As I have thought about it these years, I believe I was captive to the false gospel ofGnosticism though one could perhaps speak of Donatism. Gnosticism is found in every churchbasement, and no seminary is free of it. Among other things, Gnosticism is our dualistic longingfor a pure church and our unwillingness to believe that God works through the messy, often unfaithful, flawed body of those people we behold every Sunday morning. It is finally a denialof the Incarnation. We see the church’s fleshy ways but are blind to its wonder and joy. In aword, I believe I suffered a form of unbelief, sophisticated as it was.
via A False Gospel and the Church [Randy Cooper].
HT to Gary Wake