Gnostic Bible (eBook)

Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: EPUB

2009 | 1. Auflage
896 Seiten
Shambhala (Verlag)
978-0-8348-2414-0 (ISBN)

Infos

A collection of Gnostic texts spanning centuries, geographical locations, and cultural traditions—“a wonderful achievement” (Elaine Pagels, author of The Gnostic Gospels) Gnosticism was a wide-ranging religious movement of the first millennium CE—with earlier antecedents and later flourishings—whose adherents sought salvation through knowledge and personal religious experience. Gnostic writings offer striking perspectives on both early Christian and non-Christian thought. For example, some gnostic texts suggest that god should be celebrated as both mother and father, and that self-knowledge is the supreme path to the divine. Only in the past fifty years has it become clear how far the gnostic influence spread in ancient and medieval religions—and what a marvelous body of scriptures it produced.The selections gathered here in poetic, readable translation represent Jewish, Christian, Hermetic, Mandaean, Manichaean, Islamic, and Cathar expressions of gnostic spirituality. Their regions of origin include Egypt, the Greco-Roman world, the Middle East, Syria, Iraq, China, and France. Also included are introductions, notes, an extensive glossary, and a wealth of suggestions for further reading.

Textauszug

From The Gospel of the Secret Supper

Adam and Eve Choose Sin and Become Mortal
Then, I, John, questioned the lord, 'How can one say that Adam and Eve were created by god and placed in paradise to obey the father's orders, but they were then delivered to death?'

The lord answered me, 'Listen, John, beloved of my father, it is the ignorant who say, in their error, that my father made these bodies of mud. In reality he created all the virtues of heaven through the holy spirit. But it is through their sin that they found themselves with mortal bodies of mud and were consequently turned over to death.'

And again I, John, questioned the lord, 'How can a man become born in spirit in a body of flesh?'

And the lord answered, 'Descended from angels fallen from the sky, men enter the body of a woman and receive the desire of the flesh. Spirit is born then from the spirit and flesh from the flesh. So Satan accomplishes his reign in this world and in all nations.'

He told me further, 'My father permitted him to rule seven days, which are seven centuries.'

Satan's Angel Chooses Three Trees for the Crucifixion
And again I asked the lord. I said to him, 'What did he do during all that time?'

And he told me, 'From the instant the devil was expelled from the glory of the father and was forbidden to take part in affairs of heaven, he sat on the clouds and sent his ministers, angels burning with fire, down below to the people. He did so from the time of Adam to Enoch. And he raised his minister Enoch above the firmament and revealed his divinity to him. He had pen and ink brought to him. And once seated, Enoch wrote sixty-seven books under the devil's dictation, and the devil ordered him to carry them back to earth.

Enoch kept them safely on the earth and then transmitted them to his children, and he began to teach them the way to celebrate sacrifices and iniquitous mysteries. So he concealed from people the kingdom of the skies.

And Satan said to them, 'See that I am your god and that there is no other god but me.' That is why my father sent me into the world, that I make known and teach people to perceive the wicked spirit of the devil. But then Satan, having learned that I had descended from the sky to this world, sent his angel, and he took the wood of three trees and gave it to Moses so that I might be crucified on a cross made from the wood, which is at this time waiting for me. And he made his divinity known to his people, and ordered the law to be given to the children of Israel, and that he cross dry through the middle of the Red Sea.

The Lord Inseminates the Angel Mary
When my father thought of sending me to the earth, he sent before me his angel named Mary to receive me. Then I came down, entered her by the ear, and came out of her ear.

And Satan, prince of this world, knew that I had come down to seek and save the beings who had perished, and he sent his angel the prophet Elijah down to earth to baptize in water. He is called John the baptizer. Then Elijah asked the prince of this world,'How can I recognize the Christ?'

And the lord himself answered, saying, 'He on whom you will see the holy spirit descend like a dove and remain there, he is immersed in the holy spirit for the remission of his sins. He alone has the power to lead astray and to save.'

Is It a Sin to Marry?
Again I, John, ask the lord, 'Can one be saved by John's immersion without your immersion?'

And the lord...

Produkt-Details

• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Weitere Religionen
• ISBN-10: 0-8348-2414-0 / 0834824140
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8348-2414-0 / 9780834824140