The Chapel of Saints Serge and Bacchus

Sunday, August 7 at 5:00 PM, Next and maybe last? Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus High Mass

2011-07-26T22:29:00.000-07:00

This Sunday on our Liturgical Calendar is Sunday after the Transfiguration of The Lord. Collect: "O Lord Christ, our indwelling power of transformation, who according to sacred lore upon Mount Tabor didst show Thyself in Thy true glory to thy disciples, grant that we thy servants may also in due time be transformed and transfigured into thy likeness, O Thou great liberator of the light from darkness.Amen."

We hope that all who wish to see us continue the Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica Masses for The LGBTTQ Community will attend Mass and the Dinner and discussion following the Mass at a Location TBA.

Monthly Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus, Perpetua and Felicity Eucharist

2011-06-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

This Sunday is Sunday after the Ascension: we will be celebrating the Mass of the Ascension and Extinguishing the Paschal Candle. The intent of the day is the Return to the Light. As Christ ascends to the Father, he also calls us to retun to the light.

"Our Lord, the joy of thy sweet cry has made us forget the life of this world, the sweetness of thy voice has made us remember the heavenly city. We rejoice as we ascend unto thee, Father with whom we have conquered in the land of darkness. O our great King, transport us to the city of the Angel-Gods, take us into the homes of rejoicing, for we are thine.Amen."

The lesson is taken from the Chaldean Oracles:

Let the immortal depths of the soul be opened, and open all thy eyes at once to the Above, for if the mortal draw near to the fire he shall have light from God. Thou shouldst speed to the light and to the rays of the Father. And when thou beholdest the most holy fire, flashing formless with dancing radiance through the depths of all the worlds, then listen to the voice of fire. Believe thyself to be out of body and so thou art; for divine things are not accessible to mortals who fix their minds on body; it is for those who strip themselves naked, who speed aloft to the height.

We look froward to seeing you there!

Rev's John & Donna, and Rev. Deacon's Gerry and Amber

Gay Mystic: The Three Mary's, the Dark Mother, and the Mists o...

2011-04-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

Gay Mystic: The Three Mary's, the Dark Mother, and the Mists o...: "Taking off for Jerusalem in a week for the Holy Week celebrations, first time in my life this has become possible. Will be staying at a hote..."

Gay Mystic: Martyrs of Disobedience for the Faith, Ludmila Jav...

2011-04-28T10:59:00.000-07:00

Gay Mystic: Martyrs of Disobedience for the Faith, Ludmila Jav...: "Two significant events have occured within the past week which are signs of the times and harbingers of the future. Members of the undergrou..."

Gay Mystic: Swami PrakashakaBOOM Will Fondle No More and The V...

2011-04-28T10:58:00.001-07:00

Gay Mystic: Swami PrakashakaBOOM Will Fondle No More and The V...: "Swami PrakashakaBoom Hardly a laughing matter, but I love this eclectic little website devoted to tracking down Indian guru child moleste..."

Next Chapel of SS. Serge and Bacchus, Perpetua & Felicity Mass, Sunday May 1, 2011.

2011-04-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

Rev. John Goelz, celebrant. Rev. Donna will celebrate the Morning Mass at Ecclesia Gnostica at 11:00 AM.

"Low" Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter is also celebrated as the Sunday of Divine Mercy

"Our Lord's Mercy grants forgiveness of all sins and punishment on the Feast of Divine Mercy, Mercy Sunday, mercy for even the most hardened sinners! It is the Sunday of Divine Mercy, the Feast of Mercy!" http://www.divinemercysunday.com/

Intent: The Wealth of Spirit

THE COLLECT

O Light of Truth, Thou knowest that we have come into this world to fulfill Thy will, but we have become forgetful of our true home which is in Thy being. Save us from the darkness of the Chaos, lest we be swallowed up in it. Rescue us, O Light, in whose radiance we have believed: Forsake us not, O power indwelling and almighty! Move our souls most powerfully, so that we may leave behind the poverty of Ignorance and attain to the true wealth of Spirit in Gnosis!
Amen.

http://gnosis.org/ecclesia/lect047.htm

Hope to see you there!

Rev. John Goelz, Rev. Donna Owen, Rev. Deacon Gerry Szeman, Rev. Deacon Amber Tidwell, and our lay server Laura

Happy Easter, he has Risen!

2011-04-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Festival of the Risen Light
Easter Day

Intent: The Inner Resurrection

THE COLLECT

O Infinite Intelligence, in Whom all inspiration is, tell us the truth about ourselves in whatsoever ways we best may bear without being broken by that burden. Give us, we pray Thee, the sure and certain witness that spirit shall finally triumph over matter, and that death to the world is but a gateway to the ineffable splendor of eternal life in Thee. Deal lightly with us, O Divine Directing One, that we may learn our lessons in this life through love, yet with an unassuming air of absolute and utter confidence in Thy complete command of Cosmos; O never-setting sun of wisdom, goodness and truth, who livest and reignest God for ever and ever.
Amen.

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the Acts of St. John:

Jesus said to John: Thou hearest of me suffering, yet I have not suffered; pierced, yet was I not smitten; hanged, but was not hanged; blood flowing from me, yet it did not flow. And in a word, what they say of me, these things I did not have; while what they do not say, those I have suffered. Understand me then as the slaying of a Word, wound of a Word, hanging of a Word, suffering of a Word, fastening of a Word, death of a Word, resurrection of a Word, and defining this Word, I mean every man!

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew:

As it began to dawn towards the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And, behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the Angel said unto the women: Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that he is risen from the dead. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. And they came and took Him by the feet, and worshipped Him.

BEFORE GOING IN OAK HILL

2011-03-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

Next Monthly Chapel mass this Sunday!

2011-03-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

This Sunday, March 6 · 5:00pm - 6:00pm we will be celebrating our Monthly Gnostic Eucharistic Service Especially for the LGBTTQ Community. This Sunday is Quinquagesima - The Next Sunday Before Lent

Intent: The Holy Spirit as the Fire of Love

THE COLLECT

O mighty Power, Wisdom full of Life, first great commander of the hosts of light and love! God of our life, Lord of dear kindness, perfect living Word, we pray thee to clothe us in the robe of light! The heavenly luminous wheels glorify thee, the Wind, and the Water and the fire, which daily ascend from the Abyss. O Love, that drawest forth the sparks of holiness from the earth, lead us to the rose upon the cross of gold! O Love, that art the lifeblood of the universe and the sustainer of our souls, give us strength to ascend unto thee.
Amen.

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but where there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love these three; but the greatest of these is love.

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is taken from the Gospel of the Cathars:

The Son of God said when he returned to heaven: “My little ones, be not sad on this account because you who stand in truth and justice and not as other men shall return otherwise to my Father’s Kingdom.” And having said the above, the Son of God said to bar Yona: “Let no one put his hand to my plough unless he wishes to grasp it firmly. For he who shall give a cup of water to my little ones shall be blessed, because he shall receive a hundredfold more. See, therefore, if the holy Father promises us much, yet he who shall deceive my little ones in the matter of a single penny, his soul shall not be worth another penny. Where there is one who is my little one, I myself shall be with him, and where there are two, likewise, and where there are three, in the same way.”

Hope to see you there!

Rev's John, Donna, Gerry, AMber and our Lay server Laura

LGBT Spirituality

2011-01-13T14:28:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

LGBT Spirituality

View more presentations from maccardi.

http://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/2011/01/st-aelred-gay-saint-of-friendship.html

2011-01-13T13:30:00.000-08:00

http://jesusinlove.blogspot.com/2011/01/st-aelred-gay-saint-of-friendship.html

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=kitkatt

2011-01-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=kitkatt

Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus Mass, January 2nd: Intent: Renewal of Life

2010-12-31T13:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to All! This coming Sunday the 2nd of January at 5:00 PM, we will celebrate our monthly Chapel service especially for the GLBTTQ COmmunity of Gnostics. We hope to see you there!

Rev's John, Donna, Gerry, Amber, and our helpful Lay Server Laura

THE COLLECT

O omnipotent God, who fillest and dost govern the immensity of worlds which have come forth from Thee; Thou verily art the eternal new-born Child, and yet Thou art the Ancient of Days! Thou hast veiled Thy ineffable glory and splendor in the garment of time and the cloak of space; Thou wilt transform all things so that they might return to Thee, to Thy timeless essence. We dedicate our lives to Thee, and we resolve to so live throughout this year, that Thy glory might increase and fill the earth as the waters cover the sea.
Amen.

