Post by Dave on Dec 2, 2019 13:25:20 GMT -5
The Gnostic Library Society
The Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of thirteen ancient books (called "codices") containing over fifty texts, was discovered in upper Egypt in 1945. This immensely important discovery includes a large number of primary "Gnostic Gospels" – texts once thought to have been entirely destroyed during the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" – scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library, initially completed in the 1970's, has provided impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature of Gnosticism.
Writings of creative and redemptive mythology, including Gnostic alternative versions of creation and salvation: The Apocryphon of John; The Hypostasis of the Archons; On the Origin of the World; The Apocalypse of Adam; The Paraphrase of Shem.
Observations and commentaries on diverse Gnostic themes, such as the nature of reality, the nature of the soul, the relationship of the soul to the world: The Gospel of Truth; The Treatise on the Resurrection; The Tripartite Tractate; Eugnostos the Blessed; The Second Treatise of the Great Seth; The Teachings of Silvanus; The Testimony of Truth.
Liturgical and initiatory texts: The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth; The Prayer of Thanksgiving; A Valentinian Exposition; The Three Steles of Seth; The Prayer of the Apostle Paul. (The Gospel of Philip, listed under the sixth category below, has great relevance here also, for it is in effect a treatise on Gnostic sacramental theology).
Writings dealing primarily with the feminine deific and spiritual principle, particularly with the Divine Sophia: The Thunder, Perfect Mind; The Thought of Norea; The Sophia of Jesus Christ; The Exegesis on the Soul.
Writings pertaining to the lives and experiences of some of the apostles: The Apocalypse of Peter; The Letter of Peter to Philip; The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles; The (First) Apocalypse of James; The (Second) Apocalypse of James, The Apocalypse of Paul.
Scriptures which contain sayings of Jesus as well as descriptions of incidents in His life: The Dialogue of the Saviour; The Book of Thomas the Contender; The Apocryphon of James; The Gospel of Philip; The Gospel of Thomas.
From the PREFACE of my copy
This volume is a thorough revision of The Nag Hammadi Library in English. …
Many of the translations are based on original work done by members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate School. The Coptic Gnostic Library Project (CGLP) was funded by UNESCO, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other Institutions.
The website – www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html presents all available English translations
From the INTRODUCTION of my copy
The Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of religious texts that vary widely from each other as to when, where, and by whom they were written. Even the points of view diverge to such an extent that the text are not to be thought of as coming from one group or movement. Yet these diversified materials must have had something in common that caused them to be chosen by those who collected them. … one of them, The Gospel of Thomas, begins with a word to the wise: “Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death.” Thus the texts can be read at two levels: what the original author may have intended to communicate and what the texts may subsequently have been taken to communicate.
Those who collected this library were Christians, and many of the essays were originally composed by Christian authors. In a sense this should not be surprising, since primitive Christianity itself was a radical movement.
the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" – Rome’s struggle to be dominate
Rome vrs Gnostics - The Roman Index – is not a secret conspiracy –it is a Book
(Wiki) The Index librorum prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidden to read them without permission
It was first started in 180AD by Irenaeus of Lyon France
(Wiki) Against Heresies, or On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis, sometimes referred to by its Latin title Adversus Haereses, is a work of Christian theology written in Greek about the year 180 by Irenaeus, the bishop of Lugdunum (now Lyon in France).
In it, Irenaeus identifies and describes several schools of Gnosticism, as well as other schools of Christian thought, and contrasts their beliefs with his conception of orthodox Christianity.
Until the discovery of the Library of Nag Hammadi in 1945, Against Heresies was the best surviving contemporary description of Gnosticism.
Who is Irenaeus?
Irenaeus c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in what is now the south of France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by combating heresy and defining orthodoxy. Originating from Smyrna, now Izmir in Turkey, he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp, the last known living connection with the Apostles, who in turn was said to have heard John the Evangelist.
Chosen as bishop of Lugdunum, now Lyon, his best-known work is Against Heresies, often cited as Adversus Haereses, an attack on gnosticism, in particular that of Valentinus
Who is this Gnostic Valentinus
(Wiki) Valentinus (also spelled Valentinius; c. AD 100 – c. 160) was the best known and, for a time, most successful early Christian gnostic theologian. He founded his school in Rome. According to Tertullian, Valentinus was a candidate for bishop of Rome but started his own group when another was chosen.
