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Dear Violet and all,

 

i am going to thoroughly enjoy " The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The

International Edition " , one of the best book available. Since this is

a recent addition to the Nag Hammadi collection (May 29, 2007) it has

all the advantages of the latest research, better understanding and

general acceptance.

 

More than that it is the message of Jesus that will attract modern

humans, many of whom will find that the radical teachings of the

Savior exclude the Church from salvation. Redemption and salvation to

attain the eternal afterlife is from the Kingdom of God within, a

cardinal rule laid down by the Comforter Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.

Both Jesus and the Comforter did not come to earth to form a new

religion. They came here to show and lead people to truth and

knowledge, Gnosis.

 

The Nag Hammadi , February 14, 2009

By Sophia Gunterberg " Sophia " (Sweden)

 

" If you are looking for a complete collection of the gnostic works, I

can definitely recommend this book. As it also includes the gospel

Judas. It is a good complement to the bible and many of its writings

challenges what is commonly believed in Christianity today. In the

these scriptures Jesus is urging people to become like him (instead

of just believing in him). There seems to be much more profoundness

to Jesus teachings than what is grasped by religion. Jesus did not

come to earth to form a new religion, he came here to show and lead

people to truth and knowledge, Gnosis. " (end)

 

Without question " The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International

Edition " will help us spread the Good News that the Comforter has

brought on behalf of Jesus and God Almighty. It is a great blessing

to all who dedicate their lives to fulfil God's Plan for humanity.

All you need to do is tell/point to the truth as it is that very truth

that attracted us in the first place. That truth cannot be challenged

by any human, or even by billions. Even the most fanatical will sulk

away in silence rather than deny their own revered Scriptures as both

Jesus and the Comforter/Ruh/Holy Spirit/Divine Mother/Aykaa Mayee/Tao

came here to show and lead people to truth and knowledge, Gnosis,

_collectively_ found in their Holy Books.

 

The great Adi Shakti explains how the knowledge (Gnosis) of this

mystical inner world (Kingdom of God) will eventually awaken,

transform and bring about fellowship and harmony among all peoples

and nations during the Golden Age of the Resurrection and Last

Judgment. This unprecedented knowledge and remembrance of Jesus'

mystical teachings, to be delivered by the Comforter, is the final

breakthrough in human evolution. " But, if the Spirit of him who

raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised from the dead

Christ Jesus shall quicken your mortal bodies also through His Spirit

who dwells in you. " The divine agent, then, is the Holy Spirit, in

unity with the human spirit " [1]; " The Messiah will come and the

great age of salvation will dawn (for the pious) " [2]; " He (Jesus) is

the Sign of the Hour (of Resurrection) " - Surat az-Zukhruf 43:61 [3].

The eschatology of all three monotheistic faiths is harmoniously

fulfilled by Devi.

 

regards to all,

 

 

jagbir

 

Note:

[1] F. J. Lambretch, Resurrection in the New Testament, page 297;

[2] Eric Eve, The Jewish Context of Jesus' Miracles, p. 195;

[3] Holy Qur'an

 

 

, " violettubb " <violettubb

wrote:

>

> Elaine H. Pagels

>

> What are the Nag Hammadi Scriptures?

>

> (p.5) Currently, in discussions among scholars throughout the world, the

discovery of the Nag Hammadi library is transforming what we know about

Christianity--and its mysterious founder. For more than fifteen hundred years,

most Christians had assumed that the only sources of tradition about Jesus and

his disciples are those contained in the New Testament, especially in the

familiar gospels of 'Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John'. Suddenly, however, the

unexpected discovery of over fifty ancient texts, most of them Christian, has

demonstrated what the church fathers long had indicated: that these familiar

gospels are only a small selection from among many more traditions--and

gospels--that, from the early generations of the Christian movement, circulated

among groups throughout the known world. Now, for the first time in more than

fifteen hundred years, scholars could open and read other gospels - the 'Gospel

of Thomas', the 'Gospel of Truth', the 'Gospel of Philip', and the 'Gospel of

Mary' ('Mary' had been discovered in 1896) - sources that enormously widen our

understanding of the scope of the early Christian movement.

>

> Those who first investigated these writings quickly recognized that some of

them, at least, date back to the earliest centuries of the Christian movement,

but they assumed that these must be 'false' gospels. Certain " fathers of the

church " had mentioned by name such writings as the 'Gospel of Thomas' and the

'Gospel of Truth', but apart from the names, such writings had remained

virtually unknown, since some of the same church leaders had attacked them as

" heresy. " (p.6) Irenaeus of Lyon, for example, who wrote around 160 CE, had

discussed--and denounced--passages from the 'Secret Book of John', discovered

complete at Nag Hammadi; [9] and his famous contemporary Hippolytus, a Christian

writer in Rome, quoted some of the opening lines from perhaps the most famous

book of the discovery, the 'Gospel of Thomas'. [10] This shows that both of

these texts--and, no doubt, many others--had been written and widely circulated

among Christian groups by the middle of the second century. Irenaeus also

mentioned a 'Gospel of Truth', which he said was written " recently, " perhaps

around 130-60 CE, by the Egyptian Christian poet Valentinus or one of his

followers--perhaps the same 'Gospel of Truth' now discovered at Nag Hammadi.

