Such an interesting concept, considering the humanistic bent of much of the
New Testament. Consider James 4:4, and then John 3:16...
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..."
(which takes no effort to quote).
I think this is interesting, since both of these concepts are so clearly
opposed. In the opposition of these two, God certainly has become an enemy
of God. Cool! Thanks for pointing that out.
(Of course, it could be pointed out that both of these passages were
written by different people, in different contexts, with diferent memesets
and agendas, and each was included in the New Testament through a
committee-like process, where politics surely played a role in determining
what should be included, which very well may have influenced some
canonization decisions more than coherence and consistency of thought
should have. But that would take all of the fun out of it.)
incidentally, I just visited the GFN, and it's interpretation of Gnosticism
doesn't mesh too well with my source on the subject:
<quote>
The Gnostic movement was one of the most powerful influences on
spirituality in world history. Gnostic beliefs decisively molded the
doctrines of conventional Christianity. The Gnostics were the first people
the orthodox church labeled as heretics during the early centuries of the
Christian era.
* * *
Gnosticism was never a unified movement, but rather a series of schools and
teachers whose ideas had common features. An examination of these aspects
suggests that Gnostic thinking first arose as a combination of trends found
in earlier Jewish, Greek, and Egyptian belief systems.
* * *
Many Gnostics rejected the notion that Christ had ever had a physical body.
How could a devine being have the same body of flesh as an ordinary human,
they asked? Instead, the Gnostics held that Christ had appeared on Earth in
a non-material, ghostly form, which is the heresy of _docetism_.
</quote>
There is much more of interest; the source for this is "Crimes of
Perception: an Encyclopedia of Heresies and Heratics" ed. Leonard George.
ISBN 1-55778-519-8.
-- John "Insidious Gnos" Williams
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
My Actual BBS handle, circa 1990!
PS: Beware acetics selling bumperstickers & tees.
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John Williams ICQ Address: 1213689 prefect@tricon.net
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"See my loafers? Former gophers!"
Various Artists: Raising the Tide of Mediocrity for Two Years
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