Pagels on The Truth at the Heart of the DVC

[Guest guest]

Pagels on " The Truth at the Heart of the DVC "

 

So many Christians throughout the world knew and revered these books that it

took more than 200 years for hardworking church leaders who denounced the texts

to successfully suppress them. [...]

 

Irenaeus said there could be only four gospels because, according to the science

of the time, there were four principal winds and four pillars that hold up the

sky. Why these four gospels? He explained that only they were actually written

by eyewitnesses of the events they describe -- Jesus' disciples Matthew and

John, or by Luke and Mark, who were disciples of the disciples.

 

Few scholars today would agree with Irenaeus. We cannot verify who actually

wrote any of these accounts, and many scholars agree that the disciples

themselves are not likely to be their authors. [...]

 

What, then, do these texts say, and why did certain leaders find them so

threatening?

 

First, they suggest that the way to God can be found by anyone who seeks.

According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus suggests that when we come to know

ourselves at the deepest level, we come to know God: " If you bring forth what is

within you, what you bring forth will save you. " This message -- to seek for

oneself -- was not one that bishops like Irenaeus appreciated: Instead, he

insisted, one must come to God through the church, " outside of which, " he said,

" there is no salvation. "

 

Second, in texts that the bishops called " heresy " , Jesus appears as human, yet

one through whom the light of God now shines. So, according to the Gospel of

Thomas, Jesus said, " I am the light that is before all things; I am all things;

all things come forth from me; all things return to me. Split a piece of wood,

and I am there; lift up a rock, and you will find me there. " To Irenaeus, the

thought of the divine energy manifested through all creation, even rocks and

logs, sounded dangerously like pantheism. People might end up thinking that they

could be like Jesus themselves and, in fact, the Gospel of Philip says, " Do not

seek to become a Christian, but a Christ. " [...]

 

Worst of all, perhaps, was that many of these secret texts speak of God not only

in masculine images, but also in feminine images. The Secret Book of John tells

how the disciple John, grieving after Jesus was crucified, suddenly saw a vision

of a brilliant light, from which he heard Jesus' voice speaking to him: " John,

John, why do you weep? Don't you recognize who I am? I am the Father; I am the

Mother; and I am the Son. " After a moment of shock, John realizes that the

divine Trinity includes not only Father and Son but also the divine Mother,

which John sees as the Holy Spirit, the feminine manifestation of the divine.

 

- Elaine Pagels, Perspective

 

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