I've had the time to now do some further critiquing of "Gnosis "The Lost Gospels" “, by Anglican priest
Pete Owen Jones,
which ends with an admission that if neochristianity hadn't gone down the
particular paths it did - despite evidence that other gospels exist and women
were not marginalised originally - it would not have become a widespread
religion.
In the first 400 years after Christ lived, apparently there were 20 or
more gospels - including the Gospels of Peter, which claimed Jesus had never
died, of Philip (according to which Mary
Magdalene would have been hailed as the first Pope), and another that
infant Jesus had caused a teacher to wither on the spot for reprimanding the
child. "In fact, if any of the other
texts had wound up in the New Testament, Christianity today would have looked
very different ... or perhaps, it wouldn't have survived at all."
These other texts, lumped together as 'the Apocrypha', were discarded as
heretical around four centuries after the dates attributed to Christ, but Rev.
Pete says one can't understand origins of the neochristian Church without
considering them.
If we consider, then, the Gospel of Thomas (starting at about 18 minutes), we find a document which claims
that understanding the esoteric sayings of Christ would lead one to
immortality, as opposed to the neochristian view that Christ's resurrection is
what matters, not knowledge.
This claim of immortality was re-interpreted as 'salvation', rather
than immortality (which I consider we all
have anyway – at the level of our Soul), and was then - officially -
discarded on the grounds that salvation should be open to all Christians (through the intermediary roles of the
priesthood, no doubt - although that doesn't get a mention ... ).
Well, putting aside the argument about whether or not people NEED
'salvation' (and whether, if they do, it
must be through Christianity), you don't teach kindergarten students
University maths, and I am quite comfortable that having to evolve until one is
capable of comprehending some truths is a fact of life, just as one needs to (or should!) be well tested before being
entrusted with power. Again, you wouldn't give a toddler the power to launch
nuclear weapons. I think the bunch of blokes who made this decision actually
missed the whole point about personal growth
(which can perhaps be summarised as mature vs. immature, rather than ‘good’ or ‘evil’
– especially when ‘evil’ is interpreted as “non-compliant with a particular bunch
of rules’).
I also found the notion that possessing knowledge was attributable to
just a few, an elite, somewhat disturbing, but that probably DID reflect those
times when very few people were educated, compared to now, when many people in
the West get at least a basic education (something
which should apply to everyone in
the world, including all women and particularly including the Third World).
That, to me, is more an argument about the need for adequacy of education
rather than throwing out knowledge - and isn't a more loving response to spread
and make accessible basic education, rather than promote a world view wherein
it is OK not to be educated because you can still somehow be saved from a
supposed inherent blame
that one is alleged to have? (I'm glad
I'm a Pagan, and therefore don't believe in the neochristian sin thing ... Did
Christ say anything about that? Might look it up ... one day. I think Pelagius' approach was
more correct and true to Christ’s message.)
The other reason Rev. Pete gives that the Gospel of Thomas was not
accepted by the neochristians was that Christ's resurrection after suffering
gave strength (hope?) to those
experiencing persecution in the 3rd and 4th Centuries. He states that it was
‘well known’ that the Gnostics were not prepared to die for their faith. Well,
leaving aside arguments around courage, who was persecuting whom and why,
discarding the Gospel of Thomas in favour of Gospels which promote a
preparedness to die would promote a more aggressive proselytising and thus we have the violent spread of
neochristianity, as opposed to what would have been a gentler spread of a
Christianity aimed at improving people and the world. So, yes, Rev. Pete is
right: discarding the Gospel of Thomas did lead to neochristianity as it is
now, the violent religion of the Inquisition, the Massacre of Verdun,
child abuse in institutions and other horrors.
Rev. Pete's comment that the Gospel of Thomas reveals that there were
no fixed ideas at this time, a time of intense infighting, is further evidence
for my view that most of what has come through from Christ's attempt to
establish a religion of Love is, in fact, what I term neochristianity: what
Christ wanted is what I term Christianity (and
some people do hold to those principles, not all of whom claim to be Christian).
Incidentally, the sayings are described as being fairly ... ordinary,
so it is of course possible that this document was just someone cashing in on
the Jesus story, but I haven't seen a copy of a translation (yet) so can't say for certain.
This view point appears to be attributed to the Gnostics by Rev. Pete.
(For another interesting view on
the Gnostics, see http://www.examiner.com/article/do-gnostics-believe-reincarnation, which includes, as part of an interesting
and well-set out review, the following:
The Gospel of Thomas has a passage that alludes to the potential of past-life recollection instead of simply breaking free of the Ouroboros after a person is Enlightened:"When you see your likeness, you are happy. But when you see your images that came into being before and that neither die nor become visible, how much you will bear!"It should be noted that since the Greco/Roman Gnostics were heavily influenced by Plato, reincarnation would have been almost a norm (as well as the pre-existence of the soul, predominant in all Gnostic traditions).The doctrine of reincarnation became more standard and uniform with the medieval Gnostics.)
At around 26 minutes, we start to turn to sexism. Rev. Pete begins by describing
the Roman Catholic Church’s restriction of power to men, which the Catholic hierarchy
claims is because that’s how the Bible describes things. He then points out
that in the Apocryphal Gospels of Philip and Mary and the Acts of Paul and Thecla,
women were at the heart of Christ’s mission – particularly Mary Magdalene, who could
have been was Jesus’ lover according to one interpretation of the Gospel of
Philip (although other valid
interpretations exist) - and took a central role in the centuries after Christ’s death, which is also supported by frescoes in the catacombs under St
Peter’s. Their later exclusion by the Roman Catholic Church (and other churches) is something that
fits my definition of neochristianity, rather than the loving aims of true Christianity.
