From: bivalve (bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com)
Date: Thu Dec 12 2002 - 20:24:29 EST
A variety of gnostic views existed, so a general characterization
will probably not fit all. In general, they tended to deny the
importance of the body, if not actually seeing it as bad. This could
take the form of claiming that Jesus, being fully God, must not have
been fully human in body, but was more like a case of possession, in
which God was sort of located inside a human body. That is the
heresy alluded to in the discussion.
In personal behavior, this led to two main errors. On the one hand,
some gnostics went in for extreme asceticism, thinking the body was
not worth caring for. On the other hand, some argued that since the
body was no good anyway, it did not matter what the body did, and
thus excused license.
Dr. David Campbell
Old Seashells
University of Alabama
Biodiversity & Systematics
Dept. Biological Sciences
Box 870345
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA
bivalve@mail.davidson.alumlink.com
That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted
Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at
Droitgate Spa
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Dec 14 2002 - 17:12:28 EST