A Timely Call to Discernment on Traditional Gnosticism for the Chinese Church

Due to the influence of the convergence of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, many Chinese Protestant Christians—even after receiving salvation—may find it difficult to completely leave behind certain patterns of thought and practice from these traditions. Among them, Gnostic elements embedded in traditional Chinese culture and Chinese collective subconsciousness have, in some cases, acted like tares among the wheat, subtly constraining and sometimes distorting Christian reason, heart and spirituality. ¹

This article is offered as an internal reflection within the body of Christ, not as a blanket rejection of Chinese civilization. Every culture, including those shaped over centuries by Christian influence, has both strengths and weaknesses. My intention is to invite discernment about certain inherited ideas and practices that may, if left unexamined, hinder the church’s growth in truth and grace.²

Gnosticism—first identified as an academic concept in seventeenth-century England—has never been fully systematized. In the early church, Christians who adopted Gnostic thinking were regarded by the church fathers as heretical, and this “leaven” was decisively addressed and rejected within Western Christianity.³ However, this success also meant that later generations lost much of the basic understanding and vigilance needed to recognize gnostic influence.⁴

1. The Influence of Gnostic Thinking on Epistemology and Rational Thought in the Chinese Context

For the purposes of this article, I define Gnosticism as a way of knowing—an epistemology of “esoteric knowledge”—that tends to place sensation above reason, emotion above rational thought, and the subjective over the objective.In this framework, which I describe as an “introvert-insight epistemology,” both “subjective experiential methods” and “intuitive thinking patterns” are given prominence.

Elements of Daoism and Buddhism fit this pattern. For example, Laozi’s “forgetting oneself through inaction (or effortless action),” Zhuangzi’s “equalizing all things for the loss of ego-self,” Zen Buddhism’s “awareness of vacuity for no-self,” and Song and Ming Confucianism’s “the heart is logos, the spirit is logos”—corresponding to Buddhism’s “the heart is Buddha” and Daoism’s “the heart is Dao”—all share a focus on diminishing or dissolving self-awareness.⁵

These traditional Gnostic epistemologies have, in some cases, influenced and reshaped the thinking and psychological patterns of Chinese Christianity. For example, the Gospel of John in Chinese translates Logos as “Dao”⁶, introducing Daoist concepts as “leaven.” The “mind” in the New Testament is often translated as the Confucian “heart,” which in Confucianism is seen as the organ of thought⁷. While Buddhist meditation seeks to set the mind aside, Christian contemplation actively engages it.

As a result, within the traditional Gnostic-leaning cognitive model, Chinese believers may place higher value on intuition and enlightenment, allowing the mind to follow spontaneous insight, feelings and pursue vague emotions or impressions. This often manifests as expressions that are hard to define, sometimes irrational or only partially logical.Self-will and self-generated inspiration can replace careful analysis and discernment, potentially leading to unchecked desires and a weakening of rational responsibility.

This Gnostic model, running parallel to the rational mind like a shadow, has also shaped Chinese ways of thinking and relating. The Chinese educational tradition of “valuing artistic literature” and “feeling-oriented culture” further reinforces this pattern. For example, when expressing opinions, people—whether elite or ordinary—commonly say “I feel” rather than “I think.” For Chinese Christianity, Gnosticism has long provided fertile ground for theological confusion, making it harder to deepen theological engagement.

2. The Impact of Chinese Gnosticism on Christian Spirituality and Spiritual Formation 

Traditional Gnosticism shaped Chinese rationality and, at the same time presented challenges for the spirituality and spiritual formation of Chinese Christians. Although Confucianism is a traditional and  rational school of thought, comparable to Western deistic ideology (following Aristotelian system), its emphasis on cultivating the mind and nature and connecting with a certain kind of “qi” (spiritual energy) could essentially be considered a mystic form of spiritual formation. For example, Confucian calligraphy is a typical form of spiritual formation. Therefore, if Chinese Protestants participate in Eastern Orthodox spiritual formation without proper guidance, they can unwittingly take on Gnostic spiritual ways. For example, if when praying the Jesus Prayer, Chinese Protestants automatically adopt and combine the “heart prayer” influenced by the Confucian concept, the “enlightenment prayer” of Buddhism, and the “breathing prayer” of Daoism, which is an inward-gazing practice of focusing on the “dan-tian” in navel area of the abdomen.⁸

Confucian “heart prayer” leads Chinese Christians to incubate and indulge emotions, entering a vortex of self-inspiration. Buddhist “enlightenment prayer” leads practitioners to follow their insight and feelings, entering the ethereal realm of Zen. Daoist “breathing prayer” allows practitioners to follow their breath, forgetting their thoughts, entering Zhuangzi’s “butterfly dream”⁹ All three of these pagan spiritual practices focus attention inward, deliberately suppressing rationality, abandoning logic, bypassing the brain’s critical thinking, and even emptying the mind, thereby entering the subconscious without knowing where you are; this is precisely the spiritual formation of Gnosticism. Note that Chinese Gnosticism is a gazing-inward formation, without rational-examination.

