{{{ Gnosis and Gnosticism }}}
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The Serpent of Wisdom
The sin of Eve, so the orthodox tell us, was that she listened to the serpent, who persuaded her that the fruit of the tree would make her and Adam wise, without any deleterious side-effects. It was Eve who then seduced the righteously reluctant Adam to join her in this act of disobedience, and thus together they brought about the fall of humanity.
http://www.gnosis.org/genesis.html -
Gnostic Internet links:
A list of links, groups, and bibliography: A list of Gnostic links is at: http://www.gentech.com/~employee/glenn/bookmark.htm
Newsgroup alt.religion.gnostic relates to Gnosticism.
The Gnostic church of Christianity has a Yahoo group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/
Stephan A. Hoeller (Tau Stephanus), a Gnostic Bishop, maintains a bibliography of Gnostic books and a recommended basic library. See: http://www.webcom.com/
Individual web sites: The Gnostic Church of Christianity has a web site at: http://www.royalchrist.org/
The Gnostic Network contains "An Exploration Into the Spirit, the Creator And the Nature of the Universe" at: http://www.trufax.org/
The Gnosis Site is at: http://www.teleport.com/
The Gnostic Friends Network has a description of ancient Gnosticism at: http://www.enemies.com/
The The Gnostic Pagan Tradition School Of New Aeon Philosophy has an initiation course at: http://www.gnostics.com/
The Gnostic Society in Norway has a major web site devoted to an historical review of Gnosticism. See: http://home.sol.no/
Paul Harrison has written "A history of pantheism and scientific pantheism" which includes selected passages from the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Eve. See: http://members.aol.com/
The Gnostic Society in California has RealAudio® lectures available at: http://www.gnosis.org/
Stephan A. Hoeller also has a very readable "Brief Summary of Gnosticism" at: http://www.gnosis.org/
GNOSIS is "A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions (ISSN 0894-6159), ...a quarterly magazine devoted to the exploration of the spiritual and esoteric paths of the Western Hemisphere." Much of its material deals with Gnosticism. Their home page is at: http://www.lumen.org/ -
Gnosticism and the Gnostic Jesus
by Douglas Groothuis
from the Christian Research Journal, Fall 1990, page 8. The Editor-in-Chief of the Christian Research Journal is Elliot Miller.
Popular opinion often comes from obscure sources. Many conceptions about Jesus now current and credible in New Age circles are rooted in a movement of spiritual protest which, until recently, was the concern only of the specialized scholar or the occultist. This ancient movement -- Gnosticism -- provides much of the form and color for the New Age portrait of Jesus as the illumined Illuminator: one who serves as a cosmic catalyst for others' awakening.
Many essentially Gnostic notions received wide attention through the sagacious persona of the recently deceased Joseph Campbell in the television series and best-selling book, The Power of Myth. For example, in discussing the idea that "God was in Christ," Campbell affirmed that "the basic Gnostic and Buddhist idea is that that is true of you and me as well."
Jesus is an enlightened example who "realized in himself that he and what he called the Father were one, and he lived out of that knowledge of the Christhood of his nature." According to Campbell, anyone can likewise live out his or her Christ nature.[1]
Gnosticism has come to mean just about anything. Calling someone a Gnostic can make the person either blush, beam, or fume. Whether used as an epithet for heresy or spiritual snobbery, or as a compliment for spiritual knowledge and esotericism, Gnosticism remains a cornucopia of controversy.
This is doubly so when Gnosticism is brought into a discussion of Jesus of Nazareth. Begin to speak of "Christian Gnostics" and some will exclaim, "No way! That is a contradiction in terms. Heresy is not orthodoxy." Others will affirm, "No contradiction. Orthodoxy is the heresy. The Gnostics were edged out of mainstream Christianity for political purposes
by the end of the third century." Speak of the Gnostic Christ or the Gnostic gospels, and an ancient debate is moved to the theological front burner.
Gnosticism as a philosophy refers to a related body of teachings that stress the acquisition of "gnosis," or inner knowledge. The knowledge sought is not strictly intellectual, but mystical; not merely a detached knowledge of or about something, but a knowing by acquaintance or participation. This gnosis is the inner and esoteric mystical knowledge of ultimate reality. It
discloses the spark of divinity within, thought to be obscured by ignorance, convention, and mere exoteric religiosity.
This knowledge is not considered to be the possession of the masses but of the Gnostics, the Knowers, who are privy to its benefits. While the orthodox "many" exult in the exoteric religious trappings which stress dogmatic belief and prescribed behavior, the Gnostic "few" pierce through the surface to the esoteric spiritual knowledge of God. The Gnostics claim the
Orthodox mistake the shell for the core; the Orthodox claim the Gnostics dive past the true core into a nonexistent one of their own esoteric invention.
