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I've been reading books on Gnosticism recently, and as someone who grew up in the church and has read the Bible at least three times over, it kind of just seems like Christianity but if all the pieces clicked into place. Something that was always hard for me to understand, and part of what pushed me away from Christianity, was how nonsensical it seems for the radically kind and loving figure of Jesus to be the same being as the wrathful, jealous, and vengeful God of the old testament. On top of that, the idea that Jesus coming down to earth and being some strange sacrifice to save humanity from the wrath of God, especially a supposedly omnipotent god who therefore knew his creation would sin, just didn't make sense. If this version of God is all-powerful, why would he need to sacrifice his own son to save his own creation from what he's going to do to them because of the sin he knew that they would have? After thinking over all of this from the Gnostic perspective however, it makes more sense. Of course the God of the old testament isn't the True God, and of course all of humanity isn't doomed because of two peoples' sin. Viewing sin as a flaw in the fabric of creation, a flaw caused by a flawed creator, is just so much more coherent than the story laid out in Genesis. Jesus didn't come to save us from the wrath of our creator, but instead to liberate us, through the personal spiritual experience of Gnosis, so that our spirits can overcome the flawed world that we are in.
After going through enough religious trauma, I started to heavily dislike Christianity as a whole. Growing up and starting to realize i was trans while going to different churches and Christian schools was a terrifying experience. I consistently hated myself from the time I started having those realizations up until I left Christianity. I had been taught that to reject one's "biological sex" was to desecrate God's creation, and that even just being more fem was to sin and go against what the Bible says a man should be. It was terrifying to think that my very existence might be, as quoted from one of my teachers, "an abomination against God". But now, after reading more on the Gnostic perspective, my understanding of the Bible and of Christianity has changed. According to this perspective, being more in touch with myself, my gender, and who I present myself as, only brings me closer to the True God and to Gnosis. After all being more in touch with any aspect of yourself leads you closer to higher understanding. The True God doesn't want me to suffer in repression and self-loathing, but instead to pursue the truest understanding of myself.
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june ^-^
disclaimer about the book im reading: i disagree with a lot of chapter 14 and the epilogue and i think the author fumbled the ending a little. he fundamentally misunderstands leftist thought as well environmentalism
Zren
That is interesting, I might look into the Gnostic stuff sometime. ( Is this like a single book or a collection of books? ).
The friends and positive influences of my life who helped me accept myself on my own path were all either atheist or Buddhist, so I had no reason to continue holding on to the Christian view of things. Even so, I'd still like to undo some of this resentment in me about the whole faith, and knowing that it had originally a kinder intent would help.
There's actually a super large collection of literature on it!! the one im currently reading are "Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing," and "The Gnostic Gospels." Also! it's interesting that you talk about Buddhism because from what I understand so far Gnosticism and Buddhism are actually quite similar in a lot of ways and even have direct influence on each other. It's definitely super interesting to learn about. Also do have any good introductory reads for Buddhism? I've always found it interesting and i want to learn more about it.
by june ^-^; ; Report
Sure! The first book I picked up on the subject is The Dhammapada by Eknath Easwaran. He goes through an English translation of some of the writings. He provides his own translation of the core texts and follows up with his take on the depth of their intended meanings.
I was also recently gifted a copy of The Teaching Of Buddha. Looks like it was published by an organization - Society for the Promotion of Buddhism or Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai. It's a hardback with an orange cover of a sunset. I found both books to be helpful.
by Zren; ; Report