The Gospels and the Gnosis

I have had a series of insights over the last twenty four hours that I believe relate to the Gospels and the Gnosis.

If anyone is interested in reading it then it is below.

The full work will require a prolonged explanation that I will undertake in the next day or so - but the basic outline below is about one of the more revealing parts of the insight.




The Two 40 Day Periods of Revelation.

The two 40 day time periods in the life of Jesus when he underwent the Temptation in the desert and the period after the Crucifixion leading up to his Ascension represent the two teachings of Christ.

These are the Gospels and the Gnosis.

The Gospels were taught after Christ went into the desert and underwent the temptations.

The Gnosis was taught to Thomas in the Gospel of Thomas after Christ had died on the Cross.

The Gnostic teaching to Thomas relates to the spirit surviving after death.

These are the Esoteric teachings for the Gnostic elect in Christianity - the Gnostic Pneumatics.

The ressurection of Christ after the Crucifixion is the moment Christ proves to the disciples and the world that the Gnosis really does bring life after death. Christ did not just die on the cross for our sins, he also died to prove that the Gnosis ensures the spirit survives after death to the disciples and the world.

For the christians he died for our sins - for the Gnostics he allowed his body to die to prove that the spirit survives after death,

The two 40 day time periods are when Jesus experiences the spiritual revelations that become the basis of his two sets of teachings.

The Gospels are the teachings for the masses - the Gnosis for the elect.

The Gospels are the Exoteric teachings for the masses taught and preached to the crowds eg The Sermon on the Mount.

These insights and teachings were obtained after The Temptation of Jesus.

The first temptation in the first 40 day period relates to turning stones into bread.

(1)

The Bread - this links the event directly with the breaking of the bread in the 40 days after Jesus death when he met the men on road of Emmaus where Jesus breaks the bread and dissapears - this is Jesus using the bread to represent his body that is broken / killed on the cross. The author of the Gospel of Luke, at Luke 24:13-27, writes that Jesus appeared to two disciples who were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

The author of Luke places the story on the evening of the day of Jesus' resurrection. The two disciples have heard the tomb of Jesus was found empty earlier that day. They are discussing the events of the past few days when a stranger asks them what they are discussing. "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him." He soon rebukes them for their unbelief and gives them a Bible study on prophecies about the Messiah. On reaching Emmaus, they ask the stranger to join them for the evening meal. When he breaks the bread "their eyes were opened" and they recognize him as the resurrected Jesus, then Jesus vanishes from sight.

To the Devil in the temptation on the desert Jesus replies, "It is written: 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God "

The Bread is the body of Christ - therefore the teaching from the mouth of God is that one does not live by the body alone, but also by the spirit and the gnosis.

The spirit and the body are the two in one. Each live.

The words that come forth from God are the teachings of the Gnosis - the teachings that allow a spirit to survive after death.

By breaking the bread in front of the men at Emmaus and then vanishing, Christ is re-enacting the crucifixion and showing them that his spirit survived his death. When he vanishes after breaking the bread, this is symbolic of his spirit leaving the body after his death on the cross - but as Jesus has returned to the disciples at Emmaus and shown them he has triumphed over death - then he therefore confirms that the spirit survives after death and he survived after the Crucifixion.


(2)
The Temple - The devil offers to make Jesus the Jewish Messiah and ruler of the Temple = the Jewish religion.

The Devil takes him the pinnacle - offers to make him the Messiah of the Jews - and Jesus refuses. The devil then threatens to throw him off and that if he is the son of god, then god will save him.

The devil is in fact Yahweh / Jehovah.

"Our Rabbis related that in the hour when the Messiah shall be revealed he shall come and stand on the roof (šbyt) of the temple." (Peshiqta Rabbati 62 c-d)

The devil says "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone."(the Devil is misapplying Psalms 91:12)(Luke 4:9-13)

Once more, Jesus maintained his integrity and responded by quoting scripture, saying, "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.'"[22](a reference to Deuteronemy 6:16)




(3)

Then the demiurge offers him power over all the nations of the world through making him the ruler of the Roman Empire itself - and Jesus refuses ;

Satan says to Jesus: “All these things I will give you if you fall down and do an act of worship to me.”(Matthew 4:9)
Jesus replies "Get away, Satan! It is written: 'The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.'"[24](referencing Deuteronomy 10:20)

Jesus refuses.

This is also a reference to the Gnosis in Matthew 13. 47-50 when Jesus says that one day Christianity will be taught in all nations of the world as the devil offered him - but that not all Christians will be saved - only those who know the Gnosis will be saved. They are the good fish.





The Key to the symbolism of the Gnosis ;

When reffering to the Gnosis Jesus uses the analogy of fishing to refer to the esoteric nature of the teachings.

In fishing the fisherman throws away the little fish and only keeps th bigger ones - the Gnostics.

Compare Thomas 8 SV

8. And Jesus said, "The person is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!"
with Matthew 13:47–50 NIV:

47"Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."





