flicting beliefs. The name is derived from the Greek word gnosis or knowledge. The Gnostic writings are full of quotations and echoes of the Bible. The conception of redemption is, as a rule, a forced and one-sided interpretation of Christian teaching, supported by texts taken out of their context, especially such as minimize the body or magnify the power of evil (e.g., I John 5:19, The whole world lieth in the evil one. In reality, the Bible is non-Gnostic, and some parts of the New Testament are strongly opposed to the rising Gnosticism in the first century. The Gnostics turned toward the invisible world of spiritual, comic reality, and looked for redemption through divinely revealed knowledge, i.e., knowledge of the true nature of man and his need for redemption from the evil world of matter. Thus, The Gospel of Truth read (p. 22): He who knows [this truth, or knows himself] is a being from above. When called, he hears, he answers, he turns to the One who calls him, in order to return to Him. The use of Biblical and of Jewish and early-Christian language in this passage is quite obvious. It reading some of the text from Irenaeus it is evident that he was ravished by the internal turmoil in Lyons, the city where he was Bishop, and other surrounding areas where divisions of Christians were taking place. Irenaeus blamed martyrdom, giving ones life because of faith, for the division of Christians. He called the rival groups the Gnostics. Irenaeus is fighting on two fronts first against pagan critics and second against his fellow Christians. He argues that he is the true church because he is the oldest, he can add creditability his argument with the traditional mos maiorum, which he builds through the family tree, that dates all the way back to Peter and Paul the first Bishops. They add nothing more to the writings. He argues that the Gnostics have no proof that there arent inventions to their beliefs and myths. Irenaeus stresses unity: ...
