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Post by blackrose on Jul 29, 2009 10:26:59 GMT -5
I stumbled across this link for a Gnostic blog today from one of the sites I'm on - someone had posted it as a resource in a discussion about how fundies, of all stripes, are kind of annoying. Anyway - I liked it a lot... even though I don't agree with all of the specifics of Gnosticism, I think it has a good essence, and a good foundation... It discusses the difference between a literal God and a more Mysterious one... and gets to the heart of faith. It's rather touching, actually... And so, I give to you: I do not believe in God; I have an understanding of God. (if you like it, there are other good articles on it, like the Gnosticism 101 one)
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Post by Denethor on Jul 29, 2009 18:24:43 GMT -5
Gnosticism is a popular topic at my Lodge. The Gnostic concepts are generally much more fitting for the magically minded than the "standard" ones (the grumpy Santa Claus your article mentions), or as I ought to say, the God-concepts I can't believe any one really believes in any more, at least not past the age of twelve or so, despite my seeing plenty of evidence that there are adults who do. (Yes, Sarah Palin being a case in point, of these.) Much of the material we focus on in our group is of Hermetic origin, and Hermeticism in turn has many roots in common with some branches of Gnosticism, so it isn't really that surprising. What Hermeticism lacks is a Manichean branch; for readers who are unaware of what that is, Manicheanism was founded by a philosopher/prophet named Mani and is most famous for its strict Good/Evil dichotomy with the flesh being firmly of the "evil". There were a number of Gnostic branches of this stripe, which had in common a view that the physical world was evil and the goal of life was to escape it. Hermeticism, by contrast, tends to see earthly phenomena as imperfect but perfectable, the human experience especially. If I remember correctly my sig file (*checks*) yes it is, is still the same Gnostic quote I used on the old Grove lo these many months ago. As to the atheism/theism "is there a God?" debate: lately my thought has been, what if it just simply doesn't matter whether there's a God or not? Maybe there are better ways to spend one's time and energy than to take on that debate? Note that this is not the same as agnosticism, which is saying one doesn't know ("weak" agnosticism) or that one can't know ("strong" agnosticism); I'm saying maybe it just doesn't matter at all. Just a thought. Good find, thanks for sharing.
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Post by blackrose on Jul 30, 2009 8:29:43 GMT -5
Much of the material we focus on in our group is of Hermetic origin, and Hermeticism in turn has many roots in common with some branches of Gnosticism, so it isn't really that surprising. What Hermeticism lacks is a Manichean branch; for readers who are unaware of what that is, Manicheanism was founded by a philosopher/prophet named Mani and is most famous for its strict Good/Evil dichotomy with the flesh being firmly of the "evil". There were a number of Gnostic branches of this stripe, which had in common a view that the physical world was evil and the goal of life was to escape it. Hermeticism, by contrast, tends to see earthly phenomena as imperfect but perfectable, the human experience especially. The good/evil dichotomy is specifically what I was referring to "not agreeing with all of the specifics". OF course, I'm not sure I agree with perfectability of any sort - tho it doesn't necessarily hurt to try. As with many issues, I think it matters it people think it matters. There are many people who don't care and to whom it doesn't matter - and that's fine. But there are others to whom it does matter, in some way, shape or form, and so, to them, it matters. It might not matter objectively (unless, of course, we all do end up in Hell) - but it might still matter for someone if they say it matters. Sort of an existentialist type answer, I suppose.
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Post by Denethor on Aug 1, 2009 17:18:03 GMT -5
Heh...at least if we all end up in Hell I know what my job will be...the advantage to that job being, I get to see all of you!
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