A Simple Explanation of Gnostic Cosmology--Walking the Fine Line of Heresy

Recently, I shared lunch at a local restaurant with some respectable ladies I've been associating with for a couple of years. We all happen to belong to a club called "Belles and Beaus of Jacksonville," which promotes get-togethers in Victorian, Western, and Civil War era clothing.  

The author appears second from the right, in the green dress and black hat. Our club, Belles and Beaus of Jacksonville, is a Victorian / Western Wear society that marches in parades and dines out at local restaurants, all dressed up.

Anyway, lacking any sense of propriety, I pulled out my phone and shared my latest Gnostic Gospel illustrations with the table. One of the ladies expressed interest in the Nag Hammadi texts, so I emailed her an explanatory cover letter and the link to the blog article: "Why is There Suffering in the World?" I explained in the email that this material covered Old Testament, pre-Genesis cosmology, and because of the timeline she would be able to find the Father and the Son, even the Christ, but not Jesus who had yet to be born.  I told her the Gnostic texts had been excluded from the Holy Bible in the 4th Century by Emperor Constantine's Bible committee in a maneuver to clean up the Christian narrative, and so there would be stories about the Father and the Son she didn't know.

The next day I received a strident defense of the Christian Gospel from this lady. She was so upset at my heretical teachings. She said she found my article to be so weird and convoluted as to be incomprehensible. It was clear that she had not understood that article and that she had consulted some typical anti-Gnostic authority for her boiler-plate rebuttals. She also declared that it was entirely inappropriate to share such apostasy at our Lady Belles luncheon and that I should never do such a thing ever again or I'd get booted out of the  club. There was much more to her reply but, to tell you the truth, I couldn't bear to read it. 

Naturally, my ego wanted to defend itself, so I whipped out a quick defense of my academic and Christian credentials and corrected some misinterpretations of the article she had put forth. I also commended her for standing up for Jesus. But then wisdom took the reins back from ego, and rather than hit "send," I deleted my reply. 

The article that follows has been sitting in "draft" form awaiting completion for a few weeks, so I've decided to make it the subject of today's post. This article will share the highlights of my academic and religious history with the hope of allaying the fears of those who believe in more conventional theology, although I actually have little or no expectation that anything I say will have the intended effect. In fact, I believe I now understand why Jesus and Socrates both stood mute before their accusers--because when someone's mind is closed to your point of view, there is no point in speaking.  

Nonetheless, I share the following information in case someone who is searching for an honest and informed perspective runs across it. Mazel tov!

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You may have noticed a number of religious-themed posts on this blog having to do with Christianity, alongside articles dealing with Taoism and Gnosticism. While the Simple Explanation is a consciousness-based ecumenical philosophy that covers literally all areas of human endeavor, from physics, biology, and chemistry through politics, psychology, and religion, my own personal belief system could be described as neo-Gnostic-Christian-Taoism. Since the Simple Explanation philosophy allows for both personal and transcendent memes, my own religious orientation does not limit the Simple Explanation to my uniquely personal beliefs. Nor does it limit my personal beliefs to the Simple Explanation, since the philosophy is global and transcendent. That is the beauty of this philosophy. All are welcomed and we needn't agree on the particulars. No matter your personal beliefs, they can be better understood with the Simple Explanation.

As a pious Christian who has faithfully refrained since childhood from crossing swords with the Church's orthodoxy, I have always taken seriously the admonition against adding or subtracting any "jots or tittles" to the Bible's words. As a teacher, I have striven to only share what I know to be True. And, as a True Believer, I have been cautious to avoid being led astray by wolves in sheep's clothing. I am mindful that, in the last days, "false Christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect" (Mark 21,22), and I have guarded my meme-bundle against many a false prophet and wrong teachings.  I have not sat at the feet of any guru, nor do I attend spiritual seminars and conferences, or watch them on youtube, as I do not wish to be led astray by any human's philosophy. I mostly read original source materials. 

This long-winded introduction is my attempt to assure readers that I approach all material with caution. I am not a liberal theologian but a simple follower of God who seeks to explain the Truths that underlie all religion and science. 