To adjudicate this ancient acrimony requires that we examine Gnosticism's perennial allure, expose its philosophical foundations, size up its historical claims, and square off the Gnostic Jesus with the figure who sustains the New Testament.
http://www.mustardseed.net/html/body_tognosticism.html -
Central to the Western path of spirituality is the Grail
Quest, derived from the Celtic myth of the Goddess
and the magical cauldron. In some versions, Parsifal
is the knight who wins the Grail. In a lesser-known
narrative, Parsifal's son, Lohengrin,becomes the
"Knight of the Swan," a motif that indicates future
permutations of the Grail mythos.
(Lohengrin, by Ernst Fuchs)
The Matrix:
The Matrix itself can be thought of as (on one level) as "Consensus Reality"
- Example: the concept of "Texas" as a 'place' is a MENTAL construct that we all agree on. There is nothing inherent in that location that can be measured by scientific equipment to indicate "texas-ness", Texas is part of our matrix, we have been told it exists, we reinforce its existence, yet it is all in our minds. If there were no human minds on this planet - texas would not exist.
That's way too long, but anyway
level a.
Ground floor, the Matrix as "collective cultural hypnosis" -
There's a popular misconception that early Christianity was a unified group under the Church of Rome and the banner of Peter as "Pope Peter I". How do such misconceptions arise?
We can never know for sure, but we'll just have to do with the Church of Rome's centuries of persecution and extermination of heretics, massive and efficient book-burning campaigns and an active attempt to rewrite history.
In reality, there was a different version of Christianity available on every street corner through the first few centuries after the death of Jesus Christ. Among these, the Gnostics were in many ways the most radical and the most influential.
Unlike its Roman competitor, Gnosticism was by no means a monolithic and inviolable set of beliefs. The root of the word "gnostic" is the Greek term "gnosis," which means "knowledge." The Gnostics believed they were the owners of secret information about how things really are. The actual content of that information dramatically differed based on who you asked.
The Gnostic tradition actually predates Christianity by at least a century. During the period just before and after the birth of Christ, Judaism had become severely fragmented, and various sects competed for popular and theological support. Much of this activity was driven by the Roman Empire's conquest of Jerusalem around 60 B.C., which sent many Jews into paroxysms of apocalism. Many were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the messiah, who was most often imagined as a general or king who would liberate the Holy City (again).
http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/gnosticism/ -
Can this thread be used to ask questions pertaining to this topic?
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why not!!!Originally posted by shade343:Can this thread be used to ask questions pertaining to this topic? -
Dan Brown lifted some parts of Gnostic research for his best-selling Da Vinci Code. It centred aroudn the part that said Christ was married to Mary of Magdala.
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Is Satan synonymous with the serpent of wisdom?
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Shade343,pls carry on.. -
The NDE and Satan
Satan Does Not Exist - Only Ego
Cecil is an 11 year-old child who asked the Being of Light the following during his NDE:
I asked if there was a Devil or Satan.
He said to me, "Would God allow that?"
He continued, "If I made you God for just a few seconds, what would you do first?"
I knew my first act would be to eliminate any Devil or Satan.
I asked, "How do I know right from wrong?"
He replied, "Right is helping and being kind. Wrong is not only hurting someone but not helping when you can." (Cecil)
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Kevin Williams' research conclusions
The concept of an evil entity or entities who are trying to cause people to do bad things is a concept that is probably as old as human history. Perhaps it began when someone committed a wrong against someone and needed a scapegoat - someone to blame their sins on. In modern times, the popular phrase used to be, "The Devil made me do it." Some people picture a Devil with horns and a pitchfork. Others describe him as a goat with hooves. Some people describe the Devil as a force, rather than a being, who can be everywhere at the same time to tempt people. The overwhelming consensus in NDE research is that Satan does not exist - at least - not the Satan described literally in the Bible. Nor does evil exist - only mistakes for which we are allowed to make for the purpose of instruction.
http://www.near-death.com/experiences/research23.html -
huh?Originally posted by X-Mind:Shade343,pls carry on..
sorry...threads junk threads!!!
Is Satan of wisdom God?
Sorry being careless edited yr post
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What questions do you have? Ask now.Originally posted by shade343:huh? -
Is Lucifer and this snake is 2 different entities. Am I right?