[11] Irenaeus specifically mentioned the 'Gospel of Judas', which, he said,

teaches that Judas alone " knew the truth as no one else did " and enacted the

" mystery of the betrayal, " obeying a command from Jesus to initiate his

sacrifice. [12] The 'Gospel of Judas', actually discovered only in the 1970s,

has now been translated from Coptic and published for the first time in nearly

two thousand years. [13]

>

> Yet since scholars who relied upon Irenaeus's account also noticed that the

bishop had classified all such gospels--and many other writings he dismissed

along with them--as both " illegitimate " and " apocryphal, " they assumed that the

recently discovered texts they were reading must be what Irenaeus called

them-- " heresy. " Irenaeus had insisted that such writings were " wholly unlike

what has been handed down to us from the apostles, " and he called those who

revered such writings " heretics. " He concluded, indeed, that " the heretics say

they have more gospels than there really are; but really, they really have no

gospel which is not full of blasphemy. " [14]

>

> Thus those who first read and published these texts assumed that the Christian

texts among them were not really Christian, but " heretical " --the work of

heretics who accepted what Irenaeus called " falsely so-called gnosis. " What

apparently had happened to these texts only confirmed that impression. Although

they were originally written in Greek, like the New Testament gospels, these

texts discovered in Egypt had been translated into Coptic, perhaps by Christian

monks who treasured them as holy books in the library of one of the oldest

monasteries in Egypt. But the monks' reverence for such writings apparently

upset Athanasius, the archbishop of Alexandria, who sent out an Easter letter

all over Egypt in the spring of 367, ordering believers to reject what he called

" illegitimate and secret books. " [15] (p.7) Athanasius, who admired his

predecessor Irenaeus for his strong stand against " heretics, " also included a

list of twenty-seven books of which he approved, calling them the " springs of

salvation. " Strikingly, the twenty-seven books he names in this letter are

precisely those that came to constitute the collection we call the " New

Testament " --for which his letter provides our earliest known list. But

apparently some monks defied the archbishop's order to reject all the rest;

instead, they saved and protected over fifty texts from their library by sealing

them in a heavy jar and burying them away from the monastery walls, under the

cliff where they were found sixteen hundred years later.

>

> Yet as we have seen, many of these writings already had been circulating

widely throughout the ancient world before the archbishop took action. Two

hundred years earlier, as we noted, Bishop Irenaeus, after charging that the

many Christians among his congregation in rural Gaul (present-day France) who

treasured such writings were actually " heretics, " went on to insist that of the

dozens of gospels revered by various Christians only four are genuine. And these

four, Irenaeus declares, are the gospels now included in the New Testament,

called by the names of Jesus's followers--'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke', and 'John'.

All the rest are illegitimate, because, he says, " there cannot be more than four

gospels, nor fewer. " [16] Why not? Irenaeus explains that just as there are four

corners of the universe and four principal winds, so there can be only four

gospels--which he seems to take as a kind of scientific explanation. To those

who would ask, " Why 'these' four? " Irenaeus declares that only theses are

written by eyewitnesses of the disciples like Luke and Mark. Few scholars today

would agree with Irenaeus. In the first place, we cannot verify who actually

wrote any of these accounts, and many scholars agree that, although certain

traditions were associated with certain disciples, the disciples themselves may

not be their authors; second, nearly all the other " gospels " that Irenaeus

detests are also attributed to disciples--often disciples from the same group as

these.

>

> When an international group of scholars first read and published the 'Gospel

of Thomas' in 1959, [17] the primary question in their minds, not surprisingly,

was this: what can the 'Gospel of Thomas' tell us about " Gnosticism " --that is,

about " heresy " ? Since Irenaeus and others had denounced such gospels, they

assumed that 'Thomas' must not only be a false, " Gnostic " gospel, but also that,

being a " false gospel, " it must have been written later than the " real " gospels.

And since most people agree that Mark's gospel was written earliest, some forty

years after Jesus's death, around the year 70, 'Matthew' and 'Luke' about ten

years later, and 'John' about 90-100, they assumed that 'Thomas' must be later

than any of these, and so they guessed that it dated to about 140 CE.

>

> Further, since they assumed that this gospel was " heretical, " they knew what

to expect in terms of content: after all, church fathers like Irenaeus basically

had defined--or, some would say, invented--heresy. (p.8) Irenaeus explains that

heretics are " Gnostics, " by which he means dualists who believe that the world

was created by an evil power, and so they have a dismally negative view of the

world and the God who created it. Furthermore, following Irenaeus's lead, many

of these scholars also assumed that heretics are " nihilistic " [believing in

nothing: denying all reality] and that the works they revered would be full of

philosophical speculation and bizarre mythology. [18] When the first editors of

Thomas's gospel found in it virtually no evidence for dualism, nihilism,

philosophical speculation, or weird mythology, most assumed that this just goes

to show how devious heretics are: they do not say what they really mean. Many

scholars decided that even if they could not find these elements in 'Thomas'

explicitly, they must be there implicitly; consequently, some decided just to

read them into their understanding of the 'Gospel of Thomas'. Most of the first

publications did this; some still do even now.