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the Book of the Revelation of St. John the Divine:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. Behold, I make all things new.

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is taken from the words of Hermes the Thrice Great Lord:

Your consciousness is in God; draw it into yourself, and it will appear; will, and it takes birth; suspend the senses of the body and the birth of the Godhead takes place. But first you must purify yourselves from the mindless torments of matter, one of which is ignorance, though there are many others, which force the man who is confined to the prison of the body to suffer by way of the passions. But these at once depart from him on whom God has had mercy, and so the body of Gnosis in man is built. This is the way of true rebirth. And now my child be still, and keep solemn silence; and thus will the grace from God not cease to come upon us.

This Sunday, December 5th: The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus @ Ecclesia Gnostica Monthly Service

2010-12-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

Second Sunday in Advent: Violet. Mass of same
Feast day of the H. Nicholas

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the writings of the Gnostic Fathers:

Cease to seek God in created things on the outside, but seek Him within thyself; and thus learn who it is that takes possession of thee and says: “My God, my consciousness, my understanding, my soul, my body.” Then learn whence is sorrow, and rejoicing, and love, and hate, and being awake, and being asleep, and getting angry against one’s will. Now if thou inquire into these things thou shalt find Him in thyself, one and many, like the atom, and thus thou shalt find the way out from thy lesser self.

We're at 3363 Glendale Blvd in Atwater Village (nearest cross street is Revere, Turn on Revere to enter parking lot from alley.plenty of parking!

Join our Facebook Group!

Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus, Sunday October 3, at 5:00 P.M.

2010-09-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends of the Gnostic Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus,

This Coming Sunday we will be holding our Monthly Sunday Evening Service at Ecclesia Gnostica 3363 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039. Free Parking. Donation to the Ecclesia Gnostica Optional.

The Collects from the Mass of the Day and intent, with links to our lectionary follows.

Hope to see you there!

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622&s=100#!/group.php?gid=286336823603

Michaelmas Sunday: White. Mass of same (p. 155).

THE COLLECT

O glorious prince of the heavenly army, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the eternal combat, which we sustain against the powers of darkness, malice and ignorance, which afflict us on this aeonial battlefield of our earthly life! Come, invincible leader of the host of heaven, guardian of the paradise of the world and wielder of the double-edged, flaming sword! Aid and sustain us in our defense against the adversary; and come to lead us finally into the presence of the Most High, into the abode of the blissful. Enlighten and purify us, O Thou great and mighty Archangel Michael, grant us to abandon the works of darkness and to love the Gnosis of the Light; so that whilst all things of this world pass away we may ever hold fast those things which abide for evermore.

Second Collect of the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity (p. 99).Intent: Commemoration of the Saints

THE COLLECT

We glorify and thank Thee, O Indwelling One, for the abiding presence among us of Thy glorious and holy saints who were and are and are to come. We humbly recognize that they indeed are the corners of our cosmos, the pillars of the perfection of mankind, and the revealers of reality. Do Thou, O Holy One, ever affirm within us Thy powers of holiness, that in the fullness of the time of our perfection we might join the ranks of thy leaders of light and become providers of purpose and helpers of Thy holy hand.
Amen.

Please join our Chapel of Serge & Bacchus FACEBOOK Group!

Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus Mass, Sunday, June 6 at 5:00 PM

2010-05-29T02:39:00.000-07:00

Corpus Christi: Mass of same, Procession with the Most H. Sacrament.

THE COLLECT:

O God, Holy and Ineffable, who art verily mystically present in all things, and who art yet transcending all embodiment, we thank Thee for this wonderful sacrament of the altar, which Thou givest us as a token of thine indwelling divinity. We thank Thee for this the most wonderful gift which Thou hast given unto us and we ask Thee to grant us so to venerate the mystery of this sacred body and blood that we may ever perceive within ourselves thine indwelling presence, and share Thy life with others. Amen.

The Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus is held on the first Sunday of Every Month at 500 PM at Ecclesia Gnostica, 3363 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90039. The Gnostic High Mass is celebrated at all Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus Services as it is celebrated at the Ecclesia Gnostica, with the exception that certain changes or additions have been made to reflect the special needs of our community and to ask for the intercession of GLBT saints such as Serge & Bacchus, Perp...etua and & Felicitas, and others, as well as to address the special issues, concerns, and needs of our community in our intentions and prayers.

What we refer to as a Mass, or a Gnostic mass Is the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. In this sacrament the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. This sacrament unites us in a very special way with Christ the Savior and through Him with the Fullness (PLEROMA). The ultimate objective of this process is the achievement of salvific knowledge (the knowledge of Salvation), as it is offered to us by the Love of God and the intercession of Divine Grace.

With the sacraments as an important aid, and the Christ within as our guide, we can be fundamentally transformed and may ultimately obtain freedom from embodied existence and return to the ultimate unity. This is possible for each and every one of us, regardless of our sexual orientation or identity. Our Clergy are ordained into recognized Apostolic and Catholic Lineages and duly qualified to celebrate Mass. The Gay, Lesbian and Bi-sexual members of our Clergy and congregation are particularly involved in and devoted to keeping the Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus an integral part of our Gnostic Community.

Communion of the Sacred Wine and/or Bread is offered to all who wish to receive it, we do not require prior confession or even that a person is a member of our church. We do, however, offer a general confession and absolution in the context of our service. It is by prayer and sincere contrition that we are purified and prepared to receive these sacraments. A brief Homily follows the mass, and we offer fellowship and refreshments for all who would like to stay for a few minutes after the service.

Blessings!

Reverends: John Goelz, Donna Owen, Gerry Szeman & Amber Tidwell

Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus Mass at Ecclesia Gnostica Sunday, May 2 @5pm

2010-04-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Fourth Sunday after Easter: Intent: Divine Aid toward Liberation
& Feast of the Holy Apostles Philip and James (May 1st)

THE COLLECT

O Thou single source of truth and wisdom, who hast taught us that we shall be lamps unto ourselves and islands of refuge unto ourselves, let us ascend up to the supreme light as if on the chariot of truth, bring us over all gulfs and abysses, bear us upward out of gorges and valleys; become to us a harbor of liberation so that we may repose in the arms of life everlasting. Amen.

" Truth, which existed since the beginning, is sown everywhere and many see it being sown, but few are they who see it being reaped."" (excerpt from The Gospel of Phillip, translated by Wesley W. Isenberg)

" If you consider how long the world existed you, and how long it will exist after you, you will find that your life is one single day, and your sufferings one single hour... Scorn death, therefore, and take thought for life!" (excerpts from the Apocryphon of James, translated by Francis E. William)

The Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus is held at 5:00 P.M. on the First Sunday of Every Month at Ecclesia Gnostica, 3363 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Nearest Cross street is Revere. Enter parking lot from alley @ Revere. Our Gnostic High Mass, Chanted and Spoken, is similar to an Old Catholic or High Anglican Service. It differs only slightly from our traditional Gnostic Mass, in that the special intentions of the GLBTQ Community are addressed in our Prayers, Gay & Lesbian Saints, especially Ss. Serge & Bacchus and Perpetua & Felicitas, are invoked with all Saints and Gnostic teachers, and our homilies (given after the conclusion of the Mass) will address particular concerns of GLBTQ brothers and sisters in our Gnostic community. Of course, all are welcome and invited to attend Services and receive Holy Communion at the Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus or any Ecclesia Gnostica Service. No confession or church membership required, however private appointments for confession or spiritual counseling with a Gay or Lesbian Priest are available, as well as hospital or home visits for the elderly or infirm to receive healing and communion. Refreshments and fellowship following the service. Free will donation. Please feel free to contact Rev. John Goelz at: pleroma999@hotmail.com, or Rev. Donna Owen at rev_donna@sbcglobal.net if you have any questions.

More information about the Ecclesia Gnostica is available at: http://www.gnosis.org/eghome.htm

Join our Facebook group!

He has risen

2010-04-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

Wishing you all a Blessed Easter! The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus will NOT be held Easter Sunday @ 5:00 PM, Please come to our Morning Mass at 11:00 AM @ the Ecclesia Gnostica, 3363 Glendale Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90039. Hope to see you there!