Valentinus produced a variety of writings, but only fragments survive, largely those embedded in refuted quotations in the works of his opponents, not enough to reconstruct his system except in broad outline. His doctrine is known to us only in the developed and modified form given to it by his disciples. He taught that there were three kinds of people, the spiritual, psychical, and material; and that only those of a spiritual nature received the gnosis (knowledge) that allowed them to return to the divine Pleroma, while those of a psychic nature (ordinary Christians) would attain a lesser or uncertain form of salvation, and that those of a material nature were doomed to perish
Why would organized Roman Christendom frown of Vanentinus?
Valentinus – was a leading Roman Christian – founded a school of theology in Rome – was in contention for BISHOP of all Rome, but voted down, then persecuted, and Indexed to the point that the only thing of him that remains is – criticism of him by Rome
He taught that there were three kinds of people, the spiritual, psychical, and material. Material people are carnal-centered and are sinners / not-saved / not even seeking. Ordinary Christians are believers (different that gnosis) and they need Church for spiritual support and guidance – the church can lead and teach ‘Ordinary Christians’ therefore govern these Ordinary Christians
For the first 1500 years Christians were not even allowed to read scripture – a priest was needed to preach it. Martin Luther was a full Blown Catholic Priest with his own Parish for three years before he ever read the agl for himself.
The gnosis group – once you are Born Again / baptized by the Holy Spirit / indwelt by the Holy Spirit – in communion with the Creator Himself –what do you need church for? – Except maybe to lead the church – can’t have that – it is a threat to the churches authority!
As the Jews say – once you become BIG you are ungovernable!
Some call it a Spiritual Revelation – to some it is an awakening
To a Gnostic it not new information – it is Torah that we knew from the womb as soul, but forgot as (Mind-Body) animal man – we remember who we really are = Soul not (Mind-Body) 3D dust of creation
The end result of the Roman Edit
The agl is a very nice well written text – edited to support only the Rome-Centric / ‘Ordinary Christian’ doctrine. While many of what Rome calls Gnostic text survive in only one totting and damaged ancient codex
Again from the INTRODUCTION of my copy
The texts were translated one by one from Greek into Coptic, and not always by translators xapable of grasping the profundity or sublimity od what they sought to translate. The translator od a brief sections of Plato’s Republic clearily did not understand the text … Fortunately, most texts are better translated, but when there are duplications one can sense the difference a better translateion makes in comparison to the poor translation – which leads one to wonder about the bulk of the text that exist in only one single version.
There is this same type of hazard in the transmission of the texts by a series od scribs who copied them, generation after generation, from increasing corrupt copies, first in Greek and then in Coptic. The number of unintentional errors is hard to estimate, since such a thing as a clean control copy dose not exist; nor dose one have, as in the case of the Bible, a quantity of manuscripts of the same text that tend to correct each other when compared.
Hundreds of copies of the synoptic Gospels were compiled together to make the modern Roman Canon
How many copies of the Gospel of Phillip exist in the entire world – ONE – and it look like:
Thank you Roman Edit
What’s the difference between a gnosis Christian and an Ordinary Christian
What must I do to be saved?
Roman Christendom says - “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
www.thechristianworldview.org/about-us-2/what-must-do-to-be-saved/
Nag Hammadi says - He (Jesus) said, "Verily I say unto you, no one will ever enter the kingdom of heaven at my bidding, but (only) because you yourselves are full. … I say to you, 'Become full, and leave no space within you empty, for he who is coming can mock you." … Therefore, you must be in want while it is possible to fill you, and be full while it is possible for you to be in want, so that you may be able to fill yourselves the more. Hence, become full of the Spirit, but be in want of reason, for reason <belongs to> the soul; in turn, it is (of the nature of) soul." (The Apocryphon of James)
Verily, I say unto you, none of those who fear death will be saved; for the kingdom belongs to those who put themselves to death. (The Apocryphon of James)
(53) His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision beneficial or not?"
