Gnosticism

Marvin Olasky has good interview with Westminster Seminary New Testament professor Peter Jones on Gnosticism. Two key exchanges.

"WORLD: Even though The Da Vinci Code invents a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, it seems that Gnostics have something against heterosexual activity . . .

JONES: The goal of Gnostic sexuality is androgyny, the blending of male and female in one human being. The distinction of male and female is the result of the Fall, and so to undo the effects of the Fall one must join the opposites and make the two one. The "Jesus" of the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas declares, "when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female . . . then you will enter the kingdom of heaven" (Saying 22). How interesting that this is happening in our own day, and that this is a definite developed theme in The Da Vinci Code."

I suppose it is no surprise that gnosticism is undergoing a bit of a revival in this time and culture...



"WORLD: Why does Gnosticism emphasize meditation, mantras, and extreme mysticism?

JONES: These are what modern pagans call 'spiritual technologies' that allow one to escape the clutches of physical reality in order to pass into the world of pure spirit, outside of the body. In this world of pure spirit all is one, all distinctions are eliminated. The essential presupposition for the attainment of this state is stopping the mind from engaging in rational thought. This is necessary since thought is a great factory of distinctions, where each word has its own meaning, without which one cannot think or speak. Meditation "silences the mind" and ushers one into a world of 'oneness.'"

Hmm. "Stopping of rational thought", "thought is the great factory of distinctions"

Probably shouldn't try to connect the dots, but it is tempting.