The key to the symbolism of the Gnosis in the Gospels ;


When reffering to the Gospels Jesus uses the analogy of sheep to reference the Exoteric nature the of the teachings.

The lost sheep is the Gnostic who achieves the Gnosis from amongst the masses.

This is the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12–14 NIV

12"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost."

This is the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15: 3-7 NIV

3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

This is the parable of the lost sheep in Thomas 107 SV

107. Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the sheep, I love you more than the ninety-nine."

This is the lost sheep discourse in John 10: 1-18 NIV

1"I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.

7Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.[1] He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.


14"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me — 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."





(1) en.wikipedia.org...

I read through several of your thoughts before having one myself. I will go back and read your info in its entirety. I just want to share this.

What if the Gospel and the Gnosis are the two witnesses? Or they are representative of the 2 witnesses? Some people believe the 2 represent the law and the resurrection and/or the prophets and the disciples.

The fish that are cast back are the souls that are reincarnating for more wisdom and experiences. Gnosticism is about finishing that cycle and remaining in the highest realms of heaven, just as Buddhism and Hinduism, etc., teach.

Who decided on the books to be included in the bible? That's your "Gospel" teacher. Many books were excluded for not being divinely inspired. And you know who made that decision? Men. Not God, not Jesus.

The Gnostic view was despised by christians. Thats why they were supressed. The Romans never left power, they just changed form. We know them now as the Roman catholics.

There is no way , IMO, that both of the ideas could be right. More likely, the Gnostics were right. Jesus didnt die for our sins. he died to prove everlasting life. There is no heaven, there is no hell. God is not an old man with a grey beard. We are all each a spark of the divine force that is all around and in everything. But thats just my opinion.

Originally posted by Mike.Ockizard
Who decided on the books to be included in the bible? That's your "Gospel" teacher. Many books were excluded for not being divinely inspired. And you know who made that decision? Men. Not God, not Jesus.

The Gnostic view was despised by christians. Thats why they were supressed. The Romans never left power, they just changed form. We know them now as the Roman catholics.

There is no way , IMO, that both of the ideas could be right. More likely, the Gnostics were right. Jesus didnt die for our sins. he died to prove everlasting life. There is no heaven, there is no hell. God is not an old man with a grey beard. We are all each a spark of the divine force that is all around and in everything. But thats just my opinion.

Also, all the organized Christian sects are bastardizations of Roman Catholicism. Slightly more palatable versions of Roman slavery.

Just to make it a bit clearer for people - in the first temptation when the devil asks jesus to turn the stones into bread -this is not to be taken literally as a demand for Jesus to turn the stones into bread - it is a demand for Jesus to turn the 'stones' into 'bread' which means people.

The bread is the human body.

The breaking of the bread is death.

The bread in the communion represents the body of Christ.

The devil asks for Jesus to prove he is the son of God by turning inanimate rocks into human beings and for Jesus to demonstrate to the vain, petty and jealous devil who is in fact Jehovah / Yahweh, that just like him Jesus has the power of creation.

But this is not the power of perfect creation as that if of the God of the Pleroma only - this is the power of false and fallen creations.

The Devil / Jehovah / Yahweh wants Jesus to prove he is as powerful as he himself Yahweh was when Yahweh / Jehovah / Yaldaboth / The Devil created the universe and life from inanimate matter within the universe.

At the same time on another level of meaning the devil is demanding that Jesus turns the people who reject him into the faithful - from rocks into the bread.

Jesus refuses as that is the role of his father to do this - not him.

It is Barbelo who first sinned and gave life to Yawheh without the permission of the God of the pleroma , and via this sin Jehovah / Yahweh is created and Yahweh creates the universe and man.

The fallen universe and fallen man are products of Yahweh, not the God of the Pleroma.

The devil is Jehohav / Yahweh and he is asking Jesus to re-create the exact same sin of the fallen creation of Barbelo - he is asking Jesus to copy Barbelo and to use his powers to turn rocks into human beings - which is what Jehovah / Yahweh did after Barbelo gave birth to Yaldboath / Jehovah / Yahweh.

The devil is tempting Jesus to do as Barbelo and Yahweh did - which is to create life from inanimate matter without the permissio and guidance of the true God of the pleroma to do so.

This is Jehovah tempting Jesus to undertake the same sins that Barbel his mother and Jehovah undertook when they undertook acts of creation without the permission or guidance of the God of the Pleroma - and hence Barbelo and Yahweh created false and corrup creations.

Barbelo brings forth the corrupt creation Yahweh / Jehovah / Yaldaboth and in his turn Yahweh / Jehovah / Yaldaboath brought forth the fallen and corrupt universe and a fallen and corrupt man - a humanity whose bodies carry within them the genetic defects of an imperfect creation for all time.



Jesus rightly refuses.


As the Son of the God of the Pleroma, not Jehovah / Yahweh / Yaldaboth - Jesus knows that only the God of the Pleroma , his father, can bring forth perfect creations and that if he did as the devil asked - then he would merely bring forth more corrupt and imperfect creations from the 'rocks' when turned he them into 'bread / people' to add to the already corrupt and fallen universe and fallen man.