He said to them, "If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become completely profitable." (The Gospel of Thomas)
… he (Jesus) said "He who shall not eat my flesh and drink my blood has not life in him" (Jn 6:53). What is it? His flesh is the word, and his blood is the Holy Spirit. He who has received these has food and he has drink and clothing. (The Gospel of Philip)
Repenetance
The most common term in the Old Testament for repentance is sub; the verbal forms appear well over 1, 050 times, although translated "repent" only 13 times, and the substantive "repentance" occurs only once in the New International Version. More commonly the translation is "turn" or "return." A related term is naham [j"n], which is translated three times as "repent" in the New International Version. In the New Testament, the most common verb is metanoeo [metanoevw] (33 times) and the noun metanoia [metavnoia] (20 times). A synonym metamelomai [metamevllomai] is once translated "repent" ( Matt 21:32 ).
Two requisites of repentance included in sub are "to turn from evil, and to turn to the good." Most critical theologically is the idea of returning to God, or turning away from evil. If one turns away from God, apostasy is indicated.
And - Confession of sins
www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/repentance/
Quite simply, humble yourself. Become so small in your own eyes that you see yourself as the person you really are: wretched and poor, someone who needs help.
activechristianity.org/what-is-repentance-how-do-i-repent
Gnostic - It is therefore fitting to pray to the father and to call on him with all our soul - not externally with the lips, but with the spirit, which is inward, which came forth from the depth - sighing; repenting for the life we lived; confessing our sins; perceiving the empty deception we were in, and the empty zeal; weeping over how we were in darkness and in the wave; mourning for ourselves, that he might have pity on us; hating ourselves for how we are now.
Again the savior said (cf Mt 5:4, Lk 6:12): "Blessed are those who mourn, for it is they who will be pitied; blessed, those who are hungry, for it is they who will be filled."
Again he said (cf. Lk 14:26), "If one does not hate his soul he cannot follow me." For the beginning of salvation is repentance. Therefore (cf. Acts 13:24), "Before Christ`s appearance came John, preaching the baptism of repentance."
And repentance takes place in distress and grief. But the father is good and loves humanity, and he hears the soul that calls upon him and sends it the light of salvation. Therefore he said through the spirit to the prophet (cf. 1 Cl 8:3), (The Exegesis on the Soul)
Joe 2:12 Yet even now, saith Jehovah, turn ye unto me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: 13 and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto Jehovah your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Feel Good-ism
Rom 8:28 And we know that to them that love God all things work together for good, even to them that are called according to his purpose.
Gnostic - (82) Jesus said, "He who is near me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom." (The Gospel of Thomas)
Timing
"What did you hear from the Master. And what has he said to you? And where did he go?"
But we answered them, "He has ascended, and has given us a pledge, and promised life to us all, and revealed to us children (?) who are to come after us, after bidding us love them, as we would be saved for their sakes." (The Apocryphon of James)
This is the book which the great Seth wrote, and placed in high mountains on which the sun has not risen, nor is it possible (that it should do so). And since the days of the prophets and the apostles and the preachers, the name has not at all risen upon their hearts, nor is it possible (that it should do so). And their ear has not heard it.
The great Seth wrote this book with letters in one hundred and thirty years. He placed it in the mountain that is called 'Charaxio,' in order that, at the end of the times and the eras, by the will of the divine Autogenes and the whole pleroma, through the gift of the untraceable, unthinkable, fatherly love, it may come forth and reveal this incorruptible, holy race of the great savior, and those who dwell with them in love, and the great, invisible, eternal Spirit, and his only-begotten Son, and the eternal light, and his great, incorruptible consort, and the incorruptible Sophia, and the Barbelon, and the whole pleroma in eternity. Amen. (Gospel of the Egyptians)
WWII - 1945 Nag Hammadi, 1947 Dead Sea Scrolls, 1948 Israel
Archon
For the first time as a Christina I have a clear ancient – First Christian view of the Archon
Where they come from and more importantly – what is their mission
Gnostic - "The Archons cast a trance over Adam which caused him to be sleepy, but it was his perception they dulled ... They make our hearts heavy that we may not pay attention and may not see. So we loose the reflection of the Divine Light within us ... The Archons burden the soul, attracting us to works of evil, and pull us down into oblivion, make us forget who we are. (The Apocrypha of John II 22: 14-10, though 27-20.)"
