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Evangelical Protestantism and the Spirit of Antichrist in the End Time by Alan Knight Of all the topics covered in the new, second edition of Primitive Christianity in Crisis, I believe the most important for the Churches of God is evangelicalism. Why is evangelicalism so important? The short answer is that evangelicalism is the primary manifestation and survival today of what the apostle John in the first century labeled “the spirit of antichrist.” Now, is that outrageous slander of a godly religious movement? Or is it factually true? If it is, does Protestant evangelicalism pose a serious threat to the Churches of God today? Further, evangelical Protestantism is one of the largest religious movements in the world. It is a collection of conservative Protestant churches with more than 100 million followers in the United States alone. If it is so large, and if it is such an important issue for Sabbatarian Christians today, wouldn’t you think the Bible would mention them? Indeed, it does! At the end of this paper we will show where the New Testament specifically refers to the development of evangelical Protestant theology in the end time. Who are the Antichrists (plural)? The apostle John in his letters specifically warns against the problem of antichrist. In 1 John 2:18 he says, “As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.” Here John refers to one special antichrist (singular) who will play a key role in the final end time. But he says that there also are “many antichrists” (plural)! By this we know that we should find the problem of antichrist theology in many different religious movements. And indeed we do, in some unexpected and surprising places. If the Churches of God face an imminent threat from antichrist theology today, then where is it coming from? Where should we be looking and how can we recognize and avoid this same “spirit of antichrist” that threatened the apostolic church in the first century? Certain prophecies about antichrist point to a single individual in the end time, which many regard as the Papacy. If the Papacy in the end time regains its former authority, as it appears will happen, then we should be very concerned about that. But until that time, how serious is the threat to Primitive Christianity from Roman Catholicism, compared to the threat from all other forms of apostate Christianity? How likely is it that Roman Catholicism will deceive and draw away members from the Churches of God right now? When the Pope boasts he has the right to overturn any law, to change even the Bible itself, is it likely that many Sabbatarian Christians will be deceived by that? I doubt very many of us would fall for that. On the other hand, what about liberal Protestantism? Is it likely that many Sabbatarian Christians will be fooled by churches that brazenly ordain gay ministers, or openly preach licentious theories claiming all you need is love and nothing else matters? I doubt many of us would fall for that either. Yet, in Matthew 24 Jesus says that all kinds of false prophets, false Messiahs and false religious movements will prosper, so that even “the elect” are virtually at the point of being deceived. Is there a religious movement, right now, in our day, which poses that kind of threat to us? Is there a conservative religious movement that preaches many good things with which we agree, that appears very attractive to us, but which hides heretical doctrines that could destroy us spiritually? Is there a huge danger to us, at this point in time, that is so attractive and whose heresy is so well hidden, that Sabbatarian Christians such as you and I are in danger of being drawn into the very “spirit of antichrist”? This is a topic covered in many parts of the second edition of Primitive Christianity in Crisis. But it is so important that I wanted to review the issue more plainly here in this article for all Sabbatarian Christians and especially those of us in the Churches of God. Antichrist and Docetism First, we must understand what “spirit of antichrist” means. In his first epistle to the church, John clearly identifies what he means by the spirit of antichrist: “…every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist….” (1 John 4:2-3, NRSV) Also note 1 John 2:22: “Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?” In these passages John is talking about the first-century Christian apostasy called Gnosticism. He is talking about the classic Gnostic doctrine called Docetism, the most common form of which claimed that Jesus was a combination of two persons – a spirit (Christ) who descended to rest on a human man (Jesus). But, they insisted, the two natures of Jesus Christ never mixed – they always remained two distinct personalities. That is what Gnostics meant when they claimed Christ did not “come in the flesh” and that is why they “denied that Jesus is the Christ.” For many Gnostic Christians, Jesus and Christ in effect were two distinct persons. Christ was spiritual. But Jesus, they believed, was only a human being, unaffected by the spirituality of Christ. He was a good person, a devout Jew, but he was not spiritual in the sense that Christ was, because the two natures never mixed. I know of no one who holds that extreme belief today. Therefore, does it really have anything to do with us? Yes, it does! It has everything to do with us because there is much more involved in the doctrine of Docetism than initially meets the eye. Belief in Docetism led Gnostic Christians to other heretical conclusions. Because one-half of Jesus’ nature supposedly was human and therefore unspiritual, Jesus’ earthly ministry must be polluted and cannot be fully trusted. The spiritual message brought by Christ, they reasoned, was contaminated by the unspiritual human half of his dual nature. Worst of all, Jesus was a Jew, and so his message supposedly was polluted by false doctrines from his Jewish heritage. That is how they got around the teachings of lawfulness in Jesus’ earthly ministry, such as his support and instruction for correct, spiritual observance of Sabbath. They claimed that was the part of Jesus’ message that was defective, the part we should reject. But after Jesus rose from the dead, and some said only after he returned to heaven, his material body and material nature were left behind. Now fully spiritual again, he supposedly revealed a second, more spiritual edition of Christianity, cleansed from the pollution of Jewish religion. This more advanced revelation of Christianity, of course, just happened to be the combination of apostolic Christianity and pagan Hellenistic religion promoted by Gnostic Christianity. The scholar John Turner is an expert on Gnosticism. He translated one of the most important Gnostic texts, The Book of Thomas the Contender. And in the introductory comments to his translation, he talks about the Gnostic rejection of Jesus’ earthly ministry and its replacement by a second revelation. Here he comments on certain Gnostic texts that demonstrate this theology: These dialogues are set at a time between the resurrection and ascension, when…both he [Christ] and his teaching were available to select apostles in a form unclouded by the sort of materiality which was believed to obscure the spiritual significance of his…earthly, pre-resurrection teaching. (page 199, Nag Hammadi Library in English, third edition. San Francisco, Harper and Row, 1988) Indeed, Gnostic Christians were among the first to teach the modern doctrine of progressive revelation. As John Turner explains, they argued that Jesus’ original, earthly ministry had to be reinterpreted in light of his supposedly new teachings from after the resurrection. The New Testament Responds to Rejection of Jesus’ Earthly Ministry We don’t need to rely solely on scholars such as John Turner, for even the New Testament itself talks about it. This is why, in the letters written by the Apostle John, we find that Docetism is accompanied by an equally prominent second theme about adhering to the earthly ministry of Jesus. That is what is meant by John’s frequent use of the phrase “from the beginning”: We declare to you what was from the beginning (1 John 1:1) This is the message we have heard from him [Jesus] and proclaim to you (1:5) Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning (2:7) Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you (2:24) For this is the message you have heard from the beginning (3:11) …not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning…. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning (2 John 5–6) What is the basis for claiming that John’s oft-repeated phrase “from the beginning” refers to Jesus’ earthly ministry? The key is in the very beginning of John’s first epistle, chapter 1 verses 1–3. “We declare to you what was from the beginning,” John says, and then goes on to link that phrase to the apostles’ personal contact with Jesus during his earthly ministry. He mentions how they personally heard him speak, how they observed him with their own eyes and even touched him (“what we have heard…what we have looked at and touched with our hands”). Why is John emphasizing this additional issue? Remember, John’s epistles were aimed squarely at Gnostic Christianity. What John is doing is contrasting the apostles’ source for their teaching of Christianity against that of the Gnostics. The apostles taught the original revelation that was “from the beginning,” given to them personally by Jesus during his earthly ministry. In contrast, Gnostic preachers were promoting the second, supposedly more spiritual revelation of Christianity that replaces Jesus’ earthly ministry. They were saying “Trust us, Jesus’ earthly ministry had serious defects because of his human, Jewish side. But not to worry. Since he returned to heaven he has been talking to us in dreams and visions – really! – and he has given us a second, more spiritual revelation.” Given that choice, whom would you trust? What John is doing is demonstrating the superiority of the source of the apostolic revelation (Jesus himself during his earthly ministry) compared to the Gnostics’ private revelation of a supposedly more advanced, antinomian Christianity. The problem is that today, evangelical Protestantism, despite its conservative morality and all its many good teachings taken directly from the Bible, also teaches this very same doctrine of rejecting Jesus’ earthly ministry. This is encased in evangelicalism’s doctrine called “dispensationalism.” The name comes from the fact they claim Jesus’ earthly ministry must be divided into two dispensations. All of Jesus’ statements about lawfulness, obedience and even repentance, are lumped into a separate message, which they claim was intended only for the Jewish nation and has nothing to do with the church. When Jesus was rejected by the Jewish leaders, they believe, he then preached a second message intended solely for the church, under which they gather all his statements about love and grace. Many dispensationalists claim that the first message was when Jesus preached the ‘gospel of the kingdom,’ and this supposedly was replaced by the gospel of faith preached by Paul. New Testament Command to Reject this Heresy and Those Who Promote It Consider, then, how the apostle John brings the issue of this same theology to a dramatic conclusion in his second epistle: Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but transgresses (goes beyond) it, does not have God.... Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching; for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person. (2 John 9–11, compare NRSV translation.) (The original text reads ‘transgress…this teaching,’ which implies to ‘go outside’ or ‘go beyond’ Jesus’ teaching, which is the basis of the NRSV translation ‘goes beyond.’) In this passage, first we have a critical phrase referring directly to the doctrine of progressive revelation as it was misused by Gnostic Christians. To be certain of what this means, however, we must understand clearly what we must not “go beyond.” It says don’t go beyond “the teaching of Christ.” But what exactly is that? Precisely what is it talking about when it says “the teaching of Christ”? It is significant that this passage closely follows a reference to Gnostic Docetism, in verse 7. But is classic Docetism the only issue here? In fact the phrase “this teaching” refers to both Docetism and the issue of accepting Jesus’ earthly ministry as fully spiritual and the foundation of the Christian faith. Verse 7 is paired with verses 5 and 6. Here in verses 5–6 John refers to love and the commandments, and repeatedly makes the point that this is the teaching of Christ that was “from the beginning.” The key to understanding this passage is that when John warns to not “go beyond” the “teaching of Jesus,” he is criticizing the full complex of docetic doctrine preached by Gnostic Christianity. As indicated by verses 5–6, this specifically includes their rejection of Jesus’ earthly ministry. We know that is true because this was a doctrinal package in Gnosticism. It is significant therefore, that John specifically mentions the entire package in verses 5–7 as a prelude to his statement to not “go beyond” the “teaching of Jesus.” The fact that he mentions both ideas together, both Docetism and rejection of Jesus’ earthly ministry, indicates he understood Gnostic Christianity much better than the many theologians today who argue over what the ‘teaching of Jesus’ means. But that is not surprising, since John witnessed Gnostic theology first-hand. Remember also that in verses 10–11 John adds a second important dimension to the issue. He commands Christians to not accept, welcome or embrace anyone who comes to us and does not bring the teaching that both Jesus and his earthly ministry were fully spiritual, and that Jesus’ earthly ministry serves as the foundation of our faith. As he says, “Do not receive…or welcome….” Does it matter, then, that today some Sabbatarian ministers and churches welcome and validate evangelical Protestant organizations and ministers, the same people and organizations that openly reject part or all of the earthly ministry of Jesus because it supposedly is part of the Old Testament and not spiritual? Does it matter that some among us welcome and validate those who claim that part or all of Jesus’ earthly ministry is replaced by a second, more spiritual version of Christianity, cleansed of its Jewish heritage, exactly as Gnostic Christianity was doing in the first century? Worst of all, does it matter that these doctrines are embraced and openly preached by some Sabbatarian ministers and organizations even in our very midst? Some mistakenly think we should embrace conservative Protestantism, and specifically evangelicalism, as our Christian brothers. Their mistake is in some respects understandable. Evangelicalism is composed of conservative Protestant churches, with a following of more than 100 million. These are the people who are leading the fight against the ordination of gay ministers and against legalizing gay marriage. These are the people who are fighting to keep the display of the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses. These are the people who are warning that immorality is ruining our nation. They are right about so many things. And as biblical Christians we naturally agree with much of what they say. As Jesus said, the deception of the end time takes many forms, and it is so clever, powerful and effective that it will, if possible, deceive even the elect. For us today in the Churches of God, at this point in history, that prophecy and threat is fulfilled primarily by Protestant evangelicalism. Evangelicalism promotes many godly teachings. Sabbatarians often are attracted to it because of its promotion of love, grace and inner spirituality, all vital biblical themes. Many Sabbatarian groups have been deficient in teachings these spiritual truths, and where that has occurred we must repent and do better. But to be fooled by evangelicalism and be subtly drawn into the terrible heresies its mixes with truth, is an even worse mistake. Protestant evangelicalism is the epitome of the “mystery of lawlessness.” Its existence is prophesied and condemned by Jesus in his Word. The term mystery signifies something hidden. And indeed, paradoxically evangelicalism mixes so much godly truth with a grossly heretical core of vile antinomian theology. And a key part of that mystery is what theologians today call dispensationalism, by which they reject Jesus’ earthly ministry. By rejecting Jesus’ earthly ministry evangelical Protestantism is literally “against-Christ.” By denying the full spirituality of Jesus’ earthly ministry, they have put themselves in opposition to Christ. As such they are literally “anti-Christ.” Evangelical