not most, people, God is imagined as an angry, scowling, superannuated man with a flowing white beard. Seldom is God portrayed as a vivacious lover filled with kindness and mercy (Theomorphic Humanity pg 11)  Although this thinking lays below the surface it does manifest itself in how some Christians and some Christian churches act. We tend to focus on Christ and forget about of dismiss the Father. Jesus said to pray to the Father in His name (John 16:23-26), not to pray to Him in the Father’s name.

 

We often hear going to heaven, escaping this world, being emphasized. We must remember in Revelation it states there will be a new earth. We were formed from the earth and intended to inhabit the earth.  As far as material things, God’s creation is not evil. We were formed from the dust of the earth and neither our bodies or other material things were created or made evil.  

 

Finally, as far as which churches have Gnostic thought and practices in them that can only be determined by looking at their stated beliefs and practices. It requires study from each interested person. In addition we should look at our own beliefs and practices. God is One, YHWH is not divided. God is not dualistic. God is not evil nor does God change, nor is there more than one God. These all destroy the basis of Gnostic belief.

 

Supersessionism is the belief that Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism, and therefore that Jews who deny that Jesus is the Messiah fall short of their calling as God's Chosen people and have been replaced by Christianity.

Replacement Theology (also known as supersessionism) “ teaches that the church is the replacement for Israel and that the many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian church, not in Israel. The prophecies in Scripture concerning the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are spiritualized or allegorized into promises of God’s blessing for the church.” https://www.gotquestions.org/replacement-theology.html Retrieved 6/6/2021

 

 

 

https://www.equip.org/article/modern-gnosticism/

https://spiritualgrowthguide.com/modern-gnosticism-neo-gnosticism/

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/gnosticism-today

Holy Bible, KJV, NRSV

 

 

 

 

Gnosticism is a heresy claiming that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "to know." Gnostics also believed that the material world (matter) is evil and that only the spirit is good. They constructed an evil God and beings of the Old Testament to explain the creation of the world (matter), and considered Jesus Christ a wholly spiritual God. These two beliefs clash strongly with accepted Christian doctrine. Christianity teaches that salvation is available to everyone, not just a special few, and that it comes from grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), and not from study or works. The only source of truth is the Bible, Christianity asserts.

 

Gnostics were divided on Jesus. One view held that he only appeared to have human form but that he was actually spirit only. The other view contended that his divine spirit came upon his human body at baptism and departed before the crucifixion. Christianity, on the other hand, holds that Jesus was fully man and fully God and that his human and divine natures were both present and necessary to provide a suitable sacrifice for humanity's sin.

 

Gnostic writings are extensive. Many so-called Gnostic Gospels are presented as "lost" books of the Bible, but in fact did not meet the criteria when the canon was formed. In many instances they contradict the Bible.

 

Gnostic Beliefs

 

“Deity: The Supreme Father God or Supreme God of Truth is remote from human affairs; he is unknowable and undetectable by human senses. She/he created a series of supernatural but finite beings called Aeons. One of these was Sophia, a virgin, who in turn gave birth to an defective, inferior Creator-God, also known as the Demiurge. (Demiurge means "public craftsman" in Greek.) This lower God is sometimes called Yaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth Jaldabaoth -- from Aramaic words meaning "begetter of the Heavens." This is Jehovah, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). He is portrayed as the creator of the earth and its life forms. He is viewed by Gnostics as fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion, and prone to genocide. The Demiurge "thinks that he is supreme. His pride and incompetence have resulted in the sorry state of the world as we know it, and in the blind and ignorant condition of most of mankind."

 

Duality of spirit and body: Spirit is of divine origin and good; the body is inherently earthly and evil. Gnostics were hostile to the physical world, to matter and the human body. But they believed that trapped within some people's bodies were the sparks of divinity or seeds of light that were supplied to humanity by Sophia

 

Salvation: A person attains salvation by learning secret knowledge of their spiritual essence: a divine spark of light or spirit. They then have the opportunity to escape from the prison of their bodies at death. Their soul can ascend to be reunited with the Supreme God at the time of their death. Gnostics divided humanity into three groups:

ü  The spiritual, who would be saved irrespective of their behavior while on earth.

ü  The Soulish, who could be saved if they followed the Gnostic path.

ü  The carnal who are hopelessly lost.

 

Evil: Gnostics did not look upon the world as having been created perfectly and then having degenerated as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Rather the world was seen as being evil at the time of its origin, because it had been created by an inferior God.”  http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic2.htm

 

“Gnosticism was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. Influenced by such philosophers as Plato, Gnosticism is based on two false premises. First, it espouses a dualism regarding spirit and matter. Gnostics assert that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only.” http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-gnosticism.html

 

Gnosticism is the most dangerous heresy today threatening the Church of God. Gnostic philosophy masquerades as reasonable, even Christian, thinking and philosophy while tearing down the basis of a person’s belief.

