The gnostics taught the lie that spirit is always good, and matter (including the human body) is always evil. Docetism, one branch of gnosticism, taught that Christ only seemed to have a body. Cerinthianism, another variant, taught that the divine Christ joined the man Jesus at baptism and then left him before he died.

Furthermore, some among the Ebionites, or “poor ones”—referring to early Jewish Christians—reportedly taught the heresy that Jesus was only a man and not God.

All these ideas rejected the truth that God actually came “in the flesh” (became a physical human being capable dying) and then actually died. But the only way the death of Jesus could pay for the sins of all mankind is for Christ to have been both God and man when He died. You need to know the truth about Jesus Christ—who He was and what He taught. Read our free study guide Jesus Christ: The Real Story for this important information.