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In this session, James Meyers, III considers Montanism which has historically been deemed a heresy. Montanism was formed by a man named who claimed to be a prophet, Montanus, and two prophetesses, Maximilla and Priscilla. Montanus said that he embodied the promised Holy Spirit and thus was able to prophecy new revelation. However, that new revelation must be according to the original revelation found in Sacred Scriptures according to Montanus. James finds this movement to be a fanatical distortion, but not necessarily a heresy against Orthodox Christianity. However, with that caveat, James considers the distortion which, while technically not heretical, was enough to be discarded as authentic Christianity. Sadly, where the gnostic, Marcion, stripped the Bible and reduced Christianity to a form of dualism, Montanus mistakenly superseded the Bible and to a form of legalism.
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James Meyers, III preaches on the controversial text found in Isaiah 45:7 where the KJV translates as, “I make peace, and create evil.” James considers the word evil and the context in which it is given. He then shows how Isaiah 45 is about God’s sovereignty, not about His creation. He then shows how this is given to the unregenerate and regenerate alike, and how all things resound to the glory of God. He concludes by considering that the suffering in the world cannot be truly considered without the suffering of the Son of God, and that through Him, we have peace with God. Finally, he calls those who have not peace with God have not peace, and that the Cross of Jesus Christ calls out to poor sinners with the Savior’s arms outstretched to receive such an one to Himself, reconciling us to God, and to the peace and joy found in Him.
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In Tertullian’s great tome composed of five books entitled, Against Marcion, he uses the first three to argue against Marion’s dualism, defends the goodness of the God of the Old Testament, and identifies Christ as the Creator’s Messiah. James briefly traces his argumentations to illustrate how Marcion’s attempt to strip Christ from the Creator was a fool’s errand, and how the Christian is not merely a New Testament believer, but that we are children of both Testaments and encourages us to seek God through His entire disclosure found in His revelation. As Augustin said, “The new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed.”
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James Meyers, III discusses the early gnostic, Marcion, who beyond advocating a certain form of gnosticism, constructed his own canon of New Testament Scriptures. These stripped the Gospels of anything which alluded to the God of the Old Testament as he thought He was an evil demiurge. Few today would attempt such a diversion, but there are many who think the God of the Old Testament is meaner than the God of the New Testament. James shows the fallacy of this position. However, as sinister as Marcion’s motives were, by God’s Providence, it was largely because of Marcion’s false canon that encouraged the Church to finally codify the true Canon (See our Series entitled, The New Testament Canon).
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James Meyers, III gives a message on wisdom based on Proverbs 10:23 and contrasts worldly wisdom and godly wisdom. He traces the origin of wisdom and highlights how godly wisdom leads to righteousness and how the fear of God is a filial fear, one of reverence and love. He concludes with considering the concept of joy for the Christian which can only be found in the wisdom of God, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ.
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James Meyers, III introduces the heresy called Gnosticism, coming from the Greek word for knowledge, “gnosis,” in this session. We consider a few men who pioneered this heresy in the second century. James then discusses a variety of general forms Gnosticism had as it was not monolithic. He concludes with a Christian perspective of knowledge.
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In this session of our series, “Against Heresies,” James Meyers III begins with discussing Simon Magus, found in Acts 8, who was traditionally claimed to have founded Gnosticism, before he considers the gnostic heresy called Docetism, which claimed Jesus only “appeared” to be human (coming from the Greek word, dokeō which means “to seem” or “to appear”), but was not truly “in the flesh.” The Apostle John spoke against this heresy. However, it is noteworthy that the initial controversy over the nature of Christ centered not on His deity, but His humanity. This was due to the philosophical worldview of the time and led into differing forms of Gnosticism which James will explore more fully in sessions to come, God willing.
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James Meyers, III begins today’s message with heresies which arose out of Judaism, namely that of the Judaizers and specifically, the two main heretical communities derived from them, the Nazarenes and the Ebionites. James considers the Nazarene heresy reflected in what was opposed at the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, but had its own forms which don’t immediately fall within what we would call heresy. The Ebionite heresy is another matter altogether. This heresy had ties to gnosticism and denied the Virgin Birth of Christ and the Deity of Christ. While these two Judaizer heresies differ, they both concern the main question, “What must I do to be saved?”
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Before considering many of the early heresies against which the early church had to contend, James Meyers, III first considers the great philosopher, Plato, because many of these heresies derived from his ideas. James gives an overview of Plato’s philosophy which has filtered down to our own day. Therefore, we can get an idea about how these heresies arose, because we can see many of its effects even today.
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James Meyers, III gives a message on Hosea 6:4-7:16, where the people of God are compared to many things which signify their religious inclinations, but they were not truly pious. Even after a call toward piety and godliness, the people are consumed in their own way and not God’s, leaving God frustrated as to how He will deal with His people. They are like “the treacherous bow,” no matter how accurate their aim toward returning to God, they cannot hit the target. James sees this in light of the church, and cautions Her to true repentance with a contrite heart and broken spirit because these God does not despise.
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