Category: Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as set forth in Scripture, tradition, experience, and practice.

The Two Eyes of Wisdom

Wisdom has two eyes, in order to see reality truly as it really is. One eye is humility, the second eye is benevolence. By benevolence I mean volitional love. This is, willing the highest good of another without selfish intent.

Wisdom must see with humility in order for self not to blind it. Wisdom must see with benevolence in order that ill-will may not blind it

Humility and benevolence, these are the secret ways that wisdom sees through the illusions of self and conflict and gazes upon the true nature of things.

If you are to see with wisdom, you must seek to see with humility and love with unselfishness. These are the ways of wisdom, the path to the true.

Christianity Renew or Reject

“If a person is really involved in a religion and really building his life on it, he better stay with [it]…. You can keep an old tradition going only by renewing it in terms of current circumstances…. When the world changes, then the religion has to be transformed.” – Joseph Campbell

Many are leaving Christianity because it is no longer meeting their needs. They see it as out of date and out of touch. The overwhelming evil in the world doesn’t make sense if there is an all good and all powerful being in charge.

Gnostic Christians deny that God is in charge. Rather, Satan is “the god of this world” (2 Cor 4:4). The good God entrusted Adam with dominion over the earth, and he surrendered it to the devil.

In this and many other ways, Gnostic Christianity improves on Catholic Christianity. As more and more of the Bible is questioned as to its historical accuracy, Gnostic Christians have always maintained that it is primary myths, metaphors, and parables. But so have the mystics.

The Confusion of Gnosticism

How do you relate the Bible and the Valentinian writings in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures?

First, what authority do the Valentinian writings have?

Second, what authority does the Bible have?

Third, how do the Nag Hammadi Scriptures and the Bible relate to one another?

These are difficult questions and little consensus among Gnostic Christians. But more importantly, this has to be answered before we can even talk about beliefs.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of ungrounded talk under the banner of Gnosticism. Most talk past one another. Everything strange and weird is found under the banner of Gnosticism. That is why these three questions have to be answered for the conversation can even begin.

Marrying Church and State

Gnostic Christianity began as one of many kinds of Christianity. It followed the teachings of the apostles Paul, Thomas, and John.

Unfortunately, the organized institutional Church joined up with the imperial Roman Empire and decided that only one form of Christianity would be tolerated. Therefore, gnostic Christianity became a persecuted group, and eventually died out or merged with the Catholic Church.

But Christians are beginning to stir. They’re beginning to wonder if a great mistake was made by marrying church and state. And the resulting Christianity has tried to control the hearts and minds of the entire world.

It’s in the midst of this inner questioning, that gng Gnostic Christianity is beginning to have a revival. That is not a bad thing, that’s a good thing. Is not a heresy, it is a better way of being Christian.

Ungrounded Speculation

It is interesting, in fact, fascinating, that those who are interested in Gnosticism tend to speculate all over the place. They bring in occult ideas such as alchemy, Kabbalah, and astrology.

But their interests and mine are different. I’m in a quest to discover the historic Christianity. I want to understand the early Christian background, so that I know what Christianity was like in the first and second centuries.

And from that Christianity, draw out the best version of Christianity to confront the modern world. I’m calling that version of Christianity, “Gnostic Christianity.” Because the only type of Christianity that can survive the modern era, is one that embraces myth and science, but doesn’t confuse them

The context of early Christianity is Judaism, the Essenes, Greco-Roman philosophy, and the Mystery Religions. Religions. These are the areas of study that I’m interested in and that have relevance to the formation of early Christianity.