GNOSTIC AWAKENING

Part XIV of XIV

On this page
  1. What to Do Now
  2. Further Reading
  3. Start Here
  4. The Valentinians
  5. Rethinking "Gnosticism"
  6. How the Bible Was Changed
  7. Sources
  8. Ancient Christian Writers
  9. Nag Hammadi Texts (Robinson, Ed., Unless Noted)
  10. Councils, Laws and Church Documents
  11. Bible Translations Compared
  12. Authenticity

Part XIV: The Call

This is not a request for permission. You never needed anyone's permission to seek God.

This is not a call to abandon Jesus. The Valentinians loved him fiercely. They read his words more closely than anyone of their century. They just refused to let anyone else stand between them and him.

This is a call to stop pretending.

Stop pretending the Bible fell from heaven untouched -- you have seen the Comma, the "ipsa," the "do penance." Stop pretending the creed came down from the apostles -- you have seen Nicaea, Thessalonica, and the emperor's sword. Stop pretending every church that broke with Rome escaped Rome -- you have seen the tree. Stop pretending the commandments were never reshuffled -- you have seen the table. Stop pretending the Gnostics were monsters -- you have read their own words.

And stop pretending the questions in you are sin.

They are the spark. They are memory. They are the Father calling his children home.

WHAT TO DO NOW #

  • READ. Start with the Gospel of Truth. Then the Gospel of Philip. Read them slowly, as letters addressed to you -- from people who were silenced for asking the very questions you are asking now.
  • CHECK. Take any five citations in this document and verify them. Then take five more.
  • SHARE. Send this to one person who has ever told you "something feels off." Print it. Post it. Paste it anywhere. It was built to survive being copied.
  • GATHER. Find two or three others. Read together.
  • SPEAK. To your friends. To your family. To the person in the next pew who looks as restless as you feel. A revolution in the churches does not start with a council. It starts with one awakened soul telling another.
                  .              *               .
                        THEY  BURIED  THE  BOOKS.
                 THEY  COULD  NOT  BURY  THE  SPARK.
                  .              *               .

The light was never taken from you.

It was only hidden.

Now it is time to remember.

                      "Ask, and it shall be given you;
                          seek, and ye shall find;
                  knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
                            -- Matthew 7:7 (KJV)

Further Reading

START HERE #

  • Elaine Pagels, "The Gnostic Gospels" (1979). The book that brought Nag Hammadi to the world. Readable, passionate, scholarly.
  • Marvin Meyer, ed., "The Nag Hammadi Scriptures" (2007). The complete library in fresh translation, with introductions.
  • James M. Robinson, ed., "The Nag Hammadi Library in English" (3rd ed., 1988). The classic standard translation quoted throughout this document.

THE VALENTINIANS #

  • Einar Thomassen, "The Spiritual Seed: The Church of the 'Valentinians'" (2006). The definitive scholarly study of Valentinian theology and its history.
  • Bentley Layton, "The Gnostic Scriptures" (1987). The Valentinian fragments, the Nag Hammadi texts and the patristic reports, translated with introductions.
  • Elaine Pagels, "The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters" (1975). How Valentinians read Paul.
  • Ismo Dunderberg, "Beyond Gnosticism: Myth, Lifestyle, and Society in the School of Valentinus" (2008).

RETHINKING "GNOSTICISM" #

  • Karen L. King, "What Is Gnosticism?" (2003).
  • Michael Allen Williams, "Rethinking 'Gnosticism': An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category" (1996).
  • David Brakke, "The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity" (2010).

HOW THE BIBLE WAS CHANGED #

  • Bart D. Ehrman, "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" (2005).
  • Bart D. Ehrman, "Lost Christianities" (2003).
  • Bruce M. Metzger, "A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament" (2nd ed., 1994).

Sources

ANCIENT CHRISTIAN WRITERS #

  • Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies (c. 180): 1.1-8 (Ptolemaic system); 1.2.6; 1.5.4; 1.6.1; 1.7.1, 1.7.5; 1.8.5 (Ptolemy on John); 1.13-21 (Marcus); 1.25.6; 3.3.3; 3.4.3 (Valentinus in Rome); 3.11.8 (four Gospels); 3.11.9 (Gospel of Truth); 3.15.2.
  • Tertullian, Against the Valentinians 1, 4.
  • Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 6.35.
  • Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 7.17.106 (Theudas); Excerpts from Theodotus 78.
  • Epiphanius, Panarion 31 (Valentinus); 33.3-7 (Ptolemy, Letter to Flora).
  • Origen, Commentary on John (fragments of Heracleon).
  • Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3.64-65 (edict against heretics).
  • Athanasius, Festal Letter 39 (367).
  • Ambrose, Letter 40 (Maurist numbering; Letter 74 in modern editions) -- Callinicum.
  • Augustine, Questions on the Heptateuch 2.71 (Questions on Exodus 71); Retractations 1.21; Confessions 7.9.
  • Justin Martyr, First Apology 67.
  • Philo, On the Decalogue 50-51; Josephus, Antiquities 3.91-92.

