The Apostle John’s Fight Against Apostate Elements

NOT long after the Christian congregation came into existence on the day of Pentecost in the year 33 it had to contend with false teachers.

Just what did the aged apostle John face in that “last hour”? One of the errors that he had to expose related to the manner in which Jesus Christ had come. There was, for example, a Jew named Cerinthus who taught the following: ‘Jesus was not born of a virgin but was the natural son of Joseph by Mary. Yet he was wiser, more righteous and more discerning than other men. At the time of his baptism, the Christ, in the form of a dove, came down on him from the Supreme One. Then, when the Christ left him, Jesus suffered death and was raised to life. But the Christ, being spiritual, suffered no harm.’ In this way, Cerinthus denied that Christ had come from heaven and had become flesh to redeem mankind.