Easter Day; The Festival of the Risen Light
Intent: The Inner Resurrection

THE COLLECT:
O Infinite Intelligence, in Whom all inspiration is, tell us
the truth about ourselves in whatsoever ways we best may bear without
being broken by that burden. Give us, we pray Thee, the sure and certain
witness that spirit shall finally triumph over matter, and that death
to the world is but a gateway to the ineffable splendor of eternal life
in Thee. Deal lightly with us, O Divine Directing One, that we may learn
our lessons in this life through love, yet with an unassuming air of
absolute and utter confidence in Thy complete command of Cosmos; O
never-setting sun of wisdom, goodness and truth, who livest and reignest
God for ever and ever.

Amen.

He has risen, awaken from the sleep of death and be transfigured into his likeness!

Reverends: John Goelz, Donna Owen, Gerry Szeman & Amber Tidwell

नेक्स्ट Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus this Sunday, March 7th at 5:00 PM

2010-03-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

This Coming Sunday, March 7th at 5:00 PM we will be having our monthly Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus @ Ecclesia Gnostica, 3363 Glendale Blvd (at Revere) Los Angeles, CA 90039. I hope you can join us!

Join our Face book group: http://www.facebook.com/?sk=2361831622#!/group.php?gid=286336823603

Third Sunday in Lent: Violet. Mass of same Intent: Understanding
________________________________________
THE COLLECT
O repose of the all, we give Thee glory, the Father of Greatness, the glorious King, the Sun in His Aeons, the mighty Crown-bearer, the Father of all our race, the God of all the Gods, the good tree that has given no evil fruit, the Father whose children are many, the Watcher who guards His tower, the sleepless shepherd, the helmsman who does not swoon from the drink of the world, the king and god of Truth, He of the unfading crown, who is Himself all wisdom and love, and who fills our hearts with understanding and compassion.
Amen.

"Almighty Father, your Son, by His holy love for His Disciple John, sanctified man's love for his brother, We ask You to sanctify our love for one another, and to bless all Gay & Lesbian members of our Ecclesia wherever they are..."

excerpt from our Pre-Eucharistic Prayer, The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica

"Behold how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together, of Serge & Bacchus the pair filled with grace, let us sing…" excerpt from The Collect of Ss. Serge & Bacchus, The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica

NEXT CHAPEL OF SAINTS SERGE & BACCHUS MASS, This Coming SUNDAY, February 7, 500 PM at Ecclesia Gnostica

2010-02-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT OUR NEXT CHAPEL OF SAINTS SERGE & BACCHUS MASS,

This Coming SUNDAY, February 7, 500 PM at Ecclesia Gnostica,

3363 Glendale Blvd. (nearest x-street Revere)

Rev's; John, Donna, Gerry & Amber

"Almighty Father, your Son, by His holy love for His Disciple John, sanctified man's love for his brother, We ask You to sanctify our love for one another, and to bless all Gay & Lesbian members of our Ecclesia wherever they are..."

excerpt from our Pre-Eucharistic Prayer, The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica

"Behold how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together, of Serge & Bacchus the pair filled with grace, let us sing…" excerpt from The Collect of Ss. Serge & Bacchus, The Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at Ecclesia Gnostica

Candlemas Day: White. Mass of same (p. 119).

http://gnosis.org/ecclesia/lect119.htm

MEDITATIONS
Candlemas Day

Intent: Kindling of the Light in Darkness

THE COLLECT

O Lord of Light and Lady of Love, eternal, ineffable mystery of the Godhead, grant that enlightened by the flame of consciousness, we may successfully journey into the far and glorious kingdom beyond the aeons, and join the great flame as sparks flying upwards.
Amen.

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah:

The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever. Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Thomas:

Jesus said: I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one. His disciples said: Show us the place where thou art, for it is necessary for us to seek it. He said to them: Whoever has ears let him hear. Within a man of light there is light and he lights the whole world. When he does not shine, there is darkness. Jesus said: Love thy brother as thy soul, guard him as the apple of thine eye.

Notes on Candlemass from THE GNOSTIC CALENDAR
A Mandala of Wholeness:

http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/cal_mandala.htm

"CANDLEMAS. After the darkest season of the year, 43 days after the winter solstice, Candlemas is a festival of the coming of the Light. The dark season is passing away, yet the Light has not yet triumphed. In the pagan tradition, the darkness is ruled by the Horned God, Cernunnos, a paternal and virile male deity. To the ancients, this festival symbolized the impregnation of the Goddess or feminine principle by the masculine. The Dark God lights up his house with candles to receive the Light Goddess and impregnate her.

Within the Christian tradition, this is the day when all the candles used during the year are to be blessed in the church. The candle is a symbol for the vehicle of consciousness. One can make oneself a shining receptacle for the creative and regenerative forces. Thus the power of the Dark God can greatly stimulate the personality. We may say that spiritual and intellectual fertility are available to us in great measure. By utilizing the creative force of darkness, we prepare ourselves for the regeneration of consciousness and Light in the coming season.

A flame is a great symbol of consciousness, and the presence of lighted candles serves to remind us that we are sparks of consciousness. Just as the candle's light cannot be seen well in sunlight but needs the darkness to receive the illumination, so our consciousness must be measured by the background of unconsciousness out of which we arise. So it is fitting to bless candles forty days after the darkest day of the year, and to recognize our own dark unconscious beginnings in our journey to the light."

Happy New Year! Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus Mass Sunday, January 3rd!

2010-01-01T19:34:00.000-08:00

HOPE TO SEE YOU AT OUR NEXT CHAPEL OF SAINTS SERGE & BACCHUS MASS,

This Coming SUNDAY, JANUARY 3rd at 500 PM at Ecclesia Gnostica,

3363 Glendale Blvd. (nearest x-street Revere)

Rev's; John, Donna, Gerry & Amber

Mary Glasspool, the First Lesbian U.S. Bishop

2009-12-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

Mary Glasspool, the First Lesbian U.S. Bishop
by Michael A. Jones
The Episcopal Church makes history again. Back in 2003, it was the ordination of openly gay Bishop Eugene Robinson that sent waves through the religious world. Now, six years later, the Episcopal Church will welcome its first lesbian ordained bishop with Rev. Mary Glasspool in Los Angeles.
Rev. Glasspool, currently an Episcopalian priest in Maryland, was elected bishop over the weekend. She'll become one of two auxiliary bishops for the Los Angeles diocese, joining Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, who was elected on Friday. The two will become the first women bishops of the entire diocese.

And now, a personal statement by Rt Rev. Glasspool:
Provide a description of your walk with God in Christ that brought you to this moment of discerning a call to the episcopate in our diocese.

And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14b, RSV)

I was born in February 1954, on a rainy Tuesday (Tuesday’s child is full of grace) in Staten Island Hospital, New York, where my father was Rector of St. Simon’s Episcopal Church and Vicar of All Saints’. Both my parents grew up in the Episcopal Church, and each modeled a profound faith in God that was given to me as gift while I grew up. We moved to Goshen, N.Y., in April of 1954 where my father was Rector of St. James’ Church for the next 35 years until his death in 1989. As with most children, I suspect, God was more transcendent than immanent, more other than palpable in community to me.

It was during my college years (1972-1976) that I began to discern a vocation to ordained ministry and concomitantly to discover my sexuality. Both these areas were sources of intense struggle for me, as I wrestled with such questions as; Did God hate me (since I was a homosexual)? or Did God love me? Did I hate (or love) myself? Was it really possible, not to mention appropriate, for women to be priests? My father’s answer to this last question was a resounding NO, and true to his own colors he never publicly supported women’s ordination, although I became something of an exception to the rule.

God was still transcendent and other to me as I entered Episcopal Divinity School in the Fall of 1976, just as the General Convention in Minneapolis was wrestling to recognize the reality of women called to be priests, the new Prayer Book, and what to do with the Philadelphia 11 and the Washington 5 as we termed them at EDS. My role models at that time represented two different ways of doing things in response to God’s call: Carter Heyward and Carol Anderson. Carter, for me, represented the courage to break through barriers – not without cost – in order to become fully the person God is calling you to become. Carol represented the sacrificial love of the Church that manifested itself in restraint, and also came at great cost. Both of these courageous women have continued to model for me the integrity of responding to God’s call with your whole person, being exactly who you are.

