Thursday, February 23, 2006

Gospel of Judas: Will Gnosticism be Revived?



The Gospel of Judas is set to be published. Beliefnet has the article here.

For an interesting article about Judas depicted in art, you can read here.

10 comments:

Sophia Sadek said...

As a heretic, I am not at all offended by "Against All Heresies." We measure our success by the violence of our opposition.

I don't understand the question, "Will Gnosticism be Revived?" Gnosticism has never gone away. Perhapse you didn't notice all those people being burned at the stake.

Gnostics have been around for a very long time. We don't intend to disappear. One of our roles is to cultivate trees of knowledge and trees of life. We predated the Fall.

Madeline said...

Dear Sadek;

So what? I'm afraid your view of the popularity of gnosticism is wildly inaccurate. Gnosticism was pretty much abandoned as a philosophy by the end of the sixth century a.d. Of course there ARE still gnostics; just like there are still people who believe the world is flat.

If persecution (the "violence of our opposition") is the measure of success, then I guess with 2000 years of persecution and thousands of martyrs the Catholic Faith is doing alright.

I entirely understand your last paragraph. Basically, you intend to perpetuate the same lies that Satan told in the Garden of Eden. Ohhh, Scary.. You know, for those of us who know the Truth, your philisophical ideology is just sooo boring. It's been done, okay?

The shame of it is, there are some people out there who will be taken in by your pseudo-intellectualism. Thankfully, we have blogs like "againstallheresies" to educate the ignorant. I encourage you to visit it often.

Sophia Sadek said...

Technically, the Church has only been in the persecution business for 1700 years, not 2000. The number of people martyred by the Church is greater than thousands.

When it comes to a flat and immobile Earth, nobody beats the Church. An Irish theologian was attacked by Roman clerics for teaching the abominable heresy that the southern hemisphere exists. (After all, if there were anyone on the other side of the Earth, they'd fall off.)

As far as lies go, let's look at the Trinity. The only mystery to the Trinity is how anyone can espouse such a bold faced lie. The whole concept was fabricated by the greedier bishops in order to excommunicate their opponents.

Madeline said...

Wow! I'd say the "violence of your opposition" is increasing. I must have struck a nerve...

Since you've taken my advice to visit often, I'd also encourage you to read "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization"
by Thomas E. Woods Jr. It might open your eyes as to how the Catholic Church fosters true knowledge and scientific advancement.

As far as the "greater than thousands" martyred by the Catholic Church, I do hope (yawn) that you're going to dredge up the whole Crusades thing again. After all, as we've seen in recent weeks, Islam IS the religion of peace. Or maybe you're refering to the Aztecs. Yes, (darn!) if only the conquistadors hadn't stopped that pesky human sacrifice thing.

As far as your vehement opposition to the Trinity, it's a concept so simple (and true - all three persons of God are mentioned in the Bible) that every Irish farmer was able to grasp the concept from St. Patrick's simple explanation. At the same time, it is so profound that "it is easier to empty the ocean with a bucket than to explain the concept of the Trinity." Wrap your mind around that one!

Sophia Sadek said...

Not to worry. You've struck no nerve.

As a progenitor of scientific advancement, the Church burned books on science and mathematics as works of the Devil. Does that appear in Woods' book?

I'll remain silent to commemorate the victims of the Church.

The simplicity of three essentially different entities, Father, Son, and Spirit contradicts the "consubstantial" clause of the Trinity. Yes! Even you can become a heretic.

Thomas Coolberth said...

It is true that some Cardinals opposed Galileo's views and urged him not to publish until they could figure out the ramifications of his theories.

But, again, let us put this in context. Galileo was a practicing Roman Catholic. The ideas he supported were those of Niklaus Copernicus, a Polish Jesuit priest of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Church created Western Civilization, it invented organized science, founded the first university and created our legal system...We are fish in a Christian ocean.

Gnosticism and other cults of secret , "hidden" knowledge feed off Christian society as a tic feeds off a dog. It's useless, it is difficult to teach, impossible to understand and ultimately proves dissatisfying to people who explore it.

In the end, there is only Christ crucified.

tradcatholic said...

Now, now, Madeline and Tom, no use attempting to present Truth to Ms Sadek when there is not truth in her belief system. The gnostic 'principle' is pessimism and totally pseudo-intellectual, with no real belief structure and no reason to exist in the first place. Poor gnostics as Ms Sadek rely totally on magical 'knowledge' and the suppossed power of weird names and sounds and gestures.

Early Gnostics tried to claim some nebulous affinity with Christ and His Apostles, and churned out loads of apocryphal 'gospels' to substantiate the claim, hence the Gospel of Judas which is the lead item on this great blog.

I do pity Ms Sadek trying to cultivate an orchard full of trees of 'knowledge' and trees of 'life' without the water of Truth to make them grow!

Gnostics are unsure where they come from, are confused as to where they are, and certainly have no idea where they are going!! - but Madeline, Tom and I know, don't we!! Prayers for the Gnostic tonight. That's a promise.

Sophia Sadek said...

I agree with Mr. Shawn that the traditional university system stems from the Church. The educational system it replaced was far better (a personal value judgement, of course). The latin school method of education was recognized as being a problem ages ago.

Let's not forget that the Pythagoreans were able to perceive a rotating Earth before the Common Era. If you spent more time researching the Pythagoreans you'd find connections to Christ that would rock your faith in the Holy See. You'd come to realize which was the tick and which the source of blood.

As for gnostic confusion, Bruno was criticized for perceiving a rotating Earth. Someone with an attitude similar to tradcatholic said something to the effect of, "He says the Earth is spinning, but it's realy his own head going round and round."

You needn't pray for me. It's your own soul you should be concerned about.

Thomas Coolberth said...

I'm familiar with Pythagoras and specifically with Socrates who keenly perceived the imortality of the human soul. I believe it is in the Phaedo that he writes about his soul going to the Heavens.

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle took the human mind as far it could go. They also saw how foolish the pagan god-system was.

I'm a amateur astronomer and spend my time reading about astrophysics, cosmology and the like.....My hero is Johannes Kepler who figured out the eliptical path of the planets was a devout Roman Catholic. Albert Einstein was a devout and believing Jew.

There's a famous story of an old man on a 1800s train heading toward Paris. As the old man fumbled through his rosary beads, an impetuous youth said, "Silly old man and your superstitions! You need to put more faith in the natural sciences, they provides answers to today's problems, not your silly beads."

The old man looked up bemusedly, "Oh young man, I'd like very much to learn more about these new sciences, let me give you my card."

The name on the card read: Dr Louis Pasteur.

This is a true story.

I suspect the youth went away dejected.

Ms. Sadek, it is praying for your soul that we will secure ours. I appreciate your civil tone.

Sophia Sadek said...

Are you also aware that the Church labelled the Pythagoreans as heretics?

Justin Martyr originally wanted to join the Pythagorean school. They told him to get a liberal education first. He said he didn't have time for a liberal education. That seems to have been the pattern for many of the Church Fathers who later attacked all things Pythagorean.

The fruits of the Pythagorean tree are manifold and nurishing. Christ reflected that nurishment.

On the other hand, the fruits of the Trinitarian tree ...