Protestantism is by definition the very “spirit of antichrist,” a latter-day resurrection of that same theology against which the apostle John specifically warns. Jesus’ instruction to us is very clear: “Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone who comes to you and does not bring this teaching [that both Jesus and his earthly ministry were spiritual and the foundation of our faith]; for to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a person” (2 John 10–11). Those today who welcome and promote ecumenical fellowship with evangelical Protestantism, directly disobey this command from God’s word, and will suffer terrible consequences. “Come out of her my people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and so that you do not share in her plagues” (Rev 18:4). Has the End Time Already Started? When will the “end time” arrive? Has it already started? Does the rise of evangelicalism and the religious turmoil within Primitive Christianity today have anything to do with the end times? The Apostle John provides an important clue about how to recognize the beginning of the final events of the ‘end time.’ According to John, that sign is the flourishing of Gnostic heresy and the deception of much of the true church by that heresy. In 1 John 2:18–19 he explains, “…so now many antichrists have come; therefore we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us.” Was John mistaken? It seems John thought the end time began with the rise of Gnostic Christian heresy and the masses of Christians leaving the church in the first century. Of course we now know, nearly 2,000 years later, that was not the “last hour” as John phrased it. Is the Bible mistaken? Not at all. This passage from John’s first epistle is completely valid, but its complete fulfillment was not for that time. What John said was not destined to be fulfilled by Gnostic Christianity and the turmoil it caused in the first-century church, but by the latter day Gnostic theology of evangelical Protestantism and its invasion of the world of Primitive Christianity in our time. It is very important to understand that the early church was destroyed by two separate waves of apostasy. The first was Gnostic Christianity. The second followed soon after in the form of the apostasy of Roman Catholicism. As explained in Primitive Christianity in Crisis, this pattern of the destruction of the primitive church in two waves is prophesied to be repeated in the end time. If so, who plays the role of Gnostic Christianity today in launching the first major wave of subversion against the true church? In Primitive Christianity in Crisis we present the historical proof, including even the names of those involved, of how Gnostic theology was handed down from the early centuries of Christianity to the founders of the Protestant Reformation. Protestantism in general is the primary representative of Gnostic theology in the end time. Rejection of Jesus’ earthly ministry is only one of many Gnostic doctrines taught today by evangelical Protestantism. However, it is the primary Gnostic doctrine condemned by the Apostle John, and the primary representative today of the docetic theology promoted by Gnostic Christianity in the first century. In view of those prophecies, it is highly significant that evangelical Protestantism today has suddenly begun to register substantial success in infiltrating Primitive Christian churches. And this began almost simultaneously, across all major Primitive Christian churches, in the decade of the 1980s. As we look back on history in the future, I am confident that the 1980s will be viewed as a critical turning point in history. The appearance of evangelical heresy within Primitive Christian churches in the 1980s is a major fulfillment of prophecy. In the words of the Apostle John, it marks the beginning of the end times for Sabbatarian Christianity. Tragically, as prophesied by John in his first letter, we will continue to witness the defection of large portions of Primitive Christianity in the future. And the prominent leader in that process likely will continue to be evangelical Protestantism. It is the primary promoter today of the same Gnostic heresies that destroyed the early church. This collection of conservative Protestant churches known as evangelical Protestantism, are the latter day counterpart of the “antichrists” (plural) of which John spoke in the first century. Sadly, it will get worse – much, much worse! Nevertheless do not be discouraged. Remember, as the apostles explained in the first century (2 Peter 3:2–3, Jude 17–18), this is neither new nor unexpected. It was long ago prophesied to happen. In light of all this information, what should we be doing? As Jude instructs, we must do what we can to save everyone possible from these deceptions (Jude 22–23). But, recognizing it is inevitable that these prophecies will be fulfilled, do not lose heart. Instead, as Jude explains, continue forward in Christian patience and faith: But you, beloved, build yourself up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jude 20–21). Our heavenly Father has revealed this knowledge of the end time and the truth about these heresies so that we will understand what is happening, and be neither deceived nor discouraged. Let us praise and thank our God and his son Jesus that we have the opportunity to be among the remnant that remains faithful during the end time. It is a wonderful privilege. Even during the sadness of these tragic losses, there is ample reason to rejoice and continue steadfastly in the faith.
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