Gnostics considered themselves “Cool”

A hilariously batty article by Don Boys, a rabid evangelical.

Emergent Church Leaders are Modern Gnostics!

Gnostics (“knowledge” or “to know”) taught that Christ was not divine, did not have a fleshly body but was a spiritual phantom. Our human bodies are evil so they must be punished, starved, and kept under by asceticism. Other Gnostics said that since the body was evil, (and only the spirit mattered) any kind of immorality was acceptable. Gnostics considered themselves “Cool” since they had knowledge that normal, everyday people did not possess, making them “special” because of their inside information. To learn truth, they had to have spiritual experiences, apart from any authoritative word, so they got that “truth” from mysticism. Sounds as if Greek Gnosticism has emerged into our day.

EC people tell us we are living in changing times that demand a new approach to the Christian life. What worked in the past will not work today (unless it is mysticism, Gnosticism, paganism, etc!). We must change with the times so new questions are asked and new experiences are experienced! Hence, the justification for all the weird practices of the EC. However, Christians are not required to sit around humming, repeating the same word or phrase for long periods, or punishing their bodies to find God’s will. Jesus said in Matt. 6:7, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.” We can’t trust in various pagan and Roman Catholic practices but in the authoritative Word of God.

The First Issue of The Gnostic

For several months I've been woprking on a new journal (or magazine, I don't mind which term is used) of Gnosticism. Entitled simply The Gnostic, I intend it to come out three times a year. The final stages of the magazine have been taking weeks if not months, particularly as I'm doing all the typesetting and design myself. I'm still hoping to get the first issue to the printer by the end of this month. The first issue will include the following:-

An interview with John Turner, an expert on Sethian Gnosticism, a new translation of the Gospel of Judas and a note on translational issues in the Gospel of Thomas. Gnostic-influenced writers are featured heavily with an interview with Alan Moore, and an excerpt from a prose work inspired by William Blake, and articles on William Burroughs and Philip K. Dick. The more adventurous scholarly articles include Will Parker’s examination of the magical worldview, a look at the figure of Judas outside of the New Testament, and an examination of Paul’s attitude to Moses. Jeremy Puma’s regular column looks at the pivotal topic of Gnosis itself. Plus reviews of more than a dozen books.

I'm very pleased with the balance of material in this first issue, and I think it's going to be a great magazine. I'm just a little weary of gradually edging each stage forward for the past few months. I should add that the fault doesn't lie with the contributors, all of whom submitted their material very promptly.

More soon once the first issue is finished...

The Gnostics Available in USA

The US edition of The Gnostics: History * Tradition * Scriptures * Influence is now available on Amazon. The blurb tells me that,

"According to the ancient Gnostics—the early Christians who wrote such controversial texts as the recently discovered Gospel of Judas—we are all capable of gnosis, or direct knowledge of the true reality that lies behind the material world. Andrew Phillip Smith, author of respected works on the lost sayings of Jesus, the Gospel of Philip, and other Gnostic subjects, now offers a highly accessible layman’s introduction to this long-suppressed philosophy that offers an intriguing alternative to accepted Christian beliefs. With references to The Da Vinci Code, The Matrix, and other fictions inspired by the Gnostic worldview, this is an eye-opening, and possibly life-changing book meant to revive forgotten traditions, and perhaps even allow readers to experience gnosis themselves."

Rechabites and Essenes

I'm investigating the tangle of heterodox Jewish and Christian sects of the first centuries CE at the moment, and also some of the unusual Islamic sects who have a similar place in the Islamic tradition, such as the Druze or the Alawites. All of this is in connection with a proposed book on the Mandaeans. I'm fascinated by the following excerpt from the Ascetic Discourse of St Neilos the Ascetic in the Philokalia (Palmer, Sherrard and Ware, The Philokalia Vol 1, p. 201.)

"Those of the Jews, on the other hand, who hold philosophy in honour--the Rechabites, the descendants of Jonadab (cf. Jer. 35:6)--do indeed encourage their disciples to live an appropriate way of life. They always live in tents, abstaining from wine and all luxuries; their fare is frugal and provision for their bodily needs is moderate. While devoting full attention to the practice of the virtues, they also attach great importance to contemplation, as the name 'Essene' indicates."

Now, St NEilos is writing in the early fifth century, by which time the Essenes had long since disappeared from view. Is Neilos merely confused about the Rechabites? Did the Rechabites co-opt the name "Essene"? Or were they perhaps linked to the Essenes?
Eusebius includes a passage from Hegessipus in which a Rechabite tries to prevent James the brother of Jesus from being stoned. I'm sure that Eisenman must have written about this.

Interpreting the Bible, Christian Mysticism and Gnosticism

Over at Split This Wood, Br. Jay posted an message about the compatibility of Christian mysticism and Gnosticism. In the comments he added that he found many passages in the Hebrew Bible repulsive. Here are my comments:-

Hi Jay,
I include a chapter on Gnostic Bible interpretation in my new book. I see the Gnostics as using two different methods to reinterpret the OT--inverse exegesis, in which the imortance of a biblical figure or story is altered to give a new reading of a story which is more compatible with Gnostic values--and allegorical interpretation which reads biblical passages as encoding references to the Gnostic myth or to the spiritual structure of mankind. The Gnostics used these interpretive methods because they couldn't accept the seemingly cruel God of the Hebrew Bible, and were opposed to the orthodox religions based on the Bible.
But Christians also reinterpret the Bible. Many episodes are seen as typologically prefiguring the coming of Christ. Huge swathes of the Hebrew Bible (for example, all the ritual law) are actually rejected. Rabbinical Judaism also reinterpeted the Hebrew Bible, filling in gaps, reinterpreting Jewish law after the destruction of the Temple,
So I don't think that there's anything wrong with adjusting, allegorizing or rejecting sections of the Bible--everyone does it, and I'm postmodern enough to realize that when we study the Bible it alwatys involves an encounter of reader and text.
As to whether Christian mysticism is compatible with Gnosticism, I would say that Gnosticism isn't really compatible with any mainstream church--Orthodox, Roman Catholic or any of the protestant churches. If you are a Christian mystic within any of those traditions then I believe that you have to follow the central doctrine of the particular church. But if you want to follow Christian mysticism outside of the established churches, then I should think that all that is required is that Christ should be central to your life.
This isn't the case with me. I don't call myself a Christian because though I might acknowledge Jesus as very spiritually developed, or even as a revealer or redeemer, he is not central to my spiritual viewpoint. I usually tell people that I don't call myself a Gnostic, but I'm happy for other people to call me that, but I'm moving a bit closer to identifying myself as a Gnostic now.

The Gnostics Again

Just a reminder that my new book, The Gnostics: History * Tradition * Scriptures * Influence is out. It's available in most of the bookshops in the UK and Ireland (and probably Australia as well.) Also from Amazon.co.uk and many other online retailers. The US version comes out in October and has a beige background on the front cover rather than the white background of the UK edition (which makes it look worryingly like the St George cross to my Welsh eyes.)