>

> When the discovery became available to scholars throughout the world, many of

us shared the excitement of investigating these nearly unknown texts. Hearing

about the discovery astonished everyone who heard it. This certainly was not

what we had expected to find in graduate school--nor, in fact, what we had hoped

to find. Most of us who set out to find out about Jesus and the early history of

Christianity imagined that we could find in first-and second-century sources a

kind of " golden age " of early Christianity, a simpler, purer Christian teaching

that existed when Jesus wandered with his disciples around the hills of

Galilee--what Professor Krister Stendahl, then dean of Harvard Divinity School,

ironically called " play Bible land. " And since we assumed that there must have

been only one original, pure form of Christianity back at its beginning, we

never imagined that we would be asking the question that this discovery now

raises for us: what different Christian groups--and thus what 'kinds' of early

Christianity--were there at the beginning of the movement? [19]

>

> Yet by the time many of us arrived in graduate school, certain scholars

already had begun to embark upon a second stage of research. Examining the

'Gospel of Thomas', scholars first noticed that it is not a narrative, like the

New Testament gospels; instead, it consists simply of a list of sayings

attributed to Jesus. Scholars like Helmut Koester, James M. Robinson, and John

Dominic Crossan observed that many sayings in 'Thomas' are strikingly similar to

sayings long familiar from the New Testament gospels attributed to Matthew and

Luke--for example, such well-known parables about the kingdom of God as the

parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the sower and such sayings as

" Blessed are the poor, for yours is heaven's kingdom. " [20] The research of this

generation of scholars opened up new questions: could the 'Gospel of Thomas',

for example, possibly be not a late, " Gnostic " gospel, as many of us first

assumed, but, on the contrary, an early collection of Jesus's teaching--perhaps

even one that Matthew and Luke used to compose their own gospels? Could it be

the so-called Q source, a hypothetical first-century list of Jesus's sayings? Is

it possible that the 'Gospel of Thomas' might tell us a great deal not about

heresy, but about Jesus and his teachings? Could this be an early source--maybe

even our earliest source--of Jesus's teachings, collected in an unedited,

unvarnished form?

>

> Questions like these inspired a movement among a group of scholars looking for

the " real, historical " Jesus and what Jesus actually taught. Professor Helmut

Koester came to conclude that the 'Gospel of Thomas' perhaps could be dated as

early as the mid-first century--about twenty years after Jesus's death?

[21]--which would make it the earliest gospel we know, and certainly one of the

most important. John Dominic Crossan and others have written books that follow

this view, and many people are still engaged in this research.

>

> At present, however, many do not share the view that the 'Gospel of Thomas' is

a kind of rough quarry of early Jesus sayings strung together with minimal

editorial point of view. Even though our evidence cannot tell us for sure what

came from " the historical Jesus, " it can tell us a great deal, more than we ever

knew before, about the early Christian movement--how it emerged and the

astonishing variety of forms it took.

>

> Recognizing this, many scholars today throughout the world have accepted the

challenge articulated by our colleagues Michael A. Williams in his book

'Rethinking " Gnosticism " : An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category' and

Karen L. King in 'What is Gnosticism?' Instead of regarding the many texts found

at Nag Hammadi as a corporate collection, scholars today more often analyze each

one separately or in relationship with contemporaneous Jewish, Christian, and

pagan sources. Instead of assuming that all these texts deviate from what is

" normal, mainstream " early Christianity, we are finding that they have opened to

us a far wider range of what we now understand to be early Christian sources.

Instead of discriminating simply between what we used to call " orthodox " and

" Gnostic " (or " proto-orthodox " and " proto-Gnostic, " which amounts to the same

thing), many scholars working on the Coptic texts are now investigating the new

evidence along with the old to ask different questions. Many of us are

discussing questions like whether it is misleading to classify these texts as

" Gnostic. " Given how varied they are, we realize that it is more accurate to

look at them simply as a wide range of early Christian traditions that are

unfamiliar to us, because the bishops intended to downplay viewpoints that

diverged from their own. Professor Karen King has suggested that we should ask

what evidence these many texts offer for various kinds of " early

Christianities " ; simultaneously, scholars of Judaism are investigating a wide

range of " early Judaisms. " [22] (p. 10) Finally, such investigation raises the

question of what our familiar terminology means--and what it obscures. What do

we mean when we speak of what is " orthodox " and what is " heretical " ? What

characteristics differentiate and define what we mean when we speak of " Judaism "

or " Christianity " ?

>

> In many ways, investigation of the Nag Hammadi texts is just beginning. This

volume invites readers to participate in exploring the early Christian

movement--with far more evidence of its amazing range than we had known before.

>

> The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (The International Edition)

> Edited by Marvin Meyer; Advisory Board: Wolf-Peter Funk, Paul-Hubert Poirier,

James M. Robinson; Introduction by Elaine H. Pagels

> Introduction p.5-10

> HarperCollins Publishers - New York

> ISBN:978-0-06-052378-7

> ISBN-10: 0-06-052378-6

>

> Notes:

>

> [9] 'Against Heresies' 1.29.

>

> [10] 'Refutation of All Heresies' 5.7.20. The renowned Egyptian teacher

Origen, writing about a generation later, also mentions the 'Gospel of Thomas',

along with the 'Gospel of Matthias' and " many others " ('Homilies on Luke 1').

>

> [11] 'Against Heresies' 3.11.9.

>

> [12] 'Against Heresies' 1.31.1.

>

> [13] Kasser, Meyer, and Wurst, eds., 'The Gospel of Judas'.

>

> [14] 'Against Heresies' 3.11.9.

