The Simple Gnostic Gospel Answers "Why is there suffering in the world?"

A trove of ancient papyrus manuscripts was discovered buried in an earthen jar by a farmer in the Egyptian desert in 1945. These codices were named for the location near where they were found, Nag Hammadi. The Nag Hammadi scriptures are among other "Gnostic Gospels" that were edited out of the Holy Bible during the 4th Century in a move to restrict orthodox belief. In Simple terms, early church fathers purposefully detached the Gnostic memes from inclusion in their Christian meme bundle. 

The Simple Explanation has been carefully illuminating one of these rediscovered books in particular--the Tripartite Tractate--in an effort to demystify the Gnostic Gospel by applying principles of the Simple Explanation to its interpretation. This new Simple illumination answers many of our most basic theological conundrums, such as "Why is there death?" "Why does God allow evil in the world?" and the subject of this article: "Why is there suffering in the world?"

Over the course of illuminating the Gnostic Gospel, the Simple Explanation has designed a series of visual metaphors representing facets of Gnostic and Christian belief. For the fullest understanding of this article, you may wish to read the entire Gnostic Gospel Illuminated series from the beginning.  If you would prefer to first read the "Simple Gnostic Gospel, Part One: The Father, The Son, and the Birth of The ALL," click here.

The Aeons of the Fullness dream of a Paradise we have yet to inherit.

The chief aeon, Logos, mistakenly overreached and Fell as he attempted to reunite with the Father without the agreement of the Fullness or the will of the Father.

Logos shattered when he Fell and broke into shadowy chaos down below.

Logos retreated back to the Fullness, leaving the misbegotten shadows behind. A Boundary was drawn around the Deficiency created from the Fall. 

Logos and the Fullness created a new type of creature, the Second Order of Powers, to occupy the walled-off Deficiency and dispel the shadows left from the Fall. These new Powers are also called the Remembrance, because they have a small memory of the Fullness, Paradise, and the Father.

Those of the Remembrance fight against the Shadows of the Imitation in a never-ending War for dominance. Due to the delusion of the  Law of Mutual Combat, the Second Order of Powers forgets their true nature as they strive for power and dominion in the bounded space and time of our world.

The Fullness prays to their Father and the ALL for a Champion to break the stalemate and lead the Second Order of Powers out of Endless War. The Fruit of that union is called Savior and Redeemer, Advocate, Christ, and the Light.

Those of the Remembrance "with eyes to see" recognize the coming of their Champion from above with great joy and expectant hope. Those who recognize and accept help from above are called "Redeemed."

The 2nd Order of Powers is poised between a vision of joy and Paradise above in the Fullness and the turmoils of Endless War with the Deficiency below.

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This world in which we dwell is a temporary home. We are born into it, and we die out of it. Our time here is limited.

The Tripartite Tractate refers to our world as an "Economy," meaning a closed operational system of value and exchange. The resources of this world's economy are limited because we live in a bounded space. Those of us who live in this economy find ourselves in continual struggle with others over limited resources. Our continual struggle to "get what's coming to us" feels like an Endless War. We fight this battle against others and within our own egos.

The entities that came before us and live in the place called the Fullness are known as "aeons" and also the "First Order of Powers." The "Second Order of Powers" (us) were fashioned after the traits of the aeons. Whereas the Father and Son are immutable and indescribable, the aeons of the Fullness have awakened to themselves and, taken as a whole, are no more and no less than the sum of all the traits of the Father of ALL, broken out and individually named. 

As their descendants, we are naturally attracted upward, yet because we live in the Deficiency and struggle against the shadows of the Imitation, we are unprepared to "go home." We were given a desire for the things of this world,

"with the intention that it should draw them into a communion with the material. This was in order to provide them with a structure and a dwelling place, but also in order that by being drawn toward evil they should acquire a weak basis for their existence, so that instead of rejoicing unduly in the glory of their own environment and thereby remaining exiled, they might rather perceive the sickness they were suffering from and so acquire a consistent longing and seeking after the One who is able to heal them from this weakness" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 98, 99].

Our progenitors in the Fullness dream of the day when we are all Redeemed by the Christ and a new Economy comes to the world, bringing an end to the Endless War. In that day, Paradise will replace the Deficiency, light will drive out darkness, and love will be the only Power remaining.