Once Chinese Christians enter this spiritual formation that draws from the three Chinese traditions, they may open themselves to unexamined spiritual influences that could be harmful from the spiritual world when reading the Bible, praying, meditating, and practicing the Jesus Prayer. In serious cases, this can seriously negatively impact the believer’s life (body, mind, and spirit), restrict the church’s power, and  potentially foster misleading teachings or spiritual confusion.In fact, heresies and cults that adopt Zen and Daoist spiritual formation have long emerged in Chinese Christianity. The current trend of Confucianization emerging within mainland Chinese Christianity is also a form of spiritual syncretism— a blending or merging of beliefs, practices, or traditions from different religions or spiritual systems into a combined or hybrid form. For more on traditional Chinese Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist spirituality, their dark spiritual background, and potential consequences of engaging with them, refer to my  book, Breaking through the Barriers of Spiritual Darkness.¹⁰

3. Addressing Gnosticism among Chinese Christians through Traditional Orthodox Spirituality

The spiritual world, like this world, is fraught with danger when outside the realm of the Church. For this reason, it is imperative to discern and respond to Gnosticism within Chinese Christianity. Eastern Orthodox spirituality and the Gnostic spirituality of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism are like wheat and tares; they share a high degree of superficial similarity. For example, both emphasize a state of stillness/quietness, value the role of the heart, and offer the experience of spiritual and supernatural “energy”—this is precisely where the peril lies—distinguishing between the two can be extremely challenging for Chinese Christian practitioners. This is not only because the latter is as elusive as a shifting shadow, but also because the theologies of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology) and the spiritual world are some of the least developed parts of Christian theology. 

Unlike Chinese Gnosticism, which emphasizes “feelings dominating, reason suppressed, and the mind set aside,” Orthodox spirituality emphasizes “reason as gatekeeper, mind in charge, and feelings set aside.”¹¹ John of the Ladder opens his work by stating man as “of the rational beings created by Him and honored with the dignity of free-will.” He also provides specific methods for practicing spiritual discipline through rational attention—intensive focus of thought and consciousness. “Constantly wrestle with your thought, and whenever it wanders call it back to you. God does not require, from those still under obedience, prayer completely free of distractions…” Furthermore, even the stirrings of emotion should be the result of rational thinking, not the other way around. “Tears are the product of thought, and the father of thought is a rational mind.“¹² Orthodox spiritual resources are astonishing in their renewal and upgrading of the mind’s comprehensive cognitive abilities, which surprised my friends and I.

The simplest way to address the influence of Gnosticism and nurture a sound spiritual foundation is to correctly and faithfully practice the Orthodox Jesus Prayer with true understanding. This method helps to restore and strengthen the dominance of the rational mind, help look beyond ourselves, enhance sensitivity to truth, and gain experience of the divine energy of the Holy Spirit. Based on our experience with Orthodox spiritual practice at the Mount Sinai Fellowship, practitioners must adhere to five key principles: 1. Rational control; 2. Yield; 3. Humility; 4. Maintaining joy; and 5. Practice under the institutional authority of the church and under the guidance of a qualified spiritual teacher. Our spiritual formation and promotion have been authorized and blessed by Father Spyridon (Priest Schneider) of the Russian Orthodox Church, thus respecting the sacred order of the church passed down from apostolic times.

Conclusion

To purge the influence of Gnosticism among Chinese people, it is necessary not only to exercise the rational mind but also to purify the spirit and thoughts structurally. In addition to Orthodox spiritual resources, especially the practice of the Jesus Prayer, the Catholic tradition of “Lectio Divina” is also an excellent spiritual practice—it involves reading, meditation, prayer, and reflection, and has the advantage of stabilizing and strengthening the rational mind. Protestantism has largely inherited this approach to Bible study. The strict fasting and prayer valued by Chinese Protestants are also effective ways to clear the mind, activate rationality, and calm emotions, desires, and self-will. In short, I advocate adopting the epistemological resources taught by the Apostle John—”the Spirit of Truth” and “the Spirit is Truth”—as the philosophy of orthodox Christian spirituality. This is precisely the fundamental difference from Chinese Gnostic spirituality.

