Gnostic Texts

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Hi, All! I'm back...Went to Tennessee to visit my family, and when I got home, my computer (very old, very ill) was no longer reliable for internet. So, here I am at the library when I have time, which will be intermittent, as my youngest has now started preschool, and Mommy's volunteering at the church while she's there.

Now, off to the topic. I confess I must eat some crow, TimT. (Note to all: Tim has PM'd me a couple times on the subject of Gnostic Texts, but I thought this subject was more interesting when more people could chime in, so here it is.) I went back and reread relevant portions of the texts, and you were right. Abraxis is mentioned as the ultimate creator, and Christ is mentioned as having been inhabited by the spirit of a lesser god figure who abandoned him as he died on the cross. OK. I was wrong.

My next question. Does anyone know which wine you serve with crow?

Judith

Christ is not a person. Though Jesus may have been. When "Jesus the christ" or shortened "Jesus christ" is referenced. It is supposed by common denomination, that the term "christ" or"christened" translates as "blessed, anointed." In the way that you mention it, Christ would be the inhabiting spirit or entity versus the inhabited. The conceived Jesus could be said to be imbued with the spirit of christ, though "Jesus" and "christ" are not one and the same.

I dont consider my self to be either of those though this seems true for me. So I will say that it is not true "only" for Adoptionists and Gnostics. Not all Christian doctrine support the motion that Christ and Jesus are the same. If Jesus existed, which it is supposed by some that he did, he also had a surname, and it was not Christ. According to the research I have done, "Jesus" was the embodiment, or container, vessel, vehicle, of the spirit of Christ. This Christ spirit being in essence that which allowed him to perform the remarkable things that some have claimed he could do.

OK. Phrasing was my bad. His name in Palestine in the first century would have been Jeshua ben Joseph. Because of the irregularities of his birth, he was frequently referred to as the son of Mary. Christ is a title, uniquely reserved for one person in history, the Jewish Messiah. It is the Aramaic equivalent of the concept, Aramaic being the language used in the region following the Hellenization that occured after Alexander conquered Palestine and forced Greek culture upon them.

I used the word "Christ" instead of "Jesus" accidentally. I grew up in a very strict fundamentalist sect, and even after all these years I still interchange the words upon occasion when I normally would use them more correctly. No reason to parse yourselves into a frenzy over it, dears.

How about a light Pinot Noir, or a Syrah? That oughta go nice with crow.

(Sorry, couldn´t resist).