Word: gnostics
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...Zosimos of Panopolis was an alchemist and Gnostic of the 3rd century who suffered some remarkable visions from which he derived the arcane principle: "Nature applied to nature transforms nature." * Bergman's domestic milestones: married at 25 to Dancer Else Fisher, divorced after two years, one daughter; married at 27 to Stage Director Ellen Bergman (no kin), divorced after five years, two sons, two daughters; married at 32 to Journalist Gun Grut, divorced after nine years, one son; married at 41 to Pianist Kaebi Laretei, his present wife...
Though it includes many word-for-word quotes and echoes from the New Testament, plus many new sayings attributed to Jesus, the Thomas Gospel is not a candidate for inclusion in the Bible. While some of the sayings may well be genuine, others are strongly influenced by Gnosticism. And Gnosticism, in its various forms (including Manichaeism) was one of the chief heresies fought by the early Christian church. Basic to all Gnostic sects was the belief that the world was evil, created by a bad god for the express purpose of imprisoning the divine spark which had somehow become vulnerable...
...Empty Jar. Gnostic thought existed long before Christ, but it adapted itself so well to Christianity that the subtlest and toughest Christian minds worked overtime to combat its combination of mystery, myth and spiritual snob appeal. When orthodox Christianity triumphed at last, the writings of the Gnostics were suppressed so thoroughly that most present-day knowledge of Gnosticism relies on the anti-Gnostic polemics of the fathers. The Thomas Gospel will widen knowledge-and speculation-about Gnostic doctrine...
Part of the Gnostic's special concern seems to have been self-knowledge, an emphasis that appears at least twice in the Thomas Gospel: Jesus said: Whoever knows the All but fails to know himself lacks everything . . . But the Kingdom is within you and it is without you. If you will know yourselves, then you will be known and you will know that you are the sons of the Living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty and you are poverty...
...Gnostic contempt for creation-the exact opposite of the Christian belief that the Creator-hence creation-is good, though flawed by man's disobedient self-will-is clear in this passage: If the flesh has come into existence because of the spirit, it is a marvel; but if the spirit has come into existence because of the body, it is a marvel of marvels. But I marvel at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty...