BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Spirituality Any Christadelphians?

The Gnostics weren't Christians. they may have taken on the trappings of Christianity (like the Mormons or Scientologists), but their metaphysics and other beliefs are far too dissimilar to be reconciled with the main branches of Christianity. Using them as an example (or counterexample) of Christianity is as invalid as using Muslims or Hindus (who also value Jesus).

Nechochwen.. Not really.. The writings of the Gnostics were from the same time period as that of the early Christians, and they described the exact same events. The difference is in how they perceived Jesus. There are no writings about Jesus in either the Muslim or the Hindu faith. There are tons of writings including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and the Gospel of Judas among the Gnostic texts.

Fact is that the Gnostics and Early Christians were constantly in debate about whose teachings were correct.

They wrote about the same events and the same people but from a different angle.

I am not comparing them with the Christians. I am saying that their writings are equally as valid and should be taken into account if you are attempting to do a literal translation of who Jesus was and his understanding about a higher power during the time he lived.

To discount those teachings is like teaching history from a totally one sided angle using three of four people's opinions of what happened when you have a vast library of other accounts at your disposal.

It seems to me that anyone who follows Jesus has the right to call themselves a Christian, no matter what religious system they choose to adhere to. The Mormons do consider themselves to be as Christian or more so than other followers of Jesus, as do the Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Jehovah's Witnesses, or any other group who sees Jesus as a savior figure. Who has the right to say that someone else is or is not a Christian? That is like saying an orange is not an orange unless it grows on a certain tree.

These are the words of Christ himself. It is not for you or anyone to decide who is Christian and who is not. That is God's call and God's call alone.

Mark 9:37-39

36-37He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, "Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me�God who sent me."
Words for Jesus himself. It is not for you to decide who is Christian and who is not. That is God's call and God's call alone.

Blessed Be

Mark 9:37-39

38John spoke up, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn't in our group."

39-41Jesus wasn't pleased. "Don't stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he's not an enemy, he's an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.

Also this.

Luke 9:46-48

46-48They started arguing over which of them would be most famous. When Jesus realized how much this mattered to them, he brought a child to his side. "Whoever accepts this child as if the child were me, accepts me," he said. "And whoever accepts me, accepts the One who sent me. You become great by accepting, not asserting. Your spirit, not your size, makes the difference."

Ok, from the Gnostic angle, who was Jesus and how did he perceive a higher power?

Lala.. The best answer to that is the Gnostic Gospels themselves. If you look at the Gospel of Judas, Jesus is laughing at his disciples for their prayers. When they ask him why he says; "None of you really know who my father is."

Judas speaks up and says.. "I know who you are, and where you are from."

In the subsequent text, Jesus speaks of Barbelo, a realm of the Great Goddess Sophia and her consort.. he who is not named.

The Gospel also portrays Judas as having been appointed by Jesus to help him make the sacrifice of his mortal body in order to once more return to Barbelo.

If you want to read a whole lot of literature pertaining to Jesus and his times.. I would suggest "The Other Bible" edited by Willis Barnstone. It is chock full of ancient alternative scriptures, including the Gnostic Gospels, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Visonary Wisdom texts, Christian Apocrypha, Jewish Pseudepigrapha, and Kabbalah teachings.

There are thousands of teachings out there that speak about the life and times of Jesus besides the Bible. If you really want to look at all the different opinions of who and what he was and then make your own decision, it would seem to me that it would only strengthen your faith, and allow you to get a more well rounded picture of a great man.

Lala,
Here is how Jesus is God and man. He is the only begotten Son of God. That is, only born Son. God can do anything and those who do not regard Jesus as God in the flesh usually are unknowingly limiting God's power because they are thinking in the carnal rather than the spirit. Just because we ourselves cannot be in two places simultaneously does not mean that God is restricted in that way as well. He can do anything. God can be in two places and be in multiple manifestations simutaneously too. Jesus said to Satan in the desert that " You will worship the Lord your God and Him only will you serve." Yet Jesus was worshipped numerous times and He never rebuked anyone for doing so. So, if you only worship God and Jesus was worshipped, then was Jesus not God? Or at least He was claiming to be. Jesus called Himself " I AM" in John 8:58. That is what God in the Old Testament called Himself. Jesus could read people's hearts and thoughts like God. He forgave sins like God. He controlled the sea and weather like God. He had control over life and death like God. He did die but He raised Himself from the dead. He said, " I have the power to lay down my life and I have the power to take it back up again." Like God. In John 1:1 and 1:14 it says Jesus is the Word and the Word IS God. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." One of Jesus' names is Immanuel which means, " God among us" Jesus is God. John 10:30 " I and the Father are one." The Jews understood what He was claiming. They wanted to stone Him for calling Himself God. Jesus Christ is God. To deny that is to deny the authority of His Word. To embrace Him as God is to understand why He said He is the only way.

Well Cruze.. I suppose that is one way of looking at divinity. Not all of us see it that way of course, but if it makes your like happy and complete so be it.

I prefer the Gnostic version of Jesus myself.. For me it brings an understanding of who he was that the Bible does not..

But.. to each his own.