After my ordination to the Diaconate on June 13, 1981, I became Assistant to the Rector at St. Paul’s Church in Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia) under the tutelage and rectorship of Jim Moodey. God was beginning to be more in Christ for me, more present, closer, more a part of my daily walk. I grew a lot in three years at St. Paul’s, staying in touch with my spiritual director: Martin Smith, and being the only full-time cleric at the resource size parish when Jim was elected Bishop of Ohio and the parish moved into transition. When the next Rector of St. Paul’s was called, I accepted a call to become Rector of St. Luke’s and St. Margaret’s (SLAM, as we affectionately referred to ourselves) in the Allston section of Boston. For the next seven years I helped the Holy Spirit build up this exciting branch of the Body of Christ while simultaneously dealing with a host of urban issues such as immigration, housing as a right, the four-pronged economic justice plan that came out of General Convention in 1988 and focused on land trusts, cooperative housing, worker-owned businesses and community development credit unions. And, because the kairos appeared to be coming, I had the privilege and subsequent joy of nominating and working with Barbara Harris, as she became the first female bishop in the Anglican Communion.

It was in Boston that I met my life partner, Becki Sander, as she was studying for a dual degree in theology and social work. We have been together since 1988, and Becki has just earned her Ph.D. in Social Work, having written an excellent thesis on Restorative Justice. God has blessed us richly and continues to do so.

In something of a surprise move, God next called me south of the Mason-Dixon Line to St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Maryland where I had the honor of being Rector for the next nine-and-one-half years (1992-2001). While striving to be honest about who I was (when asked directly about my sexuality I responded honestly and directly), it was also a time in the church when uncertainty about issues of sexuality reigned. The good people of St. Margaret’s gave me room to be myself without asking explicit questions, and I gave them room to be themselves: (at that time) a relatively conservative, but Jesus-loving parish of untapped potential. This resulted in a mostly joy-filled love affair during which the parish grew by leaps and bounds (St. Margaret’s is now one of the most exciting parishes in this diocese) and I grew profoundly in my knowledge and love of the Lord. The cost, however, was that my partner, Becki, was invisible as far as the parish was concerned, although we developed deep friendships among our different colleagues outside of St. Margaret’s.

In the Spring of 2001, the Canon to the Ordinary of the Diocese of Maryland accepted a call to a parish in Arizona, and I was among those who tested out whether or not God was calling me to work on a diocesan staff. Because the Bishop Diocesan, Bob Ihloff, wanted to make it clear that we were building a team ministry and I was to work with the Bishop Suffragan, John Rabb, as well, the title was changed to Canon to the Bishops. I was called, and after much laughter and countless tears as St. Margaret’s and I celebrated our time together, I began my new job on October 1, 2001.

For the first three years of my eight-year tenure (so far), I grieved the loss of being a Parish Rector, at St. Margaret’s in particular. In my heart, I believe there is a significant part of me that is and always will be a parish priest. I use that to remind myself of the kind of service a diocesan staff should try to provide for the diocese. So, for example, if I’m sending an “allclergy” e-mail, I try to imagine what it’s like to be sitting at my desk as Rector of a parish reading the e-mail. Is it clear? Does the Diocese know what it’s doing? I promote with the staff the fact that we are here to serve the Diocese, so that whenever we are receiving a phone call or e-mail we should be ready to help in whatever ways we can, and if we can’t, we should be able to refer people to someone who can.

I have come to love what I’m doing now with all its challenges and opportunities to learn. Since I have described many aspects of my current job in others parts of this application, I won’t repeat them here. The Diocese of Maryland has recently been through a search process, the election of our current Bishop: Eugene T. Sutton, his Consecration a year ago, followed rapidly by Lambeth and now, preparation for the upcoming General Convention in Anaheim. Eugene has asked me to stay on, amidst other staff changes, and this I’ve done, committed to the transition, and along with Bishop Rabb, trying to help Bishop Sutton be the best possible Bishop for Maryland God is calling him to be. Yet I find myself yearning for something new and different. In my spiritual life, I am experiencing a “holy unsettledness” - perhaps the stirrings of a new call?

When one of the clergy in our diocese asked if he could submit my name for Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles, I went to your web site, read the material, and thought: “Wow! This is exciting! I would love to explore this new possibility and discover what God is up to now.” With respect to the episcopal part of discerning this possibility, I would say two things. One is that functionally, I do many of the ministries our bishops do without having been elected. I travel all over the Diocese of Maryland visiting a different parish each Sunday to preach and celebrate the Eucharist and support individual clergy and the congregations committed to their charge in their own mission and ministry in Christ. I represent the bishops on a variety of different committees and commissions. I do Mutual Ministry Reviews, facilitate Vestry Retreats, lead spiritual retreats, and provide pastoral care for the clergy and their families. Obviously I do not have the same authority as a bishop - but that lack comes with the advantage of knowing that some people speak to me instead of either of the bishops precisely because they don’t want to speak to the bishops!

The second thing is simply to say that it’s time. It’s time for our wonderful church to move on and be the inclusive Church we say we are. I believe that the Diocese of Los Angeles is in alignment with the kairos – ready to move boldly into the future, with a strategic plan centered in the love of God and purposed with bringing God’s Reign of Justice and Love further into being, modeling for the whole Church an episcopal team. And maybe, just maybe, God is calling me to be a part of that exciting future.

Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus Mass, and Rev. Donna Anniversary Mass, Sunday, December 6, 2009.

2009-11-27T13:58:00.000-08:00

Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus Mass, and Rev. Donna Anniversary Mass, Sunday, December 6, 2009.

Anniversary Mass at 11:00 AM, Rev’s Donnas’ 8 year anniversary of her ordination to the Priesthood !

Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus at 5:00 PM

Second Sunday in Advent: Violet. Mass of same (p 3). Second collect of the H. Nicholas (p 163).

MEDITATIONS
The Second Sunday in Advent

Intent: The God Within

THE COLLECT

Show us Thy face, O holy undefiled radiance, our true gracious physician, Thou healer of our souls! Come to us, for we are Thy sheep, and Thou art our good shepherd! O Light of our soul, the sun of our heart who givest our being the things of the Light, Thou art our witness that we have no comfort save in Thee. We have heard every voice but no other voice save Thine can please us; for it is Thou alone whom we have loved from the beginning to the end. Come to us, and abide with us, O redeeming Light, Thou who art the cross of light that gives life to the universe.
Amen.

THE LESSON

The lesson is taken from the writings of the Gnostic Fathers:

Cease to seek God in created things on the outside, but seek Him within thyself; and thus learn who it is that takes possession of thee and says: “My God, my consciousness, my understanding, my soul, my body.” Then learn whence is sorrow, and rejoicing, and love, and hate, and being awake, and being asleep, and getting angry against one’s will. Now if thou inquire into these things thou shalt find Him in thyself, one and many, like the atom, and thus thou shalt find the way out from thy lesser self.

THE GOSPEL

The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Philip:

Those who sow in the winter reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer the other aeon. What comes out of the winter is the summer. Let us sow in the world that we may reap in summer. But if any man reap in winter, he will not reap but pluck out.

Hope to see you there!

Rev's John, Gerry, Donna & Amber

Re: Next Chapel of Ss. Serge & Bacchus This Sunday, August 2

2009-07-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

August 2
Eighth Sunday after Trinity: Green. Mass of the same (p. 79).
MEDITATIONS
The Eighth Sunday After Trinity
Intent: Wisdom

Hope to see you there!

Rev.'s: John, Gerry, Amber and Donna

________________________________________
THE COLLECT
O God, who art the Wisdom of the wise and the Strength of the strong, whose Beauty shines through the whole universe; may we so open our hearts to the spirit of wisdom and understanding, that we may ever be strong in Thee, and may show forth in our lives Thy divine Beauty.
Amen.
________________________________________
THE LESSON
The lesson is taken from the first Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians:

We speak wisdom among them that are perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. The natural man receiveth not the things that are freely given to us of God. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual discerneth all things; yet he himself is discerned of no man.
________________________________________
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Philip:

Those who are in the truth will be perfect when all the truth is revealed. For the truth is like ignorance; while it is hidden it abides in itself, but when it is revealed and recognized it is praised inasmuch as it is stronger than ignorance and error. The Logos said: If you know the truth, the truth will make you free. Ignorance is a slave, knowledge is freedom. When we recognize the truth we shall find the fruits of the truth in our hearts. If we unite with it, it will bring our fulfillment.

