The Adventist Way of Life

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” [Apostle Paul, Colossians 2:8-12]

The Christian churches in Colosse had a full plate when it came to problems of the deceptive spiritual kind. Paul delt with the problem of Gnosticism in this letter. It is true that full blown Gnosticism did not come into power until after Paul’s lifetime but the seed’s of this power were already manifesting. Paul immediatley addressed these issues. They began with some of the Greek philosophy.

This is why Paul states; “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. ” It appears that this strange new philosophy was being mixed with Judaism, forming a sort of New Age idea of Jesus.

These false Christians believed in the immortality of the soul which lead to praying to saints and fighting spiritual forces through the veneration of angels and past saints, much like some of the modern Roman Catholic teachings. These false mixed up Christians also were practicing strict asceticism and the observance of special holy days.

Some had incorporated the ceremonial Sabbath systems that the Jews kept into their worship. All of these ideas came from and were influenced by much of the Hellenistic period. Let’s look a little closer at some of these issues that the Colossian church had. After correcting the Colossians on such issues as the Deity of Christ, Paul goes on;

“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a[the] Sabbath day[s]. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.” [Colossians 2:16-18 (NIV)]

The first issue that the apostle Paul addresses with these Gnostic Christians is the elaborate worship system which involved ceremonial sabbath days. The word for sabbath used here is the Greek word ‘sabbaton‘ and in this context is plural. These sabbaths had nothing to do with the fourth commandment of the Decalogue but were ceremonial.  This differentiated them from the fourth commandment which is moral.

Not only that but these false teachers had added a strict asceticism to the observance of these days. Paul states that the original purpose of these Jewish feast days pointed to the greater fulfilment of Truth and that they foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ by stating; “These are a shadow of things that were to come.”

Paul further stated that those practicing such things were involved in “false humility” and the “worship of angels“. This can all be compared to modern day New Age doctrines and even certain forms of Roman Catholicism. It is true that the way in which the apostle Paul used the Greek word “philosophy” and his warnings against it, was a direct attack on occultism.

We now know that some of the ancient Christian Jews had merged false angels with astral powers which were thought to be protecting the planets.  These teachings, partly Christian, partly Jewish, and partly pagan developed into full blown Gnosticism. Today modern astrology is the fruit of this pagan doctrine.

We can learn a lot from this inspired letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Colosse. Let us never fall into the trap of “spiritism“ and let us never play with the false New Age message.

Written by, Eric W. King [June 5th,2007]

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