>

> [15] 'Festal Letter' 39.

>

> [16] 'Against Heresies' 3.11.8.

>

> [17] Antoine Guillaumont, Henri-Charles Puech, Gilles Quispel, Walter Till,

and Yassah 'Abd al-Masih, 'The Gospel According to Thomas'.

>

> [18] See the influential book by Hans Jonas, 'The Gnostic Religion', an

abridged translation of his 1934 monograph published in Germany under the title

'Gnosis und spatantiker Geist'.

>

> [19] See, e.g., Karen L. King, " Which Early Christianity? "

>

> [20] John Dominic Crossan, 'Four Other Gospels: Shadows on the Contours of the

Canon'.

>

> [21] Cf. Helmut Koester, " The Gospel of Thomas, " in James. M. Robinson, ed.,

'The Nag Hammadi Library in English', 125: " In its most original form, it may

well date from the first century (the middle of the first century is usually

considered the best date for the composition of 'Q'). "

>

> [22] See King, " Which Early Christianity? "

>

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Dear Jagbir and all,

 

Below are the Contents of the Book in the order that they appear. Though they

are not numbered, i have numbered them below for our easy reference to them. The

book is 844 pages long, so quite substantial. Perhaps the easiest approach would

be for me to start at the beginning and work through them. (Maybe there is a

reason why they appear in the order that they do). So, i could start at the

beginning then, but if you particularly would like to cover some of the Contents

earlier rather than later, please let me know as we could always skip over some

and get back to them later. Or--i could feel to do the same; i don't know at

this stage.

 

Having skimmed through them, it is like going through a candy shop. You decide

you want this one first, then you decide you want that one and end up not

knowing where you want to start! And if you think the titles give you a good

idea as to the material, that is not strictly speaking true. The material is not

strictly speaking all about Jesus and the Comforter either (in the literal

meaning of the word), with quite a few treatises being about origins and

beginnings--material we are not so familiar with as it has been hidden from

humanity for about 1500 years.

 

For that reason, i think it will be a good idea to also include the Introductory

Commentaries, to help give us a grasp of this ancient, forgotten material, which

in some cases are going to be a challenge to even understand. That said, like

yourself, i am looking forward to all that we will glean from this Book. We

really are indebted to the scholars who have done all this great work, so we

could read and study these ancient spiritual treatises, that people read about

1500 years ago or more!

 

regards to all,

 

violet

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

Preface

(James M. Robinson)

 

Introduction

(Marvin Meyers and Elaine H. Pagels)

 

 

1. The Prayer of the Apostle Paul

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

2. The Secret Book of James

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

3. The Gospel of Truth

(Einar Thomassen and Marvin Meyer)

 

4. The Treatise on Resurrection

(Einar Thomassen and Marvin Meyer)

 

5. The Tripartite Tractate

(Einar Thomassen)

 

6. The Secret Book of John

(John D. Turner and Marvin Meyer)

 

7. The Gospel of Thomas with the Greek Gospel of Thomas

(Marvin Meyer)

 

8. The Gospel of Philip

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

9. The Nature of the Rulers

(Marvin Meyer)

 

10. On the Origin of the World

(Marvin Meyer)

 

11. Exegesis on the Soul

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

12. The Book of Thomas

(John D. Turner and Marvin Meyer)

 

13. The Holy Book of the Great Invisible Spirit

(John D. Turner and Marvin Meyer)

 

14. Eugnostos the Blessed

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

15. The Wisdom of Jesus Christ

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

16. The Dialogue of the Savior

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

17. The Revelation of Paul

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

18. The First Revelation of James

(Wolf-Peter Funk)

 

19. The Second Revelation of James

(Wolf-Peter Funk)

 

20. The Revelation of Adam

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

21. The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

22 Thunder

(Paul-Hubert Poirier and Marvin Meyer)

 

23. Authoritative Discourse

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

24. The Concept of Our Great Power

(Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer)

 

25. Excerpt from Plato's Republic

(Marvin Meyer)

 

26. The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth

(Jean-Pierre Mahe and Marvin Meyer)

 

27. The Prayer of Thanksgiving

(Jean-Pierre Mahe and Marvin Meyer)

 

28. Excerpt From the Perfect Discourse

(Jean-Pierre Mahe and Marvin Meyer)

 

29. The Paraphrase of Shem

(Michel Roberge)

 

30. The Second Discourse of Great Seth

(Marvin Meyer)

 

31. The Revelation of Peter

(Marvin Meyer)

 

32. The Teachings of Silvanus

(Birger A. Pearson)

 

33. The Three Steles of Seth

(John D. Turner)

 

34. Zostrianos

(John D. Turner)

 

35. The Letter of Peter to Philip

(Marvin Meyer)

 

36. Melchizedek

(Birger A. Pearson)

 

37. The Thought of Norea

(John D. Turner and Marvin Meyer)

 

38. The Testimony of Truth

(Birger A. Pearson)

 

39. Marsanes

(John D. Turner)

 

40. The Interpretation of Knowledge

(Einar Thomassen)

 

41. Valentinian Exposition with Valentinian Liturgical Readings

(Einar Thomassen and Marvin Meyer)

 

42. Allogenes the Stranger

(John D. Turner)

 

43. Hypsiphrone

(John D. Turner and Marvin Meyer)

 