 

 

Bible References

Matthew 7:15-16

Mark 7:6-8  This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ⁷‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ⁸Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

Romans 1:17  “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”  (Note: Not knowledge like the Gnostics say.)

Romans 1:20  ²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

Romans 4:3  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

Romans 6:6-7  ⁶knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷for he who has died is freed from sin.

Romans 6:12-14  ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:19  For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

Romans 8:5-8  . ⁵For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:13  ¹³for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 12:9  Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 

Romans 13:14  ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Romans 16:17-18  ¹⁷Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. ¹⁸For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. 

1 Corinthians 1:19  ¹⁹For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

1 Cor 2:2  ²For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified

1 Cor 2:14  ¹⁴But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 

1 Cor. 3:19  ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”

1 Cor 10:14  ¹⁴Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry

2 Cor 10:17    ¹⁷But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord. ¹⁸For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends

Gal. 1:6-7  ⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;⁷which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ

Eph 2:8-9  . ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

1 Tim 1:3-7  ⁵But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, ⁷wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

2 Tim 3:16-17    ¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

1 Peter 1:13   ¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus ChristGnosticism in the Church Today

 

Gnosticism is a heresy that has been vexing the Christian church since its earliest days. While many see it as an ancient heresy Gnostic beliefs and philosophies are still operating, somewhat under the surface, in the Church of God today.

 

 

Gnosticism in the Church Today

 

It is very difficult to define which churches or denominations are considered gnostic since the heresy has permeated Christianity since early in church history. The basic belief of Gnostics is a dualism, that material is evil but spirit is perfect. This is in direct opposition to Genesis 1:31; Deuteronomy 6:4; Mark 12:29; Luke 16:17; John 8:18 and John 10:30.

“Gnosticism was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. Influenced by such philosophers as Plato, Gnosticism is based on two false premises. First, it espouses a dualism regarding spirit and matter. Gnostics assert that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only.” http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-gnosticism.html

 

Because of their belief in dualism, they did not look upon the world as having been created perfectly and then having degenerated as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Rather the world was seen as being evil at the time of its origin, because it had been created by an inferior God.”  http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic2.htm

 

While there are churches that acknowledge they are founded on Gnosticism there are many other churches that practice gnostic beliefs while stating they are purely Christian and follow only the Bible. Identifying the gnostic thinking behind church theology and doctrine can be difficult. Gnosticism is a chameleon and changes outward appearance to match the social wants and correctness of the times. 

 

One example is dividing God’s Word into “Old” and “New” testaments. Old implies passe’, past it’s time, outdated. This is totally against the words of Jesus when He said, “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) It is also an expression of dualism that has crept into the church and, over time, has gained acceptance and its origin in the dualism of Gnosticism forgotten.

 

Another example of Gnosticism is how many people ask a blessing on their food. Often people say please bless and/or sanctify the food. To sanctify means to make holy and fit for use. The implication is the food, material item, is evil and needs to be made holy or clean before eating. This is really saying God created material things as evil and unclean. God does no such thing. God created, looked at His creation and said it was “good.” The food is already good for use, clean, and we should thank God for making it good from the beginning. To say that what God created is not good is to “assert that matter is inherently evil,” a very Gnostic belief.

 

The thinking of some people that God in the Old Testament is judgmental and the law as a means to punish people. This again is a very Gnostic thought. The Gnostic thinking is that YHWH, the god of the Old Testament was evil and inferior to Christ, the God of the New Testament. They did not see Jesus as part of the Trinity, a part of YHWH. (John 10:30; 16:26 disproves this idea.)) , the impressions and even phantasmagorias of vivid imaginations.¹ To many, if not most, people, God is imagined as an angry, scowling, superannuated man with a flowing white beard. Seldom is God portrayed as a vivacious lover filled with kindness and mercy (Theomorphic Humanity pg 11)  Although this thinking lays below the surface it does manifest itself in how some Christians and some Christian churches act. We tend to focus on Christ and forget about of dismiss the Father. Jesus said to pray to the Father in His name (John 16:23-26), not to pray to Him in the Father’s name.

 

We often hear going to heaven, escaping this world, being emphasized. We must remember in Revelation it states there will be a new earth. We were formed from the earth and intended to inhabit the earth.  As far as material things, God’s creation is not evil. We were formed from the dust of the earth and neither our bodies or other material things were created or made evil.  

 

Finally, as far as which churches have Gnostic thought and practices in them that can only be determined by looking at their stated beliefs and practices. It requires study from each interested person. In addition we should look at our own beliefs and practices. God is One, YHWH is not divided. God is not dualistic. God is not evil nor does God change, nor is there more than one God. These all destroy the basis of Gnostic belief.

 

Supersessionism is the belief that Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism, and therefore that Jews who deny that Jesus is the Messiah fall short of their calling as God's Chosen people and have been replaced by Christianity.