NAG HAMMADI TEXTS (ROBINSON, ED., UNLESS NOTED) #

  • Gospel of Truth, NHC I,3: 16:31-35; 17:10-16; 18:24-29; 20:13-14; 20:24-30; 22:13-15; 24:28-25:3; 28:32-30:14 (paraphrased); 32:18-26; 33:1-8.
  • Treatise on the Resurrection, NHC I,4: 45:24-28; 48:33-38; 49:9-16.
  • Tripartite Tractate, NHC I,5 (paraphrased).
  • Gospel of Thomas, NHC II,2: prologue and 1; 77; 113 (Lambdin translation).
  • Gospel of Philip, NHC II,3: 55:23-27; 56:15-19; 61:29-32; 63:32-64:5; 67:26-30; 70:9-17; 73:1-5; 74:12-15; 75:14-15 and 82:4-10 (paraphrased); 77:15-18.
  • Thunder, Perfect Mind, NHC VI,2: 13:16-19 (MacRae translation).
  • Interpretation of Knowledge, NHC XI,1 (paraphrased).
  • A Valentinian Exposition, NHC XI,2 (paraphrased).

COUNCILS, LAWS AND CHURCH DOCUMENTS #

  • Council of Nicaea (325); Council of Constantinople (381); Council of Chalcedon (451); Third Council of Constantinople (681, condemnation of Honorius); Second Council of Nicaea (787, images).
  • Council of Laodicea (c. 363-364), canon 29.
  • Councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), canon lists.
  • Codex Justinianus 3.12.2 (Constantine's Sunday law, 321).
  • Codex Theodosianus 16.1.2 (Edict of Thessalonica, 380); 16.5 (laws "On Heretics").
  • Council of Toulouse (1229), canon 14.
  • Arundel Constitutions (1407/1409).
  • Lucius III, Ad abolendam (1184); Innocent IV, Ad extirpanda (1252).
  • Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam (1302).
  • Council of Trent, Session IV (April 8, 1546): decrees on the canon and the Vulgate.
  • Index of Forbidden Books (1559; 1564; abolished 1966).
  • Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854); Vatican I, Pastor Aeternus (1870); Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus (1950).
  • Holy Office decree on 1 John 5:7 (January 13, 1897) and its clarification (1927).
  • Catechism of the Catholic Church: 1471-1479; 2066; 2131-2132; 2175.
  • Baltimore Catechism (1885).
  • Martin Luther, Ninety-Five Theses (1517): theses 1, 2, 27, 86.
  • Lorenzo Valla, On the Donation of Constantine (1440).

BIBLE TRANSLATIONS COMPARED #

  • King James Version (1611); New International Version (2011); English Standard Version; New Revised Standard Version; New American Bible Revised Edition; Douay-Rheims; Latin Vulgate and Nova Vulgata; Young's Literal Translation (1862); Tyndale New Testament (1526).
                            .    *    .
                         All of it is public.
                        All of it is checkable.
                     None of it was preached to you.
                            .    *    .

Authenticity

They will try to twist this. Expect it. Rome added and Rome took away; do not let anyone do the same to these pages. Copy them and share them freely -- but an altered copy is not this work, and it does not speak for Apokryphon. Nothing added. Nothing taken away.

Every genuine copy is signed by Apokryphon. The public key fingerprint is:

      F320 26CF 01A7 858B 9271  2982 38A5 18B6 8F30 3329

To verify a copy, download the signature (Gnostic_Awakening.txt.asc) and the public key (apokryphon_public_key.asc) from wherever the original is posted, then run:

gpg --import apokryphon_public_key.asc gpg --verify Gnostic_Awakening.txt.asc Gnostic_Awakening.txt

A true copy answers "Good signature from Apokryphon", and the key it names must match the fingerprint above. Or compare the file's SHA-256 fingerprint with the one published beside the original (SHA256SUMS.txt):

      sha256sum Gnostic_Awakening.txt                   (Linux)
      shasum -a 256 Gnostic_Awakening.txt               (Mac)
      certutil -hashfile Gnostic_Awakening.txt SHA256   (Windows)

If even one character differs, it is not the original. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. -- 1 Thessalonians 5:21

                             \    |    /
                          '.  \   |   /  .'
                     ---  --   ( (O) )   --  ---
                          .'  /   |   \  '.
                             /    |    \

                    Copy it. Print it. Share it freely.
                The truth was never meant to be locked away.

                                -- signed --

                _             _                 _
               /_\  _ __  ___| |___ _ _  _ _ __| |_  ___ _ _
              / _ \| '_ \/ _ \ / / '_| || | '_ \ ' \/ _ \ ' \
             /_/ \_\ .__/\___/_\_\_|  \_, | .__/_||_\___/_||_|
                   |_|                |__/|_|

                  "Apokryphon" -- Greek for "secret book"

      *    .     +      .    *      .     +     .      *     .    +     *
          .    *     .      +     .     *     .     +      .     *    .

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