44. The Sentences of Sextus

(Paul-Hubert Poirier and Marvin Meyer)

 

45. Three Forms of First Thought

(John D. Turner)

 

46. The Gospel of Mary with the Greek Gospel of Mary

(Karen L. King)

 

47. The Act of Peter

(Marvin Meyer)

 

48. The Gospel of Judas

(Marvin Meyer)

 

49. The Book of Allogenes

(Marvin Meyer)

 

 

Epilogue: Schools of Thought in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures

 

 

50. Thomas Christianity

(Marvin Meyer)

 

51. The Sethian School of Gnostic Thought

(John D. Turner)

 

52. The Valentinian School of Gnostic Thought

(Einar Thomassen)

 

53. Hermetic Religion

(Jean-Pierre Mahe)

 

 

Table of Tractates

 

Bibliography

 

Acknowledgements

 

Index of Proper Names

 

 

 

, " adishakti_org "

<adishakti_org wrote:

>

> Dear Violet and all,

>

> i am going to thoroughly enjoy " The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The

> International Edition " , one of the best book available. Since this is

> a recent addition to the Nag Hammadi collection (May 29, 2007) it has

> all the advantages of the latest research, better understanding and

> general acceptance.

>

> More than that it is the message of Jesus that will attract modern

> humans, many of whom will find that the radical teachings of the

> Savior exclude the Church from salvation. Redemption and salvation to

> attain the eternal afterlife is from the Kingdom of God within, a

> cardinal rule laid down by the Comforter Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.

> Both Jesus and the Comforter did not come to earth to form a new

> religion. They came here to show and lead people to truth and

> knowledge, Gnosis.

>

> The Nag Hammadi , February 14, 2009

> By Sophia Gunterberg " Sophia " (Sweden)

>

> " If you are looking for a complete collection of the gnostic works, I

> can definitely recommend this book. As it also includes the gospel

> Judas. It is a good complement to the bible and many of its writings

> challenges what is commonly believed in Christianity today. In the

> these scriptures Jesus is urging people to become like him (instead

> of just believing in him). There seems to be much more profoundness

> to Jesus teachings than what is grasped by religion. Jesus did not

> come to earth to form a new religion, he came here to show and lead

> people to truth and knowledge, Gnosis. " (end)

>

> Without question " The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International

> Edition " will help us spread the Good News that the Comforter has

> brought on behalf of Jesus and God Almighty. It is a great blessing

> to all who dedicate their lives to fulfil God's Plan for humanity.

> All you need to do is tell/point to the truth as it is that very truth

> that attracted us in the first place. That truth cannot be challenged

> by any human, or even by billions. Even the most fanatical will sulk

> away in silence rather than deny their own revered Scriptures as both

> Jesus and the Comforter/Ruh/Holy Spirit/Divine Mother/Aykaa Mayee/Tao

> came here to show and lead people to truth and knowledge, Gnosis,

> _collectively_ found in their Holy Books.

>

> The great Adi Shakti explains how the knowledge (Gnosis) of this

> mystical inner world (Kingdom of God) will eventually awaken,

> transform and bring about fellowship and harmony among all peoples

> and nations during the Golden Age of the Resurrection and Last

> Judgment. This unprecedented knowledge and remembrance of Jesus'

> mystical teachings, to be delivered by the Comforter, is the final

> breakthrough in human evolution. " But, if the Spirit of him who

> raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised from the dead

> Christ Jesus shall quicken your mortal bodies also through His Spirit

> who dwells in you. " The divine agent, then, is the Holy Spirit, in

> unity with the human spirit " [1]; " The Messiah will come and the

> great age of salvation will dawn (for the pious) " [2]; " He (Jesus) is

> the Sign of the Hour (of Resurrection) " - Surat az-Zukhruf 43:61 [3].

> The eschatology of all three monotheistic faiths is harmoniously

> fulfilled by Devi.

>

> regards to all,

>

>

> jagbir

>

> Note:

> [1] F. J. Lambretch, Resurrection in the New Testament, page 297;

> [2] Eric Eve, The Jewish Context of Jesus' Miracles, p. 195;

> [3] Holy Qur'an

>

>

> , " violettubb " <violettubb@>

wrote:

> >

> > Elaine H. Pagels

> >

> > What are the Nag Hammadi Scriptures?

> >

> > (p.5) Currently, in discussions among scholars throughout the world, the

discovery of the Nag Hammadi library is transforming what we know about

Christianity--and its mysterious founder. For more than fifteen hundred years,

most Christians had assumed that the only sources of tradition about Jesus and

his disciples are those contained in the New Testament, especially in the

familiar gospels of 'Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John'. Suddenly, however, the

unexpected discovery of over fifty ancient texts, most of them Christian, has

demonstrated what the church fathers long had indicated: that these familiar

gospels are only a small selection from among many more traditions--and

gospels--that, from the early generations of the Christian movement, circulated

among groups throughout the known world. Now, for the first time in more than

fifteen hundred years, scholars could open and read other gospels - the 'Gospel

of Thomas', the 'Gospel of Truth', the 'Gospel of Philip', and the 'Gospel of

Mary' ('Mary' had been discovered in 1896) - sources that enormously widen our

understanding of the scope of the early Christian movement.