The Second Treatise of the Great Seth, another text of gnostic origin, "... explains how the Archons induce a false plan of salvation into the human mind, a counterfeit of the true plan of self-liberation we can take by developing our innate potential of Nous, 'divine-intelligence.'" the script goes on to say, "... that 'the doctrine of Aliens' is a great deception upon the human soul." (http://ponderingconfusion.com/papers.php?id=astronauts)
Gnostic - And I said to the savior, "What is the forgetfulness?" And he said "It is not the way Moses wrote (and) you heard. For he said in his first book, 'He put him to sleep' (Gn 2:21), but (it was) in his perception. For also he said through the prophet, 'I will make their hearts heavy, that they may not pay attention and may not see' (Is 6:10). (The Apocryphon of John)
Gnostic - Then the apostles worshiped again saying, "Lord, tell us: In what way shall we fight against the archons, since the archons are above us?"
Then a voice called out to them from the appearance saying, "Now you will fight against them in this way, for the archons are fighting against the inner man. And you are to fight against them in this way: Come together and teach in the world the salvation with a promise. And you, gird yourselves with the power of my Father, and let your prayer be known. And he, the Father, will help you as he has helped you by sending me. (The Letter of Peter to Philip)
Multidimensionality
As a scientist I am a 10 dimensional fanatic – String Theory – M Theory – 10 dimensions
Recognized by the Rabbinic sages as long ago as 13th Century Nachmanides
All of the Nag Hammadi speak to other localities of existence – and multidimensionalism
Three powers came forth from him; they are the Father, the Mother, (and) the Son, from the living silence, what came forth from the incorruptible Father. These came forth from the silence of the unknown Father. (Gospel of the Egyptians)
Gnostic - (113) His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
<Jesus said,> "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it." (The Gospel of Thomas)
Gnostic - What, then, is the resurrection? It is always the disclosure of those who have risen. For if you remember reading in the Gospel that Elijah appeared and Moses with him, do not think the resurrection is an illusion. It is no illusion, but it is truth! Indeed, it is more fitting to say the world is an illusion, rather than the resurrection which has come into being through our Lord the Savior, Jesus Christ.( The Treatise on the Resurrection)
Criticism of Modern Christendom – Rome
Gnostic - (38) Jesus said, "Many times have you desired to hear these words which I am saying to you, and you have no one else to hear them from. There will be days when you will look for me and will not find me."
(39) Jesus said, "The pharisees and the scribes have taken the keys of knowledge (gnosis) and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves." (Gospel of Thomas)
Gnostic - If one goes down into the water and comes up without having received anything, and says "I am a Christian," he has borrowed the name at interest. But if he receives the Holy Spirit, he has the name as a gift. He who has received a gift does not have to give it back, but of him who has borrowed it at interest, payment is demanded. This is the way it happens to one when he experiences a mystery. (The Gospel of Philip)
Gnostic - "For many will accept our teaching in the beginning. And they will turn from them again by the will of the Father of their error, because they have done what he wanted. And he will reveal them in his judgment, i.e., the servants of the Word. But those who became mingled with these shall become their prisoners, since they are without perception. And the guileless, good, pure one they push to the worker of death, and to the kingdom of those who praise Christ in a restoration. And they praise the men of the propagation of falsehood, those who will come after you. And they will cleave to the name of a dead man, thinking that they will become pure. But they will become greatly defiled and they will fall into a name of error, and into the hand of an evil, cunning man and a manifold dogma, and they will be ruled without law."
"For some of them will blaspheme the truth and proclaim evil teaching. And they will say evil things against each other. Some will be named: (those) who stand in (the) strength of the archons, of a man and a naked woman who is manifold and subject to much suffering.
(The Apocalypse of Peter)
Gnostic - "And there shall be others of those who are outside our number who name themselves bishop and also deacons, as if they have received their authority from God. They bend themselves under the judgment of the leaders. Those people are dry canals." (The Apocalypse of Peter)