Second Collect of the Master Phillipe (p 147).

Happy Memorial Day! NEXT Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus June 7th

2009-05-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends of the Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus,
Our next Gnostic-Christian Eucharist Service especially for the GLBT Community will be at 5:00 PM, Sunday, June 7th, at Ecclesia Gnostica/The Gnostic Society, 3363 Glendlae Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039. Celebrant: Rev. Fr. John Goelz. All are welcome!
Hope to see you there,
Rev. John Goelz, Rev. Donna Owen, Rev. Deacon Gerry Szeman, and Rev. Amber Tidwell.
MEDITATIONS
Pentecost (Whitsunday)
Intent: Coming of the Holy Spirit
________________________________________
THE COLLECT
Eternal Spirit of Wisdom, source of love and light; thou norm of the Father and the Son, who comest into the soul of man as the balance of righteousness and truth, we hail thee! Most holy comforter, dove that deifiest mankind; thou presence most secret and adored in all the worlds, hear our prayer! Thou who art the fire of Pentecost, who movest upon the face of the waters; who comest down as a mighty wind; and who renewest the face of the earth, we glorify thee, and rejoice in the all renewing majesty of thy deathless might, now and forevermore.
Amen.
________________________________________
THE LESSON
The lesson is taken from the Kephalaia of the Paraclete:

The fount of every blessing and all the invocations is the mother of life, the first Holy Spirit, the first mother who has come forth the father and first appeared, the glorious one who is the beginning of all emanations that have come to this world. Know that the grains of the dust of the earth can be measured, with the whole universe, one can count the grains of the dust of the earth year after year; but the length of time the Holy Spirit passed with the father, that one cannot count. He first formed her in his inner chambers in quiet and in silence; but when she was needed, then was she called and came forth from the father of greatness; she looked after all the aeons of the light.
________________________________________
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. John:

Jesus said unto His disciples: I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that She may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Her not, neither knoweth Her; but ye know Her, for She dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more, but ye see Me; because I live, ye shall live also. The Comforter, who is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, she shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

From the Gay Saints Calendar at: http://www.otkenyer.hu/halsall/lgbh-gaysts.html#perp

May 30 ORC *St. Joan of Arc
c.1412-1431
and *La Rousse
and *Catharine de La Rochelle
An Image of Joan of Arc is available online. See also another image.
Joan, who was executed at the age of 19, lived, as Marina Warner notes, one of the most classically heroic lives of any woman in history. She is the national heroine of France. She also refused to wear women's clothes and had her hair cut in the typical male "basin" style of the day. Even during her trial she insisted on male attire, an insistence which angered her prosecutors.
from Compton's Online Encyclopedia, (AOL, Downloaded 7/22/94)
JOAN OF ARC (1412?-31). One of the most romantic figures in European war history was Joan of Arc, a peasant girl who saved the kingdom of France from English domination. She has also been called the Maid of Orleans and the Maid of France. When she was only 17 years old, Joan inspired a French army to break the English siege of the French city of Orleans and to win other important victories. Joan of Arc (in French Jeanne d'Arc) was born in the village of Domremy, in the Meuse River valley, probably in 1412. She was the daughter of a wealthy tenant farmer. From her mother she learned how to spin, sew, and cook, and also to love and serve God. She spent much of her time praying in church. For almost 100 years France and much of Europe had been fighting in what became known as the Hundred Years' War. The English occupied much of northern France and the Duke of Burgundy was their ally. Because the impoverished French king, Charles VII, had not yet been crowned, he was still called the Dauphin (See Charles, Kings of France). Reims, where the coronation ceremonies for French kings had been held for 1,000 years, was in enemy hands (See Reims). The valley where Joan lived was constantly overrun by armies and guerrilla bands.
Joan was only about 13 when she first saw a heavenly vision. She later claimed that St. Michael had told her to be a good girl, to obey her mother, and to go to church often. For some time, however, she told no one of the visions. When St. Catherine and St. Margaret commanded her to journey to the Dauphin in order to inspire his armies to clear the way to Reims for the coronation, she told her parents and others. Her father refused to let her go. Joan's visions continued to command her. Her friends, who believed that she was truly inspired, secured boy's clothing and a horse for her. Several rode with her on the long trip to the Dauphin's court at Chinon. Perhaps as a test, the Dauphin made one of his courtiers pretend to be the king. Joan, however, went directly to the true king and greeted him. The Dauphin and his councilors were not entirely convinced of her mission, however. Months of doubt and indecision followed while she was questioned. Slowly an army was gathered. The Dauphin equipped Joan with armor, attendants, and horses. A special banner was made for Joan to carry into battle. On one side were the words "Jesus Maria" and a figure of God, seated on clouds and holding a glove. The other side had a figure of the Virgin and a shield, with two angels supporting the arms of France. When the army at last moved toward Orleans, Joan was not its commander, but her presence inspired the soldiers with confidence. At Orleans, after Joan disapproved of the plans made for entering the besieged city, her own plan was adopted. From the city she led a series of sallies that so harassed and discouraged the English that they withdrew. In one of the skirmishes Joan was wounded. On May 8, 1429, the victory was celebrated by the first festival of Orleans. The army entered Reims on July 16. The next day the Dauphin was crowned king as Joan stood by with her banner. A decision was made to attack Paris, but the new monarch's hesitation and indecision prevented Joan's soldiers from concerted attack. Nevertheless, Compiegne and other nearby towns were taken. A French attack on a Paris salient was driven back and Joan was again wounded. Charles VII disbanded his army for the winter and retired southward. Through the cold months Joan chafed at royal delay. In the spring she returned to Compiegne, now besieged by forces of the Duke of Burgundy. On May 23, 1430, Joan, on a sortie into the Burgundian lines, was separated from her soldiers and captured.
Trial and Execution
As a prisoner at Beaurevoir, she attempted to escape, but was injured in the leap from the donjon tower. Later she was sold to the English, who vowed that she would be executed. They removed her to Rouen, where she was held in chains. Although the English wanted Joan's death, they desired her to be sentenced by an ecclesiastical court. The Burgundian- controlled University of Paris provided the charges of heresy and witchcraft. It also provided some of the members of the court. Other members came from areas under English occupation. Chief of the court was the bishop of Beauvais. Joan was handed over to this bishop on Jan. 3, 1431. The sittings began on February 21 and continued intermittently for months. Joan's appeal to be sent before the pope for judgment was denied. On May 23 she was condemned to be burned unless she recanted. She had been held for many months in chains, threatened with torture, and harassed by thousands of questions. In spite of all this, she had maintained her shy innocence, often confounding her oppressors with simple, unaffected answers to tricky questions. Saint Catherine and Saint Margaret, she said, still counseled her.
Faced with death in the flames, she recanted, but many historians think she did not understand what was meant in the statement of recantation. As a result of her submission, her punishment was commuted from death to life imprisonment. This leniency enraged the English, however, and it was not long before she was accused of relapsing from her submission. On May 30, 1431, when she was only 19 years old, Joan was turned over to civil authority and burned to death at the stake.
Charles VII had made no effort to save Joan. Some 25 years later he did aid her family to appeal the case to the pope, and in 1456 a papal court annulled the judgment of 1431. On May 16, 1920, Joan of Arc was canonized a saint by the Roman Catholic church.
Select bibliography
Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Joan of Arc (available online)
There is an interesting web site devoted to original texts and later discussions about Joab of Arc.
Marina Warner, St. Joan of Arc: The Image of Female Heroism, (London: 1981, pb. Penguin, 1985), esp. 149-59
Charles T. Wood, Joan of Arc and Richard II: Sex , Saints and Government in the Middle Ages, (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988)

Next Chapel of Serge & Bacchus Mass this Sunday, May 3rd

2009-05-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends,

Just a quick reminder to let you know that we will be holding our monthly Chapel of Saints Serge & Bacchus (and Perpetua and Felicity) for THE GNOSTIC SOCIETY GLBTQ Community and Friends this coming Sunday, May 3rd, at 5:00 PM. Hope to see you there!

