Gnostic Roots

Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: γνωστικός gnostikos, "having knowledge", from γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge) is a modern name for a variety of ancient religious ideas and systems, originating in Jewish-Christian milieus in the first and second century AD.

 

The scriptures give us clear warning

 

I Timothy 6:20-21
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

 

As you study the works and doctrines of cults like those of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormon’s, one of the striking points that is always consistent is the fact that the followers of these cults have been deceived into believing that Christianity was apostate early and\or was never doctrinally sound from the very beginning, and it wasn't until 1800 years later that men like Joseph Smith and Charles Taze Russell delivered to them Another Gospel, an Unbiblical God, and False Doctrines.

As you search deeper into the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, you will find that though they believed they had received “new” revelations in the 1800’s, they were in truth following altered forms of false teachings such as Arianism and Gnosticism that had originated much earlier.

 

What we will reveal now is that Calvinism or "reformed" theology just as the other cults has many of the its foundational doctrines rooted in gnosticism, but many of these doctrines have been transformed and altered being tied to scriptures in order for them to seem biblically based.

 

With those defending Calvinism you can see, just as with the cults rather than look at the writings of the Early Church they instead take their history and writings from men that came forth 400 years after the Church was first formed with the writtings of Augustine, and then even later with the writings and doctrine brought forth by Calvin in the 1500's.

 

Though they consider Augustine and Calvin as the "Fathers" of their doctrine you can find the roots much earlier as you study the Early Church Fathers and see how the early Christians refuted and exposed these false teachings.