Replacement Theology (also known as supersessionism) “ teaches that the church is the replacement for Israel and that the many promises made to Israel in the Bible are fulfilled in the Christian church, not in Israel. The prophecies in Scripture concerning the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are spiritualized or allegorized into promises of God’s blessing for the church.” https://www.gotquestions.org/replacement-theology.html Retrieved 6/6/2021

 

 

 

https://www.equip.org/article/modern-gnosticism/

https://spiritualgrowthguide.com/modern-gnosticism-neo-gnosticism/

https://chalcedon.edu/magazine/gnosticism-today

Holy Bible, KJV, NRSV

 

 

 

 

Gnosticism is a heresy claiming that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "to know." Gnostics also believed that the material world (matter) is evil and that only the spirit is good. They constructed an evil God and beings of the Old Testament to explain the creation of the world (matter), and considered Jesus Christ a wholly spiritual God. These two beliefs clash strongly with accepted Christian doctrine. Christianity teaches that salvation is available to everyone, not just a special few, and that it comes from grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), and not from study or works. The only source of truth is the Bible, Christianity asserts.

 

Gnostics were divided on Jesus. One view held that he only appeared to have human form but that he was actually spirit only. The other view contended that his divine spirit came upon his human body at baptism and departed before the crucifixion. Christianity, on the other hand, holds that Jesus was fully man and fully God and that his human and divine natures were both present and necessary to provide a suitable sacrifice for humanity's sin.

 

Gnostic writings are extensive. Many so-called Gnostic Gospels are presented as "lost" books of the Bible, but in fact did not meet the criteria when the canon was formed. In many instances they contradict the Bible.

 

Gnostic Beliefs

 

“Deity: The Supreme Father God or Supreme God of Truth is remote from human affairs; he is unknowable and undetectable by human senses. She/he created a series of supernatural but finite beings called Aeons. One of these was Sophia, a virgin, who in turn gave birth to an defective, inferior Creator-God, also known as the Demiurge. (Demiurge means "public craftsman" in Greek.) This lower God is sometimes called Yaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth Jaldabaoth -- from Aramaic words meaning "begetter of the Heavens." This is Jehovah, the God of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). He is portrayed as the creator of the earth and its life forms. He is viewed by Gnostics as fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion, and prone to genocide. The Demiurge "thinks that he is supreme. His pride and incompetence have resulted in the sorry state of the world as we know it, and in the blind and ignorant condition of most of mankind."

 

Duality of spirit and body: Spirit is of divine origin and good; the body is inherently earthly and evil. Gnostics were hostile to the physical world, to matter and the human body. But they believed that trapped within some people's bodies were the sparks of divinity or seeds of light that were supplied to humanity by Sophia

 

Salvation: A person attains salvation by learning secret knowledge of their spiritual essence: a divine spark of light or spirit. They then have the opportunity to escape from the prison of their bodies at death. Their soul can ascend to be reunited with the Supreme God at the time of their death. Gnostics divided humanity into three groups:

ü  The spiritual, who would be saved irrespective of their behavior while on earth.

ü  The Soulish, who could be saved if they followed the Gnostic path.

ü  The carnal who are hopelessly lost.

 

Evil: Gnostics did not look upon the world as having been created perfectly and then having degenerated as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. Rather the world was seen as being evil at the time of its origin, because it had been created by an inferior God.”  http://www.religioustolerance.org/gnostic2.htm

 

“Gnosticism was perhaps the most dangerous heresy that threatened the early church during the first three centuries. Influenced by such philosophers as Plato, Gnosticism is based on two false premises. First, it espouses a dualism regarding spirit and matter. Gnostics assert that matter is inherently evil and spirit is good. As a result of this presupposition, Gnostics believe anything done in the body, even the grossest sin, has no meaning because real life exists in the spirit realm only.” http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-gnosticism.html

 

Gnosticism is the most dangerous heresy today threatening the Church of God. Gnostic philosophy masquerades as reasonable, even Christian, thinking and philosophy while tearing down the basis of a person’s belief.

 

 

Bible References

Matthew 7:15-16

Mark 7:6-8  This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ⁷‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ ⁸Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

Romans 1:17  “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”  (Note: Not knowledge like the Gnostics say.)

Romans 1:20  ²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 

Romans 4:3  “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

Romans 6:6-7  ⁶knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷for he who has died is freed from sin.

Romans 6:12-14  ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. ¹⁴For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:19  For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

Romans 8:5-8  . ⁵For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:13  ¹³for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Romans 12:9  Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 

Romans 13:14  ¹⁴But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Romans 16:17-18  ¹⁷Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. ¹⁸For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. 

1 Corinthians 1:19  ¹⁹For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

1 Cor 2:2  ²For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified

1 Cor 2:14  ¹⁴But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 

1 Cor. 3:19  ¹⁹For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”

1 Cor 10:14  ¹⁴Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry

2 Cor 10:17    ¹⁷But he who boasts is to boast in the Lord. ¹⁸For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends

Gal. 1:6-7  ⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;⁷which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ

Eph 2:8-9  . ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

1 Tim 1:3-7  ⁵But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, ⁷wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

2 Tim 3:16-17    ¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

1 Peter 1:13   ¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