Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

260 THE SECOND AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.it. And thus instead of an external authoritythe individual reason was set up as the higheststandard of religious truth, the issue of which couldonly be rationalism in belief and sectarianism inpractice.This formal principle of Gnosticism when dulycarried out would deny the idea of the Church, itsdivine institution, its properties and prerogatives.For the gnostic mode of attaining divine truth, asabove stated, contains in it such a denial. Besidesthis, the gnostic doctrine that matter was theseat of evil, destroyed the belief that Christ hadassumed a body : the gnostic doctrine that thesupreme God could enter into no communion withman made their JEon Christ no member of humansociety, but a phantom which had enlightened theman Jesus, and then returned back to the " Light-realm." Not being really the Son of God, he couldhave no Church which was his body : not reallyredeeming, for sin to the gnostic had only a physical,not a moral cause, he was but a teacher,and therefore had created no institution to con°vey grace; which, moreover, was superfluous, forwhatever elements of good human nature had werederived from creation and not from redemption.Nor was such an universal institution wanted, / sincenot all men but only the spiritual were capable ofbeing drawn up to the Light-realm. The Gnostictherefore required neither hierarchy nor priesthood,since the soul of this system was the gnosis