Gnostic Gospel, Pt 12 -- Peace Offered to End the Endless War

Notice: There is now a separate blog dedicated to the New Gnostic Gospel. You can get there by clicking here.

The hierarchy of the Fullness

The original Economy was that of the Hierarchy of the Fullness, wherein every aeon knew its place, position, and duties for cooperative overall functioning. Each of the Fullnesses lived in a state of "joy, benevolence, and harmonious agreement," giving glory to the Father and never to themselves or each other [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 86]. 

Over the course of illuminating the Gnostic Gospel, the Simple Explanation has designed a series of visual metaphors representing facets of Gnostic and Christian belief. For the fullest understanding of this article, you may wish to read the entire Gnostic Gospel Illuminated series from the beginning.  If you would prefer to first read the "Simple Gnostic Gospel, Part One: The Father, The Son, and the Birth of The ALL," click here.

The Second Order of Powers was created to establish a "new Economy" to replace the Deficiency that had arisen as a result of the Fall of Logos.  

Logos and the Fullness brought forth these "little ones" of the Second Order so they could receive the "life-giving light born from the thought of brotherly love of the pre-existent Fullnesses" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 85], in contrast to those that arose from the Fall. The "Powers of Remembrance" resembled the aeons whose likenesses they were, and they were in harmony with themselves and with others of their kind.

Those of the Remembrance were from a good disposition, with an inclination to seek and pray to what is glorious and pre-existent and an ability to ponder and appreciate it. 

The new economy of the Second Order of Powers reflected a different method of doing business from their parents in the Fullness. In the new economy, the Powers vied for position and authority within a limited space. Here, those of the Imitation, who continued to wholeheartedly embrace the shadows left over from the Fall, actively fought against those of the Remembrance. 

For their part, those of the Remembrance forgot all about the values of the Fullness, due to the "law of mutual combat" they were enacting. The new Powers acquired the same "lust for domination and all the other passions of this sort," and wound up acting "against itself on account of its rage." It was during this Endless War that a myriad of "various kinds of matter and all sorts of powers [were] mixed with one another and in great number" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 84, 85].

Those of the Remembrance battle Those of the Imitation in a never-ending war over whose memes will rule the world.

Clearly, another solution was required if peace were to enter the Deficiency. 

Remember that none of this was due to an error of planning; rather these steps were all necessary to bring about an economy still to come. "For this reason, then, it is wrong to condemn the movement of the Word as the cause that made an ordained economy come to pass" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 77].

The aeons of the Fullness "took upon themselves the Fall that had happened as if it were their own, with concern, goodness, and great kindness. . . for the one who had become deficient could be made perfect in no other way except by the Fullness of the Father" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 86].

And so the aeons of the Fullness, every one individually and ALL of them collectively, gave glory in unison to their Father, while praying for help for the Deficiency. 

The Fullness gave glory to their Father and the ALL while praying for the Endless War to be over.

They brought forth One that combined every attribute of the ALL manifested in the image of the Father "of whom they had been thinking when they gave glory and prayed for help" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 86]. 

The Christ Principle, The Son of His Will, the Fruit of the ALL and the Father

This One was called "The Son of his Will" and "of the good pleasure of the ALL." It is "the knowledge of the Father, who wished to become known." It is also described as holding "authority vested in him from the beginning and the power needed to execute it" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 87, 88]. 

The aeons not only produced a singular Fruit reflecting the Father, but that Fruit also reflected their own individual countenances and aspects from their positions in the hierarchy of the Fullness. In this manner, they "went forth in a form that consisted of many forms, so that the one whom they were going to help should see those to whom he had prayed for help as well as the One who brought it to him" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 87]. 

Continue on to the next article in the Gnostic Series: Part Thirteen -- The Revelation of the Son
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Those readers who are put off by the name "God" or other religious words like the "Father," the "Son," and the "Holy Spirit," are free to continue using more modern memes like "consciousness" and "self-awareness," "algorithms" and "fractals." You may study these same topics in my Simple Explanation blog and book. However, if you are already familiar with Hebrew and Christian memes, then you will understand these Gnostic writings without needing to first dip into the Simple Explanation, and so you may skip the following translation.