> >

> > Those who first investigated these writings quickly recognized that some of

them, at least, date back to the earliest centuries of the Christian movement,

but they assumed that these must be 'false' gospels. Certain " fathers of the

church " had mentioned by name such writings as the 'Gospel of Thomas' and the

'Gospel of Truth', but apart from the names, such writings had remained

virtually unknown, since some of the same church leaders had attacked them as

" heresy. " (p.6) Irenaeus of Lyon, for example, who wrote around 160 CE, had

discussed--and denounced--passages from the 'Secret Book of John', discovered

complete at Nag Hammadi; [9] and his famous contemporary Hippolytus, a Christian

writer in Rome, quoted some of the opening lines from perhaps the most famous

book of the discovery, the 'Gospel of Thomas'. [10] This shows that both of

these texts--and, no doubt, many others--had been written and widely circulated

among Christian groups by the middle of the second century. Irenaeus also

mentioned a 'Gospel of Truth', which he said was written " recently, " perhaps

around 130-60 CE, by the Egyptian Christian poet Valentinus or one of his

followers--perhaps the same 'Gospel of Truth' now discovered at Nag Hammadi.

[11] Irenaeus specifically mentioned the 'Gospel of Judas', which, he said,

teaches that Judas alone " knew the truth as no one else did " and enacted the

" mystery of the betrayal, " obeying a command from Jesus to initiate his

sacrifice. [12] The 'Gospel of Judas', actually discovered only in the 1970s,

has now been translated from Coptic and published for the first time in nearly

two thousand years. [13]

> >

> > Yet since scholars who relied upon Irenaeus's account also noticed that the

bishop had classified all such gospels--and many other writings he dismissed

along with them--as both " illegitimate " and " apocryphal, " they assumed that the

recently discovered texts they were reading must be what Irenaeus called

them-- " heresy. " Irenaeus had insisted that such writings were " wholly unlike

what has been handed down to us from the apostles, " and he called those who

revered such writings " heretics. " He concluded, indeed, that " the heretics say

they have more gospels than there really are; but really, they really have no

gospel which is not full of blasphemy. " [14]

> >

> > Thus those who first read and published these texts assumed that the

Christian texts among them were not really Christian, but " heretical " --the work

of heretics who accepted what Irenaeus called " falsely so-called gnosis. " What

apparently had happened to these texts only confirmed that impression. Although

they were originally written in Greek, like the New Testament gospels, these

texts discovered in Egypt had been translated into Coptic, perhaps by Christian

monks who treasured them as holy books in the library of one of the oldest

monasteries in Egypt. But the monks' reverence for such writings apparently

upset Athanasius, the archbishop of Alexandria, who sent out an Easter letter

all over Egypt in the spring of 367, ordering believers to reject what he called

" illegitimate and secret books. " [15] (p.7) Athanasius, who admired his

predecessor Irenaeus for his strong stand against " heretics, " also included a

list of twenty-seven books of which he approved, calling them the " springs of

salvation. " Strikingly, the twenty-seven books he names in this letter are

precisely those that came to constitute the collection we call the " New

Testament " --for which his letter provides our earliest known list. But

apparently some monks defied the archbishop's order to reject all the rest;

instead, they saved and protected over fifty texts from their library by sealing

them in a heavy jar and burying them away from the monastery walls, under the

cliff where they were found sixteen hundred years later.

> >

> > Yet as we have seen, many of these writings already had been circulating

widely throughout the ancient world before the archbishop took action. Two

hundred years earlier, as we noted, Bishop Irenaeus, after charging that the

many Christians among his congregation in rural Gaul (present-day France) who

treasured such writings were actually " heretics, " went on to insist that of the

dozens of gospels revered by various Christians only four are genuine. And these

four, Irenaeus declares, are the gospels now included in the New Testament,

called by the names of Jesus's followers--'Matthew', 'Mark', 'Luke', and 'John'.

All the rest are illegitimate, because, he says, " there cannot be more than four

gospels, nor fewer. " [16] Why not? Irenaeus explains that just as there are four

corners of the universe and four principal winds, so there can be only four

gospels--which he seems to take as a kind of scientific explanation. To those

who would ask, " Why 'these' four? " Irenaeus declares that only theses are

written by eyewitnesses of the disciples like Luke and Mark. Few scholars today

would agree with Irenaeus. In the first place, we cannot verify who actually

wrote any of these accounts, and many scholars agree that, although certain

traditions were associated with certain disciples, the disciples themselves may

not be their authors; second, nearly all the other " gospels " that Irenaeus

detests are also attributed to disciples--often disciples from the same group as

these.

> >

> > When an international group of scholars first read and published the 'Gospel

of Thomas' in 1959, [17] the primary question in their minds, not surprisingly,

was this: what can the 'Gospel of Thomas' tell us about " Gnosticism " --that is,

about " heresy " ? Since Irenaeus and others had denounced such gospels, they

assumed that 'Thomas' must not only be a false, " Gnostic " gospel, but also that,

being a " false gospel, " it must have been written later than the " real " gospels.

And since most people agree that Mark's gospel was written earliest, some forty

years after Jesus's death, around the year 70, 'Matthew' and 'Luke' about ten

years later, and 'John' about 90-100, they assumed that 'Thomas' must be later

than any of these, and so they guessed that it dated to about 140 CE.