1. Over a century ago, during China’s New Culture Movement, young intellectuals, represented by Lu Xun (and others), engaged in a profound and authoritative self-deconstructive critique of traditional Chinese culture and the character of the Chinese people. However, this cultural reflection and repentance was incomplete because it failed to uncover the greatest problem within traditional Chinese civilization and culture: deep-seated Gnosticism. Materialistic atheistic culture was introduced to China through the victory of the Communist Revolution, and the nation placed a high priority on rational, scientific education, which contributed to a general improvement in people’s minds. However, this did not eliminate the Gnosticism ingrained in the collective subconscious of the Chinese people, and to this day, this stubborn mental and psychological illness remains undiagnosed. Some friends and I recommend Eastern Orthodox spiritual practice as the very effective antidote; atheists can also try it, allowing the facts to speak for themselves.
2. Chinese Christians generally believe that only the divine truth of Christianity can most effectively promote civilization and renew culture. Yet not all truths advance civilization, nor do all faiths positively affect culture. As The Tablet Eulogizing the Propagation of the Illustrious Religion in China (commonly known as the Nestorian Stele) states: “Now without divinity, truth cannot become expanded; without truth, divinity cannot become magnified; but with truth and divinity united as the two parts of a signet, the world becomes civilized and enlightened.” This means that truth without divine nature has a limited impact, and divinity without truth is diminished; only when they are united can civilization flourish under heaven. For further discussion, see Mark Chuanhang Shan, The Advance of Civilization: The Deepening Growth of Christianity in China (2014), https://tinyurl.com/mr43pzt7.
3. Irenaeus, a 2nd-century church father, was the first to write a book labeling Gnosticism within Christianity as a heresy. Later prominent church fathers, such as Clement and Tertullian, continued to criticize Gnosticism until the 4th century. See: https://www.britannica.com/topic/gnosticism.
4. On the New Age movement as a form of modern Gnosticism, see Wouter J. Hanegraaff, New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought (Leiden: Brill, 1996). The movement, which became popular in Europe and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, is widely seen as a Gnostic form of spirituality, undermining traditional Western religious and rational culture. As for the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, although their origins in nineteenth-century Protestant Christianity were oriented toward a genuine spiritual pursuit, their lack of connection to the historic resources of Christian spiritual practice has often left them vulnerable to excesses that resemble Gnosticism. For historical background, see Allan Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
5. Zhuangzi, “Equalizing Things,” in The Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), 45–46. This chapter expounds the epistemological principle that by “losing oneself,” actively abandoning subjective consciousness and objective judgment, one can achieve complete “inaction.” Zen Buddhism, originating with Bodhidharma and furthered by Hui-neng, expresses a similar theme. According to the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, trans. Philip Yampolsky (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), 131–32, two monks debated whether it was the wind or the banner that was moving. Hui-neng resolved the dispute: “It is not the wind that moves, nor the flag that moves, but the heart itself.” This statement expresses the highest level of Zen epistemology, parallel to Zhuangzi’s “equalizing all things” in blurring the line between the subjective and the objective. This is the essence of Gnostic epistemology.
6. Mark Chuanhang Shan, “Critical Analysis of the Chinese Translation of Logos in the Gospel of John,” Africanus Journal 4, no. 2 (November 2012): 8–20, accessed September 8, 2025, https://www.scribd.com/document/114798118/Africanas-Journal-Vol-4-No-2.
7. Mencius, Book of Mencius, 2A:15. “The function of the heart is to think; if you think, you will obtain; if you do not think, you will not obtain.”
8. . In the fourteenth century, Gregory Palamas, a Greek theologian who defended Eastern Orthodox meditation, and Barlaam, an Italian theologian, engaged in a historic debate over the spiritual theology of Mount Athos arising from their differing spiritual epistemologies. Palamas ultimately prevailed. Barlaam opposed the theology of Mount Athos, specifically criticizing the monks’ practice of gazing at their navels, which he considered anti-rational. The Mount Athos monks’ focus on the navel may be understood as outward-gazing, while the Daoist focus on the navel is inward-gazing; the two share some similarities but also important differences. For Chinese Christians, however, both may be seen as Gnostic methods that are spiritually dangerous and must be resolutely avoided.
9. Zhuangzi, Inner Chapters, “Equality of All Things”: “Zhou does not know if he dreams of himself to be a butterfly, or if the butterfly dreams of itself to be Zhou. Zhou and the butterfly must be different though. This is called equalization [or transforming to be the same].”
10. Breaking Through the Barriers of Darkness: Recognizing the Cult of Qi-gong for What It Is. Free online version available; English edition available for purchase at https://shorturl.at/MkIkw.
11. Introspection, or self-examination, is a key element of Christian spirituality. For example, the phrase “me as a sinner” in Jesus’ prayer embodies this self-negative reflection— a high-level, rational, and objective understanding. Chinese Gnosticism, while fundamentally a humanistic spiritual pursuit, emphasizes gazing inward (introvert-insight) but lacks self-examination. This reinforces self-consciousness to know where you are, thus contradicting the Confucian-Buddhist- Daoist goal of “forgetting oneself,” “loss of ego-self,” and “no-self” which blurs the lines between the subjective and the objective.
12. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent (ca. 600), Step 1, “On the Renouncing of the World” (1:1); Step 4, “On Blessed and Ever-Memorable Obedience” (4:92); Step 7, “On Joyful Mourning” (7:17).