The Fruit of the ALL and the Father becomes another fractal iteration of the Universal Unit of Consciousness, but this iteration is not a fractal deriving from Second Order of Powers. The Christ Principle would be a perfect fractal iteration of the Universal UC, taking into account the new information available to the universal formula arising from the goings-on in our bounded space. 

Here's what that sounds like in terms of the Simple Explanation: The Universal Unit of Consciousness has just amended the primary algorithm of the universe to include up-to-date data specific to each individual Unit of Consciousness in our space-time continuum. This new code represents patches to the fragmentary error-code of the Deficiency, in order to end the stalemate and reestablish harmony and proper functioning of the Economy.  

The reason why each UC needs its very own correcting code is because each UC's karma has been affected by the Imitation in a unique way, different from its neighbors. For humans, this means that each person has a personal point of view and a unique meme shroud that needs correcting. The creation story above also speaks to the need for each UC to be able to hear and recognize the voice of reason for themselves.

On another scale, the "forms consisting of many forms" also refers to the nested fractal hierarchies of our toroidal space that may need tweaking from time to time. Our Universal UC continually pours information, metaversal values, love and coherence into our space.

Gnostic Gospel, Pt 2: Qualities of The Father, The Son, and the ALL

Notice: There is now a separate blog dedicated to the New Gnostic Gospel. You can get there by clicking here.

This article continues the Simple exposition of the Gnostic Gospel. Jump here to review The Simple Gnostic Gospel, Part One. 

The Father is the great I AM—the indescribable, unknowable, eternally undivided One Who Is.

The greatness of the Father is incomprehensible. Its greatness is so immense that any one or any thing who tries to grasp it would be annihilated. [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 65)

So the Father created the Son to give form to the formless. The Son is united with the Father in perfect oneness. The Son possesses all of the supreme qualities of the Father. The Father and the Son exist in perfect harmony within themselves: loving, admiring, and giving praise and glory within. [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 57)

Being the perfect image of the Father, the Son’s inherent creativity immediately brought forth the ALL. The ALL, like the Father and Son, is infinite and limitless, consisting of the countless qualities of the Son, fully realized and undivided. [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 59)

The ALL is the essence of the Son, holy and imperishable. “And this is the form and the manner, and this is the kind, the joy, and the delight of the nameless, unnamable, inconceivable, invisible, and ungraspable unborn One.” [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 60)

“And in this same unitary way they are simultaneously this single One as well as all of them... The Son is entirely himself forever; each and every one of the members of the ALL eternally at the same time... He knows them, for they are himself... and if he brings them forth, it is in order that they may be found to exist as individual qualities forming a unity.” [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 67)

The Son became the form of the otherwise hidden and invisible Father so the ALL could see and speak with Him in their minds, that they might also become self-aware. But, like any newborn, though created with the capacity for knowledge, they were ignorant of themselves and their potential. Like blossoms on a vine or drops in a spring, the ALL did not yet realize the full extent of their glorious awakening. [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 62)

And so the Father put into the minds of the ALL the idea that they should seek what exceeds them in order to grow upward into their greatness. He gave them delight in learning as nourishment, and joy in abundant illumination. He fed them with compassion, knowledge, and a sense of unity with each other and the Son. [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 66)

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The Simple Explanation refers to the Father as the Metaverse, that which is above our Universe.

The Simple Explanation calls the Son the Universal Unit of Consciousness, because while identical to the Father, or Metaverse, this all-knowing consciousness is now also a singular Unit. In fractal terms, the Son is the first iteration of the pattern. 

The ALL is every thing that will ever be, in potential. Plato's forms, every photon, particle, and proton, every personality, every formula, imagined and imprinted upon the Universal Unit of Consciousness. In fractal terms, the ALL are the next iteration of  the pattern of the Son. They are not manifest, nor even self-aware. 

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Continue on to The Simple Gnostic Gospel, Part Three:
The ALL--Perfect Union Becomes Self-Aware

The Simple Explanation of the Gnostic Gospels is primarily taken from the Tripartite Tractate of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures. The verse numbers refer to the verse of the Tripartite Tractate cited.