> gMoney wrote:
> Gnostic....or Agnostic?
>
> The Gnostics were just an early form of modern day fundies.
No, I would say that, for example, Thomas ("doubting Thomas") was the
first Gnostic; meaning "truth".
Thomas believed that God existed within each person and so to find and
know God, one had to find and know oneself. To find and know oneself,
Thomas believed, was through the search for the truth.
That's why Thomas died in India - he was search for the truth.
The viewpoint that God existed internally was vehemently opposed by
his contemporaries; especially John. He believed that God was
external and that to know God you had to appease him and perform all
kinds of acts - if you didn't you would never know him and go to hell.
If you are familiar with the Bible you'll notice some interesting
inconsistencies in the history as told in the gospels: Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and ... John. MML all mostly agree on timing, events, etc. But
John tells the stories completely differently. Take a look at Jesus'
upending of the table after he enters Jerusalem.
Why was John included then when his stories are so different and not Thomas?
Many scholars believe it was to promote a more disciplinarian form of
Christianity that lives to this day: God is outside you and will
punish you unless you do the right thing.
Thomas' view was squashed and with it his form of Christianity.
So what the hell does this have to do with Dark Materials?
The books are Thomasian! NOT atheist.
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