The Gospel of Thomas

Cypress said:
Not even remotely close to anything I said.

But I am accustomed to you and your boyfriends lying about me.

The facts are that I am citing historical events in Christianity your little bible college neglected to teach you.

As to what I personally think about Gnoticism, I am not particularly impressed, because they were vaguely cultish and presumed only the select and elite would be given the secret knowledge for salvation.
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I read a book by Elaine Pagel, that was very good and discussed her research on Paul and Gnosticism. Some scholars believe that Paul was proto gnostic.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
I wonder about that... 1) why? and 2) if he doesn't know this basic stuff, what exactly is taught to divinity students? and 3) why aren't the Reichwingers mocking divinity degrees like they do every other flavor of liberal arts education?
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If my memory serves me, it was in the 70’s, and like Cypress says, it’s probably from a small college or I think the Cracker Jack box.
 
Mr Apollyon said:
You have an interest in Biblical history but no religious beliefs. Why is that?
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What the hell kind of question is that?

I have a great deal of interest in Biblical history...and I have absolutely no religious beliefs.

To you see some kind of contradiction in that? Do you see that as making no sense?
 
AProudLefty said:
(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the
birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will
precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you
come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you
who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in
poverty and it is you who are that poverty."

https://www.marquette.edu/maqom/Gospel%20of%20Thomas%20Lambdin.pdf

Who, really are the wealthy and who are poor? :thinking:
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Happy people are wealthy, unhappy people are poor. This forum is full of very unhappy, angry, bitter assholes....and those motherfuckers should find Jesus! ;)

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Frank Apisa said:
What the hell kind of question is that?

I have a great deal of interest in Biblical history...and I have absolutely no religious beliefs.

To you see some kind of contradiction in that? Do you see that as making no sense?
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I don't see a problem; history is history.

Just because someone studies the rise and fall of the Third Reich doesn't mean they want to be a fucking Nazi.
 
Phantasmal said:
I read a book by Elaine Pagel, that was very good and discussed her research on Paul and Gnosticism. Some scholars believe that Paul was proto gnostic.
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interesting
I like your reading choices!

We seemingly just don't know enough about the Gnostics, because their writings were suppressed, and what we do know about them generally comes from biased sources: the proto-orthodox and early Catholics who had a vested interest in denigrating Gnoticism
 
Dutch Uncle said:
I don't see a problem; history is history.

Just because someone studies the rise and fall of the Third Reich doesn't mean they want to be a fucking Nazi.
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That's true.

Understanding why and what people believe is always interesting in and of itself. It also helps you to learn about why *you* believe (or don't) yourself.
 
Frank Apisa said:
What the hell kind of question is that?

I have a great deal of interest in Biblical history...and I have absolutely no religious beliefs.

To you see some kind of contradiction in that? Do you see that as making no sense?
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No contradiction at all.

Religious history is interesting in it's own right, and one cannot actually grasp world history, sociology, anthropology, world culture without having a working knowledge of religious traditions and their origins.
 
Cypress said:
interesting
I like your reading choices!

We seemingly just don't know enough about the Gnostics, because their writings were suppressed, and what we do know about them generally comes from biased sources: the proto-orthodox and early Catholics who had a vested interest in denigrating Gnoticism
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I found this definition of gnosticism:

"Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. All physical matter is subject to decay, rotting, and death. Those bodies and the material world, created by an inferior being, are therefore evil. Trapped in the material world, but ignorant of its status, the pieces of God require knowledge (gnosis) to inform them of their true status. That knowledge must come from outside the material world, and the agent who brings it is the savior or redeemer." (https://www.worldhistory.org/Gnosticism/)

Is this also your understanding of the term? The "piece of god within themselves" part IMO sounds right, but then it devolves into our bodies and the material world being evil and inferior. Nope.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
I found this definition of gnosticism:

"Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. All physical matter is subject to decay, rotting, and death. Those bodies and the material world, created by an inferior being, are therefore evil. Trapped in the material world, but ignorant of its status, the pieces of God require knowledge (gnosis) to inform them of their true status. That knowledge must come from outside the material world, and the agent who brings it is the savior or redeemer." (https://www.worldhistory.org/Gnosticism/)

Is this also your understanding of the term? The "piece of god within themselves" part IMO sounds right, but then it devolves into our bodies and the material world being evil and inferior. Nope.
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Yes, I think that is the gist of it, but we always have to remember that we have very few first hand sources from the Gnostics themselves.

I think they were an important part of history, but there were certain things they believed which do not appeal to be, aka the material world being corrupt.
 
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