Here's the funny thing-- To conservative Christians, I appear to be a liberal heretic. To liberal Christians, I appear too fundamentalist. To non-Christians, I appear to be a religious simpleton. To scientists I appear to be superstitious, and to non-scientists I appear to be too scientific. And to fellow philosophers, my metaphysics is so unique and fresh, it lacks the academic stamp of approval from a major league institution.

Just to get it out there on the table, I was "Born Again" when I was five or six years old. This religious encounter happened at a Baptist friend's house one day after school. My own parents were not true believers, but more along the lines of cultural Christians who attended the Methodist church to make a good impression on the children and the neighbors. Later, in high school, I went through an evangelical phase of street-corner preaching and soul saving. My parents didn't much care for that and never would let me preach to them. 

When I introduce the blog to traditional Christians, I try to reassure them that Jesus would not have a problem with the Simple Explanation. As a born-again Christian who has been baptized in the river and in the Holy Spirit, my Christian credentials are as good as anyone's. It is not for man to say that I do not know Jesus, because I do. I wish it made sense to tell people that I'm really good friends with Jesus, and He approves of my message, but who would believe that? And, while the Simple Explanation can be confusing to religious traditionalists, the Gnostic Gospel Illuminated should be able touch the spirit with remembrance of the Father, the Son, and the Fullness. As I said to the Lady Belle in my email to her, "How can it be wrong to give glory to the Father, the Son, and the Christ?"

My academic credentials are pretty good for someone who didn't go to an Ivy League school. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Science in Psychology, a Master's degree in Education, another Master's degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling, and a Ph.D. in Classical Rhetoric. My academic papers won many awards and I have been published in academic journals as well as numerous popular magazines. 

I taught Logic and Argumentation, Public Speaking, Interpersonal Communication, and Group Dynamics in college for six years. I left teaching just about the time cell phones became ubiquitous. Within the first two years of their appearance, cell phones had students by the throat. I could see it was nothing but downhill from there.

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I find in the Nag Hammadi scriptures fresh theological insights that were excluded from traditional Christianity during Emperor Constantine's reign. The emperor took it upon himself to condense the Judeo-Christian narrative into one story that the Church should follow. The books that were acceptable to the Nicene Council made their way into the first Bible--the Tyndale Translation. The books that were unacceptable were burned. Fortunately for us, a few of those banned books were buried in clay jars in the desert. These buried books were uncovered as recently as 1947 and are only now being translated and distributed. 

The Nag Hammadi Scriptures

Reading through the Nag Hammadi texts is not easy. Many of the books contradict one another, and most of them paint femaleness in a very poor light. They also use odd metaphors for concepts that our modern minds find difficult to interpret, and that makes them easily misunderstood. Some of the books are downright contrary to books that made it into our modern Bible. 

The book my own Gnostic Gospel Illuminated focuses on is called the Tripartite Tractate. (Tripartite Tractate means 3-part book.) The Tripartite Tractate is a book of cosmology that tells the story of creation before the Genesis story. I think of it as a prequel to Genesis. It wonderfully glorifies God while addressing many long-standing theological complaints and conundrums. 

I have used scholarly methods to read and dissect the Tripartite Tractate, and I have applied the Simple Explanation method to raise the archaic verbiage to the meta level of understanding, in keeping with our latest scientific insights and modern speech forms. But, even more importantly, as a True Believer, my interpretations give glory to God in a fresh new way that illuminates His true nature. The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated and the Simple Explanation of Absolutely Everything are not apostasy--they are enlightening to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Which brings me to my final point--I think the reason people knock Gnosticism for requiring this thing called "gnosis" is that they do not understand what gnosis means. Gnosis is not a bundle of hidden, secret memes that must be studied and understood to gain redemption. Simply put, gnosis is the realization that we come from above, and that our Father is in heaven, and to heaven we shall return. That's all. Gnosis is stepping down from the throne of ego and the meme shroud of the Imitation to better reveal the light of God that shines from within. That's all. You cannot be taught gnosis, but you must discover it inside yourself. 

"This is accordingly how I know the ways of everything and the origin of all things: by observing what is within me." (Tao te Ching, v. 21)

So, even though gnosis cannot be taught, I will continue to do my best to explain, in the simplest possible terms, how to reach it. 

This diagram is possibly the most concise Gnostic Gospel ever conceived.