Paul was a gnostic

[nescafe]

I read through your link Nescafe and I am not sure what to make of it.

One thing that I didn't find last night was a link to some commentary on the Nag Hammadi stuff.

The piece seems to be a spin on the biblical creation stories with a little bit of Noah thrown in. What specifically makes this gnostic?

Did this particular set of musings really represent a segment of the religious beliefs of the time or was this just the random musings of a semi-lunatic that happened to be saved for posterity?

Well, this is some of the stuff that makes it Gnostic:

• The reference to Sophia as an aspect of godhead.
• Samael, a creation of Sophia, as the creator of the material world.
• The references to "the rulers", which are creations of Samael.
• The way the story of the snake in the garder was twisted -- the snake's actions in deciving Eve was guided by the "female spiritual principle", which appears to be another way of referring to Sophia. It looks like Man's fall from grace was from the grace of the creators of the material world, and that fall was orchestrated by an aspect of Godhead.
• The recapitulation of the nature of the rulers of the material world by Eleleth, and how those rulers are not the same as the rulers of the "limitless realms", who are incorruptible, and (one assumes) aspects of Godhead.

As for whether or not it is the ravings of a madman, or one touched by God -- I cannot tell the difference.

 

[RandFan]

I was hoping to get to the point that I understood enough to ask a question that would elicit some deep understanding of what was going on here from RandFan.

You suppose much my friend. I have a deep understanding of pimentos and olives. The combination of the two, now that floors me.

 

[RandFan]

Well, this is some of the stuff that makes it Gnostic:

• The reference to Sophia as an aspect of godhead.
• Samael, a creation of Sophia, as the creator of the material world.
• The references to "the rulers", which are creations of Samael.
• The way the story of the snake in the garder was twisted -- the snake's actions in deciving Eve was guided by the "female spiritual principle", which appears to be another way of referring to Sophia. It looks like Man's fall from grace was from the grace of the creators of the material world, and that fall was orchestrated by an aspect of Godhead.
• The recapitulation of the nature of the rulers of the material world by Eleleth, and how those rulers are not the same as the rulers of the "limitless realms", who are incorruptible, and (one assumes) aspects of Godhead.

As for whether or not it is the ravings of a madman, or one touched by God -- I cannot tell the difference.

See, that's the thing, there is usually someone that can answer questions here at JREF.