> >

> > Further, since they assumed that this gospel was " heretical, " they knew what

to expect in terms of content: after all, church fathers like Irenaeus basically

had defined--or, some would say, invented--heresy. (p.8) Irenaeus explains that

heretics are " Gnostics, " by which he means dualists who believe that the world

was created by an evil power, and so they have a dismally negative view of the

world and the God who created it. Furthermore, following Irenaeus's lead, many

of these scholars also assumed that heretics are " nihilistic " [believing in

nothing: denying all reality] and that the works they revered would be full of

philosophical speculation and bizarre mythology. [18] When the first editors of

Thomas's gospel found in it virtually no evidence for dualism, nihilism,

philosophical speculation, or weird mythology, most assumed that this just goes

to show how devious heretics are: they do not say what they really mean. Many

scholars decided that even if they could not find these elements in 'Thomas'

explicitly, they must be there implicitly; consequently, some decided just to

read them into their understanding of the 'Gospel of Thomas'. Most of the first

publications did this; some still do even now.

> >

> > When the discovery became available to scholars throughout the world, many

of us shared the excitement of investigating these nearly unknown texts. Hearing

about the discovery astonished everyone who heard it. This certainly was not

what we had expected to find in graduate school--nor, in fact, what we had hoped

to find. Most of us who set out to find out about Jesus and the early history of

Christianity imagined that we could find in first-and second-century sources a

kind of " golden age " of early Christianity, a simpler, purer Christian teaching

that existed when Jesus wandered with his disciples around the hills of

Galilee--what Professor Krister Stendahl, then dean of Harvard Divinity School,

ironically called " play Bible land. " And since we assumed that there must have

been only one original, pure form of Christianity back at its beginning, we

never imagined that we would be asking the question that this discovery now

raises for us: what different Christian groups--and thus what 'kinds' of early

Christianity--were there at the beginning of the movement? [19]

> >

> > Yet by the time many of us arrived in graduate school, certain scholars

already had begun to embark upon a second stage of research. Examining the

'Gospel of Thomas', scholars first noticed that it is not a narrative, like the

New Testament gospels; instead, it consists simply of a list of sayings

attributed to Jesus. Scholars like Helmut Koester, James M. Robinson, and John

Dominic Crossan observed that many sayings in 'Thomas' are strikingly similar to

sayings long familiar from the New Testament gospels attributed to Matthew and

Luke--for example, such well-known parables about the kingdom of God as the

parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the sower and such sayings as

" Blessed are the poor, for yours is heaven's kingdom. " [20] The research of this

generation of scholars opened up new questions: could the 'Gospel of Thomas',

for example, possibly be not a late, " Gnostic " gospel, as many of us first

assumed, but, on the contrary, an early collection of Jesus's teaching--perhaps

even one that Matthew and Luke used to compose their own gospels? Could it be

the so-called Q source, a hypothetical first-century list of Jesus's sayings? Is

it possible that the 'Gospel of Thomas' might tell us a great deal not about

heresy, but about Jesus and his teachings? Could this be an early source--maybe

even our earliest source--of Jesus's teachings, collected in an unedited,

unvarnished form?

> >

> > Questions like these inspired a movement among a group of scholars looking

for the " real, historical " Jesus and what Jesus actually taught. Professor

Helmut Koester came to conclude that the 'Gospel of Thomas' perhaps could be

dated as early as the mid-first century--about twenty years after Jesus's death?

[21]--which would make it the earliest gospel we know, and certainly one of the

most important. John Dominic Crossan and others have written books that follow

this view, and many people are still engaged in this research.

> >

> > At present, however, many do not share the view that the 'Gospel of Thomas'

is a kind of rough quarry of early Jesus sayings strung together with minimal

editorial point of view. Even though our evidence cannot tell us for sure what

came from " the historical Jesus, " it can tell us a great deal, more than we ever

knew before, about the early Christian movement--how it emerged and the

astonishing variety of forms it took.

> >

> > Recognizing this, many scholars today throughout the world have accepted the

challenge articulated by our colleagues Michael A. Williams in his book

'Rethinking " Gnosticism " : An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category' and

Karen L. King in 'What is Gnosticism?' Instead of regarding the many texts found

at Nag Hammadi as a corporate collection, scholars today more often analyze each

one separately or in relationship with contemporaneous Jewish, Christian, and

pagan sources. Instead of assuming that all these texts deviate from what is

" normal, mainstream " early Christianity, we are finding that they have opened to

us a far wider range of what we now understand to be early Christian sources.

Instead of discriminating simply between what we used to call " orthodox " and

" Gnostic " (or " proto-orthodox " and " proto-Gnostic, " which amounts to the same

thing), many scholars working on the Coptic texts are now investigating the new

evidence along with the old to ask different questions. Many of us are

discussing questions like whether it is misleading to classify these texts as

" Gnostic. " Given how varied they are, we realize that it is more accurate to

look at them simply as a wide range of early Christian traditions that are

unfamiliar to us, because the bishops intended to downplay viewpoints that

diverged from their own. Professor Karen King has suggested that we should ask

what evidence these many texts offer for various kinds of " early

Christianities " ; simultaneously, scholars of Judaism are investigating a wide

range of " early Judaisms. " [22] (p. 10) Finally, such investigation raises the

question of what our familiar terminology means--and what it obscures. What do

we mean when we speak of what is " orthodox " and what is " heretical " ? What

characteristics differentiate and define what we mean when we speak of " Judaism "

or " Christianity " ?

