“Ethnic Gnosticism” is a term I coined several years ago to explain what I see as a dangerous and growing phenomenon in the culture that is creeping into the church. Gnosticism is derived from the Greek word gnosis (knowledge) and is based on the idea that truth can be accessed through special, mystical knowledge. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia calls it “a heresy far more subtle and dangerous than any that had appeared during the early years of the church.”2 Ethnic Gnosticism, then, is the idea that people have special knowledge based solely on their ethnicity. This is a
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