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Incarnation
By: Evangelos Dim. Kepenes (November 22, 2025, 11:45 a.m.)
Gnosticism and its beliefs about incarnation
Gnosticism drew ideas from ancient Philosophy and Mythology, which it used as a reservoir of thought. The Gnostics adopted the anti-biblical view of incarnation and reincarnation, which was a constant teaching in movements such as Orphism, Pythagoreanism, Platonism, and the cult of Dionysus. This view was incompatible with Judeo-Christianity.
The common belief of these movements was that immortal souls are spirits that fell from their celestial origin into matter (the descent of the soul) due to an indeterminate prior sin. As a punishment, they incarnated—meaning they were clothed in material bodies. Consequently, the goal is purification through potentially many reincarnations and ultimate restoration to their original spiritual source.
The Hellenistic Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria used the biblical narrative to symbolize this fall of the pre-existent immortal soul. According to him:
The fall of the soul from heavenly bliss into the earthly body is symbolized by the "garments of skin" that God gave Adam and Eve to wear before expelling them from the Garden of Eden.
The imprisonment of the fallen soul in the material body resembles the subjugation of the Hebrews in Egypt, and therefore, the soul must seek its "Exodus" (exit) from matter towards the Divine Logos.
Also, the "Chaldean Oracles" say:
"Regarding the substance of the soul, the Chaldean Oracles state that: "As for the substance of the soul, it has a mediating and reductive role. With its descent into bodies, it becomes a prisoner of matter, but without ceasing to constitute a fluid reality, retaining a non-fallen part of itself in the intelligible world. Ultimately, it is destined to ascend to its place of origin, the celestial vault, escaping the forgetfulness of the senses."
The Gnostic idea of the incarnation of the archetypal Aeon Jesus into the earthly man Jesus is attested by anti-heretical sources and in the recently discovered Gnostic apocryphal Gospel of Judas. In this text, the "traitor" Judas appears to possess special knowledge (Gnosis), and his betrayal was a redemptive act intended to free the incarnated Spirit of Jesus from the material element so it could return to the Pleroma of God. According to the apocryphal text, Jesus told Judas, "You will sacrifice the man that clothes me".
The theory of the incarnation of the "Philosophical Jesus" was drawn from the same reservoir of thought—Philosophy and Mythology—by "Patristic thought" and its related doctrines, which profess belief in the "incarnated pre-existing Son." This concept arose from the theological interpretation of the apostolic saying, "the Logos became flesh (sarx = body)," where the verb egeneto (Aorist II of gignomai), meaning "became," was used to justify the theological doctrine of the Incarnation, thereby differentiating the Christian position from Gnostic Docetism.
Terminology (Stamatakos' Dictionary)
Become (Gignomai) = to be born || to come into being, to become || to be.
Incarnate (En-sarkonō) = to materialize || to give material substance to something || to embody || to reincarnate || to transmigrate the soul.
Gnostic Influence and the Subobrdination of Christ's Birth
Influenced by the Gnostic doctrine of the incarnation of the "Aeon Jesus," the "Fathers" of the "Catholic Roman Church" and related denominations not only adopted the philosophical concept of incarnation but also downgraded the unique, supernatural birth of Jesus Christ. In this way, they removed His "foreordained" character (Acts 3:20) as the true Son of God who was born in time, 100% of the holy Spirit, incorporating Him into a scheme of materialization (incarnation) that relates to the corresponding Gnostic idea.
Furthermore, the apostolic word makes a clear distinction between the biblical genesis and the dogmatic incarnation.
"Now the birth (hē genesis—not the incarnation) of Jesus Christ was as follows: When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child from the holy Spirit." (Matt. 1:18)
"Γένεσις" (Genesis) (as used in Matt. 1:18): means birth, beginning of existence, or origin—implying an event that happens in time.
"Ενσάρκωση" (Encarnation) (the Patristic term): means materialization or embodiment—implying the taking on of material nature by a pre-existent spiritual entity.
The "Fathers" did not focus on the apostolic word but, copying the myths of ancient religion and Gnosticism, proclaimed that the pre-eternal Second God the Son, who is inseparable from the Father, was eventually separated and came down from heaven and was incarnated (clothed Himself in an earthly body) as defined in the Patristic Creed: "Who came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man."
This statement is mythological and, according to "Patristic thought," involves three parts: a) the pre-existent Son, b) the holy Spirit, and c) the mortal Mary. However, it refers to a conjunction of Heaven and Earth, thus relating to the mythical union of the god Uranus (the first mythical male element) and the goddess Gaia (the material side of the world). The theologian and professor Panagiotis Christou confirms this affinity, noting that the Gnostic duality of the two deities (male and female) essentially constitutes "the heaven and the earth of the old Greek religion".
The emphasis on the incarnation and descent stands in contrast to the apostolic belief that the second man out of heaven (as opposed to the one from the earth) was the image of the invisible God the Father (Col. 1:15, 1 Cor. 15:47).
However, Patristic thought, through the Nicene Creed, used this position (the image of God) to support the doctrine of the pre-existent Son who took on flesh from the earth. In this manner, the focus shifted from the "heavenly man Jesus" to the pre-existent Son-God as the central figure of salvation.
A consequence of this shift was the retreat of the emphasis on the unique generation in time (“The genesis of Jesus Christ was as follows” – Matt. 1:18) and its replacement by the pre-eternal origin, the descent, and the incarnation.
The theology of the Incarnation, as formulated within the bounds of Orthodoxy, has been evaluated by critics as a mythological narrative that reproduces the structures of earlier Gnostic systems, such as Valentinianism.
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