When one understands the true meaning of the temptation of the devil to ask Jesus to turn the rocks into bread, the literalist meaning of the Biblical scholars reveals only their absence of its true meaning.

This moment, when Jesus refuses to turn the rocks into bread is a powerful cosomgenic statement from Jesus that relates to the creation of the universe and life itself - and for the people who think the Devil merely tempted Jesus to perform a petty miracle of turning rocks into bread - then they know nothing of the true dignity of Jesus at this moment and the true message he was trying to convey when he refused to perform this miracle.

reply to post by leejohnbarnes


Lee,

If Jehovah is not the true God, why does the true God allow all of this activity? Is God a series of Russian dolls? When do we get to the end of the line of true Gods?

Originally posted by Hemisphere
why does the true God allow all of this activity?

He told them a parable. "See the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near. Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

– Luke 21:29-33, World English Bible

en.wikipedia.org...

The One knows; as the caterpillar must suffer chrysalis so the butterfly may be; the seed must suffer germination so the tree may be.

Originally posted by Hemisphere
reply to post by leejohnbarnes

 

Lee,

If Jehovah is not the true God, why does the true God allow all of this activity? Is God a series of Russian dolls? When do we get to the end of the line of true Gods?

The true god of the pleroma cannot act - he is not a physical god.

The physical universe is a product of Barbelo and Jehovah.

The disasters of the planet are caused by the universe / matter / earth / man being imperfect creations of an imperfect god - Jehovah.

Barbelo did not create Jehovah with the permission of the divine perfect spirit of the Pleroma - hence her creation Jehovah is imperfect and hence the universe and Earth created by Jehovah are also imperfect and illness, death, disasters are the result of those impefections.

Jehovah controls this universe.

The spiritual God can only create through Barbelo - and hence Barbelo as Sophia passed the seeds of God into men -the spark of the divine logos within man via Jesus / Autogenes / Seth in the Garden Of Eden .

Though Man is an imperfect creation of an imperfect universe created by an imperfect god Jehovah, within Man is the spark of light of the Pleroma - the logos - the Gnosis - a spark of the spiritual God himself.

When we look within and seek the light, we seek re-union with the Pleroma.

When we find the inner light within, we discover the Pleroma and join with it and hence we enlighten the whole world.

There is one divine perfect spirit within the Pleroma.

This is God.

Originally posted by teapot

Originally posted by Hemisphere
why does the true God allow all of this activity?

He told them a parable. "See the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near. Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

– Luke 21:29-33, World English Bible

en.wikipedia.org...

The One knows; as the caterpillar must suffer chrysalis so the butterfly may be; the seed must suffer germination so the tree may be.

Exactly.

Our liberation is within.

Once we liberate ourselves, then we liberate the whole world.

reply to post by teapot


Thanks Teapot! Very helpful.

Originally posted by leejohnbarnes

Originally posted by teapot

Originally posted by Hemisphere
why does the true God allow all of this activity?

He told them a parable. "See the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near. Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near. Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.

– Luke 21:29-33, World English Bible

en.wikipedia.org...

The One knows; as the caterpillar must suffer chrysalis so the butterfly may be; the seed must suffer germination so the tree may be.

Exactly.

Our liberation is within.

Once we liberate ourselves, then we liberate the whole world.

Thanks again Lee. It's the whole "Thomas" story again. Sticking his finger in the wound for proof. And of course the proof was always within. It would seem all of the constructs of this world, this life are there to divert us from looking within. Trusting our true natures. Trusting our instincts. God is within, not something we need search far and wide for.

Just posted this on the other thread.

I like to so much I am going to post it again.

'It is like really deeeeep man' !


With the advent of the theories of the Quantaum Universe, Uncertainty Theory, The 11 Dimensional Multi-verse M Theory, Dark Matter, Dark Energy, faster than light travel via Tachyons, the Holographic Universe, The Holographic Mind etc etc - then reality according to science is as magical and mysterious as the world of the spirit.

Jehovah is the demiurge, the force of Entropy in the universe grinding down matter into dust and lead.

The Pleroma is the realm of pure light and energy from which the energy of the Big Bang came.

The Big Bang was the seed of Jehovah exploding into being, the moment divine light energy from the pleroma was transformed into fallen matter - pure energy and light became matter in the darkness.

Jehovahs birth was matters slow death.

Barbelo who sustains the divine structure of the Pleroma and its Aeons via giving form to pure light within the Pleroma, used a portion of the divine energy to create Jehovah who then created the universe as he 'evolved' via entropy.

Space is the womb of Barbelo.

The Big Bang was the birth of Jehovah.

Matter is pure light energy from the Pleroma cast forth into the darkness of space.

Time is the slow death of light as it becomes matter and undergoes entropy.

www.cathar.info...

They said that the Body of Christ was in the Bread of the altar only in the same way as it was in all bread and in everything;



www.newadvent.org...



The old Hebrew name bêth lehem, meaning "house of bread",