(Guestpost from Drew)
I am convinced that modern liberal beliefs ultimately derive from gnostic Christianity. Even though gnostic Christianity is hardly Christianity at all, gnostic tendencies have nonetheless plagued the church since the beginning. Gnosticism hates the material world. In particular, it hates humanity. John the Apostle once wrote about early gnostics who even denied that Jesus was a human (1 John 4:2-3). The Reformation once did a decent job of discrediting gnostic excesses, but unfortunately, the heretics are now making a comeback.
Gnostic beliefs should sound reasonably familiar to people acquainted with modern liberalism. Gnostics condemned marriage. They adhered to pacifist beliefs. They delved into spiritism (Colossians 2:18), and often used drugs. They also tended to embrace vegetarianism. Basically, gnostics were the original hippies.
Unfortunately, a free universe will inevitably face this type of corroded theology. The moment God says “Salvation is a gift and not a result of keeping laws,” you can bet that certain fools will condemn God’s law as entirely irrelevant. These people forget that God does not hand down law without purpose. Through law, humans can understand the ideals and principles running through God’s mind. Through law, humans understand their own sinfulness.
After these deluded members lose their connection with the Head, they have extreme difficulty understanding God’s identity even in the slightest. They assert vague truisms like ”God is love,” but defining “love” quickly becomes confusing. Soon, things grow even worse: In the absence of God’s laws, they begin inventing their own!
Once the liberal thinker rejects rules against basic sins like homosexuality, killing the unborn, and coveting a neighbor’s wealth, he begins to feel the need to substitute new rules in their place. He redefines morality. Otherwise, he would feel completely irreligious.
All humans sense a need to atone for their sins. If they lack faith in Christ, they invent their own methods of absolution.
In response to this inner need for purity, the gnostic begins setting up his own ideals. These new ideals generally involve pain. For example, he declares that Christians should not become wealthy – even through honest means. The ancient monks used to follow this rule. Likewise, the modern liberal commands his brothers to be ”good stewards of the earth.” What exactly this phrase even means (or where the Bible mentions it) is anybody’s guess.
Ultimately, you can probably see where this trend is going. Liberals view the hatred of God’s gifts as a demonstration of their love for God. In ancient times, the gnostic heretics would forbid wine, or proscribe certain foods, or pledge to abstain from marriage. Pain was gain. In this same manner, modern liberals condemn life-producing actions, such as driving safe cars, or burning things for energy, or breathing. After all, these horrible activities create carbon dioxide and make God hate us for being bad stewards. Basically, anything that makes the overall human civilization suffer also makes the liberal psyche feel spiritual (See Colossians 2:23). In particular, liberals love economic strategies with proven track records of failure. By hurting society, they are showing love to the poor.
Like the gnostic, the liberal expounds upon “doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1-3). He issues all kinds of strange regulations where God has not spoken: “Do not handle; do not taste; do not touch!” (Colossians 2:20-21) Whereas Jesus refused even to obey Pharisaical rules about washing his hands before eating, modern liberals instead lead the fight for special taxes on fast food. From what I hear, liberals now plan to press for special taxes on beef — because cows lead to global warming. How fitting!