> >

> > In many ways, investigation of the Nag Hammadi texts is just beginning. This

volume invites readers to participate in exploring the early Christian

movement--with far more evidence of its amazing range than we had known before.

> >

> > The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (The International Edition)

> > Edited by Marvin Meyer; Advisory Board: Wolf-Peter Funk, Paul-Hubert

Poirier, James M. Robinson; Introduction by Elaine H. Pagels

> > Introduction p.5-10

> > HarperCollins Publishers - New York

> > ISBN:978-0-06-052378-7

> > ISBN-10: 0-06-052378-6

> >

> > Notes:

> >

> > [9] 'Against Heresies' 1.29.

> >

> > [10] 'Refutation of All Heresies' 5.7.20. The renowned Egyptian teacher

Origen, writing about a generation later, also mentions the 'Gospel of Thomas',

along with the 'Gospel of Matthias' and " many others " ('Homilies on Luke 1').

> >

> > [11] 'Against Heresies' 3.11.9.

> >

> > [12] 'Against Heresies' 1.31.1.

> >

> > [13] Kasser, Meyer, and Wurst, eds., 'The Gospel of Judas'.

> >

> > [14] 'Against Heresies' 3.11.9.

> >

> > [15] 'Festal Letter' 39.

> >

> > [16] 'Against Heresies' 3.11.8.

> >

> > [17] Antoine Guillaumont, Henri-Charles Puech, Gilles Quispel, Walter Till,

and Yassah 'Abd al-Masih, 'The Gospel According to Thomas'.

> >

> > [18] See the influential book by Hans Jonas, 'The Gnostic Religion', an

abridged translation of his 1934 monograph published in Germany under the title

'Gnosis und spatantiker Geist'.

> >

> > [19] See, e.g., Karen L. King, " Which Early Christianity? "

> >

> > [20] John Dominic Crossan, 'Four Other Gospels: Shadows on the Contours of

the Canon'.

> >

> > [21] Cf. Helmut Koester, " The Gospel of Thomas, " in James. M. Robinson, ed.,

'The Nag Hammadi Library in English', 125: " In its most original form, it may

well date from the first century (the middle of the first century is usually

considered the best date for the composition of 'Q'). "

> >

> > [22] See King, " Which Early Christianity? "

> >

>

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, " adishakti_org "

<adishakti_org wrote:

>

> Dear Violet and all,

>

> i am going to thoroughly enjoy " The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The

> International Edition " , one of the best book available. Since this

is a recent addition to the Nag Hammadi collection (May 29, 2007) it

has all the advantages of the latest research, better understanding

and general acceptance.

>

> More than that it is the message of Jesus that will attract modern

> humans, many of whom will find that the radical teachings of the

> Savior exclude the Church from salvation. Redemption and salvation

to attain the eternal afterlife is from the Kingdom of God within, a

> cardinal rule laid down by the Comforter Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi.

> Both Jesus and the Comforter did not come to earth to form a new

> religion. They came here to show and lead people to truth and

> knowledge, Gnosis.

>

 

" Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go

away, For if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you;

but if I go, I will send him to you.

 

John 16.7

 

Shri Jesus promised humankind that He will send the Comforter who

will explain all that was taught by Him. The Bible contains little of

what Shri Jesus preached. Anyone with common sense and unbiased mind

will come to this conclusion, based on these questions:

 

- How is it possible that only 3 ½ years of His adult life is

recorded?

- Why is that all that He spoke in 3 ½ years hardly amounts to an

hour of actual speech?

- Why does recent archeological discoveries such as the Nag Hammadi

Library and The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal esoteric truths spoken by

Shri Jesus that are completely missing from the Bible?

- Why is the Knowledge of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi related to these

esoteric Truths of Shri Jesus?

 

Moreover, Lord Jesus knew that after His departure those seeking

power would cannibalize His teachings, and the remaining carcass

misunderstood. Centuries later the Church, seeking total submission

and subjugation, edited from the Bible all that empowered humans. The

Gnostics, those early Christians who realized the divinity existing

within all humans, became the earliest victims of the Church's long,

murderous history to subdue self-salvation. The Gnostics were

proclaiming that individual souls are masters of their own destiny,

needing no priest or organization for guidance. (Shri Mataji keeps

repeating this same Message.) But those consolidating their powers —

the clergy of the infant Church — could scarcely afford such radical

freedom of the masses to seek the Spirit on their own. The multitude

had to be rendered morally and spiritually incapable of self-

salvation. They had to be made into religious retards by various

dogmas and decrees, a debilitating religious disease that still

threatens to infect the twenty-first century.

 

Now, in order to again enlighten and empower humanity—and release

them from begging for salvation from the corrupt Idols—Shri Jesus

had to send someone divine, and backed by irrefutable proof from the

Universal Soul.

 

Shri Mataji, who took Her birth in a Christian family, directs all

humans to find the Kingdom of God within. Her Knowledge is that of

the Spirit within and how to attain it. The essence of Her Message is

exactly that of Shri Christ: Seek the Kingdom of God within

for " without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and

murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever love and makes a lie. " She

has come to provide peace, security, surety, solace, bliss,

consolation, cheer, reassurance, and irrefutable proof that God and

His Kingdom exist. She is the promised Comforter!

 

Shri Adi Shakti: The Kingdom Of God, 1999 page 514-5

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