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Sorry we will attend you in a while...busy with othersOriginally posted by shade343:Is Lucifer and this snake is 2 different entities. Am I right? -
Originally posted by X-Mind:Sorry we will attend you in a while...busy with others
err..ok. 
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Sophia,the wisdom goddess mystically entered the serpent, who thereby acquired the title of instructor. The instructor then taught Adam and Eve about their source, informing them that they were of high and holy origin and not mere slaves of the creator deity.....Originally posted by shade343: err..ok. 
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But at the same time, she also instilled arrogance, ego and pride in them. These chracteristics ,sadly, formed the basis of sin.Originally posted by X-Mind:Sophia,the wisdom goddess mystically entered the serpent, who thereby acquired the title of instructor. The instructor then taught Adam and Eve about their source, informing them that they were of high and holy origin and not mere slaves of the creator deity..... -
.........mmm...
The Apocalypse of Adam
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Translated by George W. MacRae
The revelation which Adam taught his son Seth in the seven hundreth year, saying:
Listen to my words, my son Seth. When God had created me out of the earth, along with Eve, your mother, I went about with her in a glory which she had seen in the aeon from which we had come forth. She taught me a word of knowledge of the eternal God. And we resembled the great eternal angels, for we were higher than the god who had created us and the powers with him, whom we did not know.
Then God, the ruler of the aeons and the powers, divided us in wrath. Then we became two aeons. And the glory in our heart(s) left us, me and your mother Eve, along with the first knowledge that breathed within us. And it (glory) fled from us; it entered into [...] great [...] which had come forth, not from this aeon from which we had come forth, I and Eve your mother. But it (knowledge) entered into the seed of great aeons. For this reason I myself have called you by the name of that man who is the seed of the great generation or from whom (it comes). After those days, the eternal knowledge of the God of truth withdrew from me and your mother Eve. Since that time, we learned about dead things, like men. Then we recognized the God who had created us. For we were not strangers to his powers. And we served him in fear and slavery. And after these things, we became darkened in our heart(s). Now I slept in the thought of my heart.
And I saw three men before me whose likeness I was unable to recognize, since they were not the powers of the God who had created us. They surpassed [...] glory, and [...] men [...] saying to me, "Arise, Adam, from the sleep of death, and hear about the aeon and the seed of that man to whom life has come, who came from you and from Eve, your wife."
When I had heard these words from the great men who were standing before me, then we sighed, I and Eve, in our heart(s). And the Lord, the God who had created us, stood before us. He said to us, "Adam, why were you (both) sighing in your hearts? Do you not know that I am the God who created you? And I breathed into you a spirit of life as a living soul." Then darkness came upon our eyes.
Then the God who created us, created a son from himself and Eve, your mother. I knew sweet desire for your mother, for [...] in the thought of my [...] I knew a sweet desire for your mother. Then the vigor of our eternal knowledge was destroyed in us, and weakness pursued us. Therefore the days of our life became few. For I knew that I had come under the authority of death.
Now then, my son Seth, I will reveal to you the things which those men whom I saw before me at first
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/adam.html -
Overview of Gnosticism
By Lewis Loflin
In AD 1209, the entire population of the Albigens was slaughtered at the order of Pope Innocent III. The Albigens, in the south of France, was then the most populous, the most technically, socially, and economically advanced part of Europe. Its population was largely Gnostics and Arian Christians, and were a sanctuary for Jews who were persecuted almost everywhere else in Europe. All of these groups had a high percentage of literacy and read the Bible, which was prohibited by the Vatican. Innocent III was seeking to put a stop to the "Gnostic heresy", but found it to be entrenched throughout Europe, so he followed the "Cathar Crusade" with the creation of the Inquisition, resulting in countless millions of people being slowly and brutally tortured to death over the next 500 years for even the mere suspicion of being witches. Innocent also reinstated a prohibition against the owning or reading of Bibles by anyone other than clergy, under penalty of death.
http://www.sullivan-county.com/id2/gnosticism.htm -
Saint Augustine:
Madness and the Western Christian World-View
By Lewis Loflin
My Old Augustine Page
The misfortunes of Rome, therefore, should not distress a Christian unduly, for Christianity belonged to the realm of the spirit and could not be identified with any state. The collapse of Rome did not diminish the greatness of Christianity, for the true Christian was a citizen of a heavenly city that could not possibly be pillaged by ungodly barbarians, but would endure forever. Compared to God's heavenly city, the decline of Rome was unimportant. The welfare of Christianity was not to be identified with Rome's material progress or even its existence. Thus like the Manichees he saw nothing worthy in world at all, but that doesn't mean he would ignore it.
http://www.sullivan-county.com/news/mine/augustine.htm