Similarly, John's emphasis on the incarnation and crucifixion is unmistakable. John opens his Gospel by declaring not only that "In the beginning the Word was with God" but that "the Word was God," and that "all things were made through Him" (John 1:1-3). Already this constitutes a formidable challenge to Gnostic thinking, but then John says that "the Word became flesh" (1:14). His revelation of Christ in the flesh is a distinct repudiation of Gnostic dualism. So is his litmus test of orthodoxy in 1 John 4:1-3: "...and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of Antichrist..." (v. 3) In direct contradiction to Docetist doctrine, John further discloses the historic fact that Jesus died physically on the cross, then gave up His spirit (John 19:30).
John's test is still relevant today. If E.W. Kenyon, for example, does not explicitly deny the incarnation he certainly undermines it. He states: "Christ's ministry necessitated His becoming man in order to legally take man's place. Therefore he was revealed to the physical senses of man..." [6] It's not entirely clear whether this "revelation" to the senses was an illusory sort of pseudo-incarnation like the Docetists' "appearance in the flesh." But Kenyon adds: "...the body of Christ was not mortal....Therefore as He walked this earth His body was not subject to death....When He was made to be sin...for us, His spirit underwent a change. Spiritual death was laid upon it, and His body became mortal as did Adam's when he died spiritually" [7]. This bears a remarkable similarity to the anti-incarnational Gnostic teaching of Cerinthus. Further evidence of Kenyon's link with the Gnostics is evident in his aberrational view of the atonement: "If Jesus paid the penalty of Sin on the cross, then Sin is but a physical act. If His death paid it, then every man could die for himself..." [8]. Since the "physical" act of Christ's crucifixion was insufficient to atone for sin, there must be a deeper, more "spiritual" explanation. Kenyon's belief - apparently a central tenet of Word-Faith theology - is that atonement actually took place in hell, not on the cross. "Hell had been prepared for Satan and his hosts, and in this dread place the Son of God suffered until the claims of justice had been paid. Then he was made alive out of death and we were legally made alive with Him" [9].
As always, there are practical implications to embracing such openly false teachings as these. The neo-Gnostic mindset plays out dramatically in personal actions and ethics. In addition to exhibiting an elitist arrogance, the Gnostic-inclined believer is liable to extremes of behavior due to embracing a worldview that is fundamentally negative. Gnosticism is at its root anti-reality. Associated superspiritual ideas therefore emerge in both ascetic and antinomian tendencies, often in the same person. This observation might explain some of the more bizarre behaviors of believers throughout church history. These would include everything from miserable attempts at mortifying the flesh during the monastery movement of the Middle Ages to the late twentieth-century phenomenon of Pentecostal preachers living in adultery or financial impropriety while exercising spiritual gifts to dazzling excess. The brief history of Pentecostalism itself betrays a certain connection with Gnosticism in advocating to various degrees withdrawal from the "world," rejection of legitimate social concerns as "carnal" distractions from God's spiritual purposes, imposition of "holy" dress codes, and establishment of well-defined hierarchies of spiritual "authority" (superiority). Pentecostal leaders also demonstrate Gnostic attitudes in promoting the baptism of the Holy Spirit as an experience subsequent to salvation reserved for the spiritually select, and in instructing sick people (as did Kenyon) to "confess their healing," that is, to deny physical reality. Though much good could be said of the Pentecostal movement in general, especially in its emphasis on evangelism and the power of the Holy Spirit, it is probably no coincidence that some of the more divisive cultic movements to come out of the church - the Branhamites, the Way International, the Latter Rain movement and others - have direct connections to Pentecostalism.
All this calls for a response. In my opinion, a Christian response to the rise of heretical teachings within the body should not be so much aggressive as apologetic. Scripture doesn't call the church to actively search out heretics, but to search out the truth in order to recognize error and defend the church from heresy when and where necessary. If it happens that Kenyon, Hagin, Copeland and others openly pass off Word-Faith metaphysical doctrines as biblical revelation, and themselves as elite demigods or supermen - confusing and dividing the people of God in the process - then the responsibility of Christians is to counter these errors with the truth. If allowed to grow unchecked, the seeds of Gnosticism may otherwise come to bear much bad fruit even in our own congregations. Peter reminds us again (very likely in the context of combating Gnosticism) that the most dangerous of false teachers are not those outside the church but those within: "But there were false prophets among the people, even as there will be false prophets among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed" (2 Pet. 2:1-2). He then adds in Chapter 2 some wise counsel for the church through the ages: "You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever" (3:17-18). Our best defense against false teaching is a close relationship with Jesus Christ; for to know and confess Jesus is to know and confess the truth.