Rev.’s: John, Donna, Gerry and Amber

The Chapel of Saints Serge and Bacchus Blog at:

http://chapelofsergeandbacchus.blogspot.com/

scroll down for Gay saints calendar entry for Friday, May 8th

ECCLESIA GNOSTICA CALENDAR
Third Sunday after Easter: White. Mass of same (p. 51). The Third Sunday After Easter
Intent: Divine Protection
________________________________________
THE COLLECT
O great alone-born, hear us this day when we cry to Thee, O One-Father, almighty spirit, the firstborn of every living being and every Aeon! Help us, O holy angels! May our afflictions both within and without swiftly flee away from us, so that the benevolent powers may come to us, remain with us, and protecting us, guide us to Thine ineffable Light!
Amen.
________________________________________
THE LESSON
The lesson is taken from the Chaldean Oracles:

The soul of man, with nothing in it subject to death, should press God closely to itself; but now it is all drunk, for it glories in the Harmony under whose sway the mortal frame exists. Seek out the channel for the Soul-Stream, whence it is that the Soul fell into slavery to the body, and to what state thou shalt rise again. Those who flee the reckless fated wing of Fate and stay themselves in God, draw to themselves the fires in all their prime as they descend out of the Father. And the soul is nourished all these aeons by the empyrean fruit which it gathered from God, who is our home, and our true Self.
________________________________________
THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Thomas:

Jesus said: Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you shall find the kingdom; because you come from it, and you shall go there again. Jesus said: If they say to you: 'From where have you originated', you say to them: 'We have come from the Light, where the Light has originated through itself. It stood and it revealed itself in their image.' If they say to you: 'Who are you?', say: 'We are His sons and we are the elect of the Living Father.' If they ask you: 'What is the sign of your Father in you?', say to them: 'It is a movement and a rest.'

From the GAY SAINTS CALENDAR:

May 8 COE/ECUSA *Julian of Norwich, mystic
1342- c. 1417
Mother Julian qualifies as transgendered for her name, if nothing else. But that is not her main interest for lesbian and gay people. Mother Julian was one of the foremost English mystics of the middle ages. As a young women she had series of intense visions, or "showings" as she said, of Jesus. She then lived as an anchoress, a sort of local hermit, for the rest of her life meditating and writing down he meditations on these visions. There is a pretty poor modern English version put out by Penguin, but the edition in the Classics of Western Spirituality Series is well worth the extra cost. Julian, although no feminist, experienced God directly as "our mother", and experienced God as pure love. She also saw Jesus as a loving mother, full of warm and care for her children. Julian's immensely attractive spirituality emphasize that God love's human beings, and that in the end "all will be well, and all shall be well, and all will be well". In her awareness of the motherhood of God, in her emphasis on God's love and manifest intention that "every kind of thing will be well", Julian's spirituality has the called many who have encountered it back to a joyful Faith. And a Faith that is not joyful hardly seems worth the effort.
Chapter 60 (from Long Text of "Showings")
"The Mother can lay her child tenderly to her breast, but our tender Mother Jesus can lead us easily into his blessed breast through his sweet open side, and show us there a part of the godhead and of the joys of heaven with inner certainty of endless bliss. And that he revealed in the 10th revelation, giving us the same under standing in these sweet words which he says: See how I love you, looking into his blessed side, rejoicing"
Chapter 31 (from Long Text of "Showings"), a passage Julian referred back to repeatedly,
"And so our good Lord answered to all questions and doubts which I could raise, saying most comfortably: I may make all things well, and I can make all things well, and I shall make all things well, and I will make all things well, and you will see yourself that every kind of thing will be well"
Chapter 11 (from Short text of "Showings")
"Thus I chose Jesus for my heaven, whom I saw only in pain at that time. No other heaven was pleasing to me than Jesus, who will be my bliss when I am there; and this has always been a comfort to me, that I chose Jesus as my heaven in all times of suffering and of sorrow."
Select bibliography
Catholic Encyclopedia - entry on Juliana of Norwich (available online)
See the Julian of Norwich homepage, which includes a link to an icon of Mother Julian, as well as much written material.
Julian of Norwich's Revelations, an online article by by Gretchen Denlinger.
Julian of Norwich, Showings, trans. Edmund Colledge and James Walsh, (New York: Paulist Press, 1978)

WISHING YOU A HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER!

2009-04-12T09:44:00.001-07:00

WISHING YOU A HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER!

The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew:

As it began to dawn towards the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And, behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the Angel said unto the women: Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that he is risen from the dead. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying: All hail. And they came and took Him by the feet, and worshipped Him. http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/lect045.htm

“The Savior swallowed up death - (of this) you are not reckoned as being ignorant - for he put aside the world which is perishing. He transformed himself into an imperishable Aeon and raised himself up, having swallowed the visible by the invisible, and he gave us the way of our immortality. Then, indeed, as the Apostle said, "We suffered with him, and we arose with him, and we went to heaven with him". Now if we are manifest in this world wearing him, we are that one`s beams, and we are embraced by him until our setting, that is to say, our death in this life. We are drawn to heaven by him, like beams by the sun, not being restrained by anything. This is the spiritual resurrection which swallows up the psychic in the same way as the fleshly. “ The Treatise on the Resurrection, The Nag Hammadi Library http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/res.html

“What great confidence at the hour of death shall be his who is not attached to this world by any affection. But the sickly soul does not know what it is to have a heart thus separated from all things, nor does the natural man know the liberty of the spiritual man. Yet, if he truly wishes to be spiritual, he must renounce both strangers and friends, and must beware of no one more than himself.”

“…Grace is a supernatural light, a certain special gift of God, the proper mark of the elect and the pledge of everlasting salvation. It raises man up from earthly things to love the things of heaven. It makes a spiritual man of a carnal one. The more, then, nature is held in check and conquered, the more grace is given. Every day the interior man is reformed by new visitations according to the image of God.”

Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ http://www.leaderu.com/cyber/books/imitation/imb3c51-59.html

the Gnostic Chapel of Saint Jeanne D'Arc Blog at:

http://saintjeannechapel।blogspot.com/

Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus Mass Sunday, March 1st @5:00 PM

2009-02-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Just a reminder to let you know that this Sunday, March 1st we're having our Monthly Gnostic-Christan Mass for the Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bachhus again at 5:30 PM. Being that this is the first Sunday following Ash Wednesday, and the first Sunday in Lent and the Easter Season, we will be administering blessed ashes, for those who were unable to attend our Ash Wednesday Mass.

First Sunday in Lent: Violet. Mass of the same (p 28). [homily] Blessing and distribution of ashes may be repeated (p 27).

THE COLLECT
O loving God, look upon Thy children who have answered Thy call! Come to us with Thy mighty aid in our time of need. Cleanse us of all darkness and ignorance, let our tears be turned to jubilation, let Thy most glorious power watch over us until we enter Thy light. Let Thy great brightness come and cause the path to be lit before us, let Thy angels bring to us Thy garments, Thy crowns and Thy garlands; let our way be restful, let the door open before us into the column of glory, let us cross over in the ships of Light and rest for evermore. Amen.

THE LESSON
The lesson is taken from the words of the Holy Prophet Mani: The man whose mind is full of light is the one to whom belongs wisdom; as soon as he hears truth he welcomes it to himself; but he whose mind is without light, who is alien to it, does not take it to himself, nor does he listen to it. And every weak soul which has not learned the truth belonging to her is doomed to remain without any rest or happiness. God’s enlightening word is sweet when it finds ears to hear it; it does not lodge in a closed mind, makes not its way into a polluted shrine. Let us therefore examine our shrines, so that in cleanliness they may receive the Light.

THE GOSPEL
The gospel is taken from the Gospel according to St. Thomas:Jesus saw children who were being suckled. He said to his disciples: These children who are being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom. They said to Him: Shall we then, being children, enter the Kingdom? Jesus said to them: When you make the two one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the female not be female, when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in the place of a hand, and a foot in the place of a foot, and an image in the place of an image then shall you enter the Kingdom.

Hope to see you at Ecclesia Gnostica and the Chapel of Ss. Serge and Bacchus Tomorrow!