At around 43 minutes, we move into the bitter debate over the nature of
Christ. Rev. Pete describes the Gospel of Peter’s assertion that Jesus did not
endure the human experiences of pain and death at the Crucifixion, and thus the
concept that Jesus was both human and Divine at the same time (aren’t we all?) was a point of
contention initially, and for perhaps three centuries, with some of the view
that Christ’s apparent humanity was an illusion, and others that Jesus was a
human – conceived through the sexual union of Mary and Joseph - ‘hijacked by
God’ at Jesus’s baptism (which is closer
to the view I had before I realised I was Pagan: that Jesus was the Son of God only
in the sense that we ALL are Children of God). This is similar
to Lobsang Rampa’s view that, at around age 30, Jesus underwent transmigration
and Christ took over the body of Jesus.
At around 59 minutes, there is consideration of the view that some had
that the Old Testament was not sacred, and Jesus’s Jewish origins would have
been obliterated. (There was a media
religious commentator who once claimed, in an email to me, that the Old Testament was
‘the Jewish Bible, and nothing to do with Christianity. Maybe he belonged to
this particular lot of heretics ...) Mind you, Marcion’s view that there
were actually two Gods (one God strictly
just, the other God a protector against that God) is OK to polytheists. Marcion
came to this position by comparing the New Testament to the Old, and noting the
changes. I suppose this is consistent with Christ’s comment to the effect “I have brought you a New Testament”, and
an overall message of Love, rather than rules and justice.
At around 71 minutes, Rev. Pete gets into how the orthodoxy of the
neochristian church developed – for instance, the suffering of early Christians
under the Roman Empire was apparently a key element, meaning documents which gave
their suffering meaning, or described a way to some form of salvation (in my words, reward in heaven for hell on
earth, rather than making life on earth better) were deliberately selected ahead of those that didn’t. Rev. Pete
also covers the (flawed) attempts at determining authentic authorship (some of which was just: what has greatest
public acceptance?), and one of the experts interviewed states that
inclusion of the Apocrypha or failing to develop a single orthodoxy would have made
conversion of the Emperor Constantine unlikely, and the church wouldn’t have
become as widespread. The next three centuries after that had some at times
violent suppression of anything that didn’t fit the official orthodoxy.
So, in my words, the violent invasion of Europe by this Middle Eastern
religion would probably not have happened, along with all the massive suffering
caused thereafter by prejudices against women, the savage violence of the
Inquisition and the twisted results of celibate priesthood may not have
happened, if the neochristian church had been more open to what I would
describe as Truth.
All in all, I am rather shocked by Rev. Pete Owen Jones rather easy
acceptance of the decisions made around the Apocrypha, and the violent path
that those decisions led to. Of course, I’m not an Anglican priest who is
possibly struggling to comes to terms with flaws in his faith … I’m a pagan
Priestess who has already been through a similar exercise over some of the
flaws associated with Paganism … (On
that, have a read of this
post, which puts a broader perspective on Pagan concepts of Deity,
perhaps.)
All told, I have to say this TV show is the best presentation in
support of my contention that much of what we see now is actually
neochristianity, rather than Christianity, that I have ever come across.
Rev Pete interviews experts in the various fields and reviews the
archaeological evidence, and it is well worth a view if you’re interested.
As a final point, for more on this topic see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament_apocrypha#Gospels [2]
[2]
Please see here and my post "The
Death of Wikipedia" for the
reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of
h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as
extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather
engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to
the Galaxy").
Love, light, hugs and blessings
Gnwmythr,
Wéofodthegn
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix
Lux? … Morinehtar?
… Would-be drýicgan
... )
My "blogiography" (list of all posts and guide as to how to best use this site) is here, and my glossary/index is here.
I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ... See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "Pagans for Peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flame, ground and shield, do alternate nostril breathing, work with colour, and see also here and be flexible.
- One size does NOT fit all.
- Don't be mediocre - seek to excel.
- Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
- Our entire life experience, with all the many wondrous and varied people, places and events in it, is too small a sample for statistical reliability about Life.
- May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
- Ban the dream interpretation industry!
- A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
- Being accustomed to interacting via certain rules makes those rules neither right nor universal.
- Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master.
- Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
- Any person, male or female, who has neither a serious health issue, dependents nor an agreement about study. yet expects their partner to work to support them, is, spiritually speaking, little more than a parasite.
- The means shape the end.
- BPLF restraint of uncooperatives is NOT an opportunity for revenge or getting even - even unconsciously.
- As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
- My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
- All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ...
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be
stronger [people].
John F. Kennedy (who was
quoting 19th Century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
Jesus loves you. Odin wants you to grow up.
We make our decisions. And then our decisions turn around and make us.
F.W. Boreham
Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious.
Jane Elliott
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing.
(based on
writing by) Edmund Burke
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
Albert Einstein
We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile."
Robert F. Kennedy 1968
There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.
John F. Kennedy
If we could change ourselves, the
tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so
does the attitude of the world change towards him. … We need not wait to see
what others do. (Often degraded to “Be
the change you want to see in the world” – see here)
Gandhi
Tags: Christianity, discrimination, history, neochristianity, society,
First published: Tysdagr, 15th July, 2014
Last edited (excluding fixing typo's and other minor matters): Tuesday, 15th July, 2014
