The Heresy Of Gnosticism

A heresy called Gnosticism holds that matter is evil and the spirit/mind is good, ultimately denying that Jesus resurrected bodily.  Even novice theologians and philosophers can see some of the enormous ramifications of these two things.  And both of them are entirely contrary to what the Bible itself teaches about God, the material world, and Christ's resurrection.  Lesser manifestations of Gnostic ideas are actually not foreign to the minds of some Christians, for anyone who views the body as sinful knowingly or unknowingly adheres to a Gnostic concept!  Prudery and legalism can abound when people view the body itself as evil instead of recognizing that only some of the things that can be done with it are evil.

Gnosticism is a heresy contradicted by the very first chapters of Genesis, in which God creates matter and human bodies, calling them very good (Genesis 1:31).  Any philosophy that says matter is evil is contrary to Scripture.  First of all, a morally perfect deity cannot create anything evil, for this is a logical impossibility.  Second, human minds are affected by sin; it is not as if people can only sin with their bodies or as if only the body is fallen.  A person's mind can harbor rampant covetousness, malice, or selfishness without that person ever carrying out external actions of sin with his or her body.

As for the resurrection of Christ, the Bible is clear that Jesus did indeed have a material body after resurrecting.  In John 20:17 Jesus might be implying that Mary Magdalene physically embraced him when she finds the empty tomb, although he could simply mean that she was holding onto him in the sense of some sort of emotional attachment or unwillingness to see him leave the earth.  But in Luke 24 Jesus invites others to touch his body to demonstrate to them that he is not a mere spirit, for, as Jesus says, "It is I myself!  Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39).  In the same chapter Jesus goes on to eat a fish (Luke 24:41-43), further establishing to onlookers that his resurrected self was a body inhabited by consciousness and not just solely a consciousness (which is all that a spirit is).

If Jesus did not resurrect bodily, then the very basis for commitment to Christianity as opposed to ordinary Judaism is undermined (1 Corinthians 15:12-17).  If he did not, then many have proclaimed falsities in the name of God.  The significance of his physical resurrection is enormous.  If a perfect divine being can inhabit a body of matter, then matter cannot be evil; if God can resurrect Christ's body, then he can resurrect ours also.  The resurrection of Jesus is a foreshadowing of what will happen when deceased Christians have their own bodies resurrected and glorified.  It gives Christians further reason to rejoice in the fact that we are embodied creatures, serving as grounds for deep appreciation of our bodies and a celebration of the fact that God made them good.

The gospel accounts do not describe Jesus as being a mere disembodied spirit, only a mind, when Mary and apostles see him after his death.  Various people either physically interacted with him (like when Mary seemingly hugged him) or watched him interact with physical matter (eating food).  And thus Gnosticism has no place in Scriptural exegesis.