From: RFaussette@aol.com
Date: Tue Jun 17 2003 - 07:55:58 EDT
In a message dated 6/16/03 11:39:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jarmstro@qwest.net writes:
> I''ll venture to offer a contrary opinion.
> Jesus spoke in parables to make sure that the ideas were unmistakably clear.
> The problem seems to be that the message is at once too simple and too
> challenging to accept as is.
> There are no secrets. There's nothing hidden.
>
The gnostics were thrown out of the early church because they claimed a
secret knowledge. Reading the nag hamadi texts such as the gospel of thomas, you
can see that Jesus is talking about an "apprehension" that his followers must
make and he challenges them with parables which are in a few cases almost
identical to zen koans used to thrust a devotee into enlightenment. The message is
simple but it requires a conceptual leap to realize, as in:
"They said to him: what is the place to which we are going.
The Lord said stand in the place you can reach."
from the dialog of the saviour
I just found an interesting tidbit from the nag hamadi gospel of philip that
reflects a thread here a while ago:
"When Eve was still in Adam death did not exist. When she was separated from
him death came into being. If he enters again and attains his former self,
death will be no more."
rich
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