Rev.'s Donna, John, Jerry & Amber

"Remember O Soul, that thy body is dust and to dust it shall return." Ash Wednesday Blessing as used by the Ecclesia Gnostica.

Great Gay Quotes

2009-02-22T00:55:00.000-08:00

It always seemed to me a bit pointless to disapprove of homosexuality. It's like disapproving of rain. - Francis Maude

In response to a reader who complained that a gay couple was moving in across the street and wanted to know what he could do to improve the quality of the neighborhood. 'You could move.' ~ Abigail Van Buren, "Dear Abby,"

The only queer people are those who don't love anybody. - Rita Mae Brown

My own belief is that there is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror. ~ W.Somerset Maugham

If homosexuality is a disease, let's all call in queer to work: "Hello. Can't work today, still queer." ~ Robin Tyler

I'd rather be black than gay because when you're black you don't have to tell your mother. ~ Charles Pierce

Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands? ~ Ernest Gaines

The one bonus of not lifting the ban on gays in the military is that the next time the government mandates a draft we can all declare homosexuality instead of running off to Canada. - Lorne Bloch

You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight. ~ Barry Goldwater

Drag is when a man wears everything a lesbian won't. - Author Unknown

My mother took me to a psychiatrist when I was fifteen because she thought I was a latent homosexual. There was nothing latent about it. - Amanda Bearse

I was standing in the middle of Manhattan, and heard a man say "They ought to take all these homos and put them on an island somewhere." I said, "Merry Christmas, Bozo, you're on it." - Jim David

(and, of course, the ever famous quote:) The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals. It's just that they need more supervision.

A NEW SPIRITUALITY FOR GAYS

2009-02-22T00:52:00.000-08:00

article online at http://www.coolcatdaddy.com/cyrwyn/GaySpirituality.html

Here's a short excerpt from the article:

"With increasing documentation, gay historians and anthropologists are chronicling the lives of gay people within our culture and in other cultures of the past and present. There is a growing body of work demonstrating other cultural attitudes toward homosexuality and how gayness was integrated into those cultures. It appears that only late western culture since the eleventh century has been strongly homophobic. The ancient Greeks, founders of our way of thought, glorified homosexuality, although it had to fit a conventional, patriarchal social behavior. Neither did early Christianity condemn homosexual love, as is commonly but erroneously believed. Jesus spoke of the “Rache”, a derogatory Hebrew term for homosexuals, admonishing his followers not to condemn them. "

What does the Bible say about Homosexuality?

2009-02-22T00:43:00.000-08:00

What does the Bible say about Homosexuality?

http://www.cathedralofhope.com

In our Judeo-Christian society, the documents known as the Bible serve as the primary guide on most issues. It is interesting that many Christians take literally the references to homosexual acts while interpreting other text with great flexibility. One person reported listening to a nationally known woman speak in her campaign against homosexuality. She spent much time quoting impressively from Leviticus. the listener accepted much of what the speaker had said until realizing that by Levitical standards, the crusader had herself broken many biblical laws; women speaking in church, women teaching men, wearing a dress made of cotton and polyester, and probably others of which he was unaware.

What does the Bible really say about homosexuality? Actually, very little. Jesus said nothing at all, which is most significant. Considering the relatively small amount of attention the Bible gives to the subject, we must ask ourselves why this is such a volatile issue while other subjects (e.g. judgment, pride, hypocrisy) about which the scriptures say a great deal, receive much less passionate attention. Before looking at specific passages, let us note that everyone understands the scriptures on and through the light of what they have been taught. The Bible was not written in a cultural void, and many of its instructions and laws we simply classify as less relevant today (e.g. prohibition of eating pork).

Nowhere in the Bible is the idea of persons being homosexual addressed. The statements are, without exception, directed to certain homosexual acts. Early writers had no understanding of homosexuality as a psycho-sexual orientation. That truth is a relatively recent discovery. The biblical authors were referring to homosexual acts performed by persons they assumed were heterosexuals.

The Sodom Story

A chief text for condemnation of homosexuality has been the Sodom story. This story has often been interpreted as showing God's abhorrence of homosexuality. In the story, two angels in the form of men were sent to Sodom to the home of Lot. While they were there, all the men of the city, "both young and old, surrounded the house --everyone without exception," and demanded that the visitors be brought out, "so that we might know them" (verse 5). Lot begged the men to leave his guests alone and take his daughters instead. The men of the city became angry and stormed the door. As a result, they were all struck blind by the angels.

There are several problems with the traditional interpretation of this passage. Whether or not the intent of the men of Sodom was sexual, the inhospitality and injustice coming from the mob and generally characterizing the community were "the sin of Sodom". Jesus himself refers to the inhospitality of Sodom. If, indeed, the men were homosexuals, then why would Lot offer them his daughters? What is threatened here is rape. The significant point then is that all rape is considered horrible by God. The story deserves another reading by all of us.

It should be noted that all of the men of Sodom could not have been homosexual or there would have been no need to destroy them since they would have all died off with no heirs. Quite likely they were a mixed group of evil men attempting to be abusive to people who were different. Ironically, lesbian and gay people are often the victim of that sin.

Although the traditional interpretation of the Sodom story fails as an argument against homosexuality, there are several other Old Testament passages which do condemn homosexual acts. Again, it should be noted that these passages do not deal with same-sex orientation, nor is there any references to genital love between lesbian or gay persons.

Homosexual Acts

Of thousands of Old Testament passages, only two make explicit reference to homosexual acts; Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13. Both of these passages are a part of the Levitical holiness code which is not kept by any Christian group. If it were enforced, almost every Christian would be excommunicated or executed. It has been logically argued that science and progress have made many of the Levitical laws irrelevant for us. For example, Tim LaHaye states that, although Levitical laws prohibit intercourse during menstruation, medical authorities do not view it as harmful; and, therefore, it should not be viewed as sinful. He further explains, "those laws were given 3,500 years ago before showers and baths were convenient, before tampons, disinfectants, and other improved means of sanitation had been invented". With that, LaHaye makes this law irrelevant and rightly so. Ironically, though, in his book, The Unhappy Gay, the Levitical laws are one of the chief cornerstones. Much of the holiness code is now irrelevant for us as moral law. Thus, having children which was of exceptional importance to the early Hebrews is now made less relevant by overpopulation, just as the prohibition against eating pork and shell-fish has been made irrelevant by refrigeration.

The Bible never addresses the issue of homosexual love, but has several examples of same-sex love. David's love for Jonathan was said to exceed his love for women. Ruth's relationship with Naomi is certainly an example of a deep, bonding love. The Bible does value love between persons of the same sex.

Jesus' Attitude

In the context of the New Testament there is no record of Jesus saying anything about homosexuality. This ought to strike us as very odd in light of the great threat to Christianity, family life, and the American way that some would have us believe homosexuality is. Jesus saw injustice and religious hypocrisy as a far greater threat to the Realm of God.

Episcopal priest, Dr. Tom Horner has written the Gospels imply in two places that Jesus' attitude toward lesbians and gays would not have been hostile. The first is found in the story of Jesus healing the Centurion's servant. The word used for the servant is "pais" which in the Greek culture referred to a younger lover of an older more powerful or educated man. Clearly the story demonstrates an unusually intense love, and Jesus' response was wholly positive.

The other hint of Jesus' attitude is seen in his comments about eunuchs. Jesus opposed divorce in opposition to the abuses experienced by women. It is in the context of marriage which Jesus said that "some eunuchs were born so; others had been made eunuchs and still others choose to be eunuchs for the Kingdom's sake."

Jesus' remarks about celibacy and castration are clear, but a male child being born without testicles is a rare birth defect. It is only in our day that the Kinsey Institute has demonstrated that sexual orientation is likely determined prior to birth. It could well be that those to whom Jesus refers as being "born eunuchs" are the people we call lesbian or gay.

Jesus' attitude toward eunuchs differed greatly from the fundamentalist Pharisees of his day. To them, eunuchs were excluded from the covenant and barred from worship and participating in the community of faith. Jesus' graceful approach to eunuchs is beautifully pictured in the promise of the prophecy of Isaiah 56:4-8, "To the eunuchs...I will give them an everlasting name that will not be taken away."

In Jesus' day there were three types of persons called eunuchs: celibates, those who were slaves and were castrated so that children would not be born to them, and those who were "born eunuchs" or homosexuals. Royal and wealthy households would use castrated slaves to work with and guard the concubines and women slaves. However when assigning slaves to female members of the royal family they would choose homosexual slaves. With female members, the concern was not just unwanted pregnancies, but also rape.

It is against this background that we must read the story found in Acts 8:26-40. In this passage the Holy Spirit sends Philip the Deacon to witness to and baptize an Ethiopian eunuch of Queen Candace of Ethiopia. One of the earliest converts to Christianity was a person excluded for sexual reasons from the Old Testament community.

Paul's References

Paul's statement in Romans 1:18-32 has been taken as the strongest New Testament rejection of homosexuality. He is concerned about the influence of the pagan culture on the Roman Christians. After giving a detailed description of a world that "exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator, " he continues, "Therefore, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lusts for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty of their perversion."

What Paul was referring to was homosexual temple prostitution which was performed by various cults (though far more cults used heterosexual prostitution). Again, Paul is not referring to same-sex love, and he clearly has no concept of persons for whom this lifestyle is "natural."

Paul's other reference to homosexual acts is similar to that of 1 Timothy 1:8-11. Both passages contain lists of persons to be excluded from the Realm of God. The interpretation of these passages depends on two Greek words which have always presented a problem for translators. In the King James Version, they are translated "effeminate" and "abusers of themselves with mankind." In the Revised Standard Version, they were combined and rendered homosexuals; however, these are not the Greek words for homosexual, so that translations reflects the scholars' bias. The New International Version illustrates the difference in these two words by translating them "male prostitute" and "homosexual offenders". The Jerusalem Bible uses the terms "catamites and "sodomites". Catamites were youth kept especially for sexual purpose; they were usually paid large sums of money. Neither passage refers to persons of same-sex orientation, but to people who used their sexuality for personal gain.

The Love of Christ

Jesus did a great deal to change many social customs and ideas. He elevated the position of women, and they were ultimately his best and most faithful disciples. He did this by example and by commandments which were absolutely inclusive of the rights of all people. Yet, in the name of the Christ whose love encompassed all, the Church has been the most homophobic of all institutions. This should not be surprising when we realize that the Church is still the largest institution which is primarily racially segregated.

The final and central message of he New Testament is that ALL persons are loved by God so much that God's Son was sent as a means of redemption from a disease by which we are all afflicted. The cure for this disease cannot be found in any set of actions. Neither homosexuality nor heterosexuality is redemptive. God's love through Christ was given to all people.

The Theological Reflection

For the Christian, sin must be understood as a disease which results FROM a broken relationship with God and which results IN a broken relationship with one another and with ourselves. Hence, Jesus' supreme command is to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Christianity is not a religion with new rules and laws, but is rather a new relationship with God. Those things which the legalists are fond of labeling "sins" are actually just symptoms of the much deeper disease of alienation and estrangement. Much of the energy of the Church has been spent dealing with symptoms while leaving the disease intact. Jesus did not seem overly concerned about the legal transgressions of those to whom he ministered. Rather, he was much more concerned with healing the physical, spiritual, emotional, or relational brokenness of people. Perhaps if the Church would again give itself to the healing/reconciling ministry of Jesus, then some of the symptoms about which we are so concerned would begin to disappear.

That brings us to the question: Is homosexuality a symptom of brokenness? In some few cases perhaps so. Yet, obviously pointing fingers of blame and accusation is not Christ's way. Rather, Jesus accepted people as they were and allowed love and acceptance to work its miracle. However, most lesbians and gays have been lesbian or gay for as long as they can remember. For them, it is a much a natural characteristic as their eye color or their handedness. Kinsey Institute research has suggested that homosexuality may well be genetic or a least linked to some prenatal factors. Certainly most competent psychologists would concur that sexual orientation is set prior to the age of five in most persons. It is, therefore, not a matter of choice, so it cannot be a moral or ethical issue.

Many Christians insist that God can change/cure the homosexual. In the book, The Third Sex, there are six reported cases of homosexuals whom God has "cured". Of these six, at least four are known to have returned to their gay life style. Many lesbians and gays spend most of their lives trying, with no success, to persuade God to change them. It is like trying to get God to change your eye color. What option then is left to these persons? They have been told that they can't be gay and be Christians; and since all efforts have failed in their struggle not to be gay or lesbian, then their only recourse, according to the Church, is that they can't be Christian. So the Church has discounted or discarded as much as 10% of the population.

If they are excluded from the life of the Christian community, who then will tell them of God's inclusive love and of Jesus' reconciling death? Are they left to assume that God is so narrow-minded as to exclude them for something over which they have no control and for a choice they did not make? When will the Church finally be brave enough to say with Paul, "in Christ there is neither Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female," gay or straight. God has enough love for all!

Rev. Michael Piazza

Gay Religious Humor: Rings a Bell?

2009-02-22T00:41:00.000-08:00

Gay Religious Humor: Rings a Bell?

Twelve priests were about to be ordained. The final test was for them to line up in a straight row totally nude in a garden while a beautiful, big breasted, nude model danced before them. Each priest had a small bell attached to his manhood, and they were told that anyone whose bell rang when she danced in front of them would not be ordained because he had not reached a state of spiritual purity.

The beautiful model danced before the first candidate, with no reaction. She proceeded down the line with the same response from all the priests until she got to the final priest, Carlos. As she danced, his bell began to ring so loudly that it flew off and fell clattering to the ground. Embarrassed, Carlos took a few steps forward, and bent over to pick the bell up.

Then all the other bells began to ring.

Was Jesus Gay? Bishop Robinson challenges evangelical views on the family

2009-02-22T00:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_05044family.shtml

An Anglican bishop has sparked outrage by suggesting that Jesus challenged what many evangelicals see as traditional models of the family.

Some conservatives have even interpreted his comments as a suggestion that Jesus was gay.

The Rt Rev Gene Robinson, the Bishop of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church of the United States, pointed out that Jesus was an unmarried, "non-traditional man" who did not uphold family values, "travelled with a bunch of men" and enjoyed an especially close relationship with one of his disciples.

His comments, made in a recent address at the Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham in Massachusetts, have enraged traditional Anglicans, some of whom have interpreted his comments as a suggestion that Jesus was gay, and said the Bishop should be "struck down by thunder and lightning bolts".

Bishop Robinson, whose consecration in 2003 contributed to a schism between some evangelicals and liberals in the worldwide Anglican Communion, was giving an address entitled "Homosexuality and the Body of Christ: Is There a New Way?"

In answer to a question from the congregation about how the acceptance of homosexuality could be squared with the scriptural emphasis on redemption for sins, the Bishop replied: "Interestingly enough, in this day of traditional family values, this man that we follow was single, as far as we know, travelled with a bunch of men, had a disciple who was known as 'the one whom Jesus loved' and said my family is not my mother and father, my family is those who do the will of God. None of us likes those harsh words. That's who Jesus is, that's who he was at heart, in his earthly life.

"Those who would posit the nuclear family as the be all and end all of God's creation probably don't find that much in the gospels to support it," he said.

David Virtue, a conservative evangelical commentator who runs the website, VirtueOnline, called the comments "rubbish", despite the fact the bishop's arguments were based on a reading of scripture.

He said: "It is appalling deconstructionism from the liberal lobby which will spin even the remotest thing to turn it into a hint that Biblical figures are gay. It is so utterly preposterous to imply that Jesus's relationship with John was homo-erotic, but twisting the truth is the only way these people can get scriptural justification for their lifestyles. Can you imagine Calvin, Luther or Erasmus saying something like this? It is a wonder that thunder and lightning bolts don't strike Bishop Robinson down."

Canon Chris Sugden, a spokesman for the evangelical organisation, Anglican Mainstream, said: "He's really selective in what he's addressing. He makes no mention of Jesus's teaching on marriage, for instance. And he does not acknowledge that nowhere in the text or in ancient literature is there any suggestion of any form of sexual impropriety among Jesus or the disciples. Jesus broke the cultural traditions of the time and has women mixing with men in public and having them teaching. Those of us who put scripture as a priority are called on to obey the scripture even when that is in conflict with our culture.

"Bishop Robinson is saying that the culture has moved in his direction and that it's all becoming accepted, so he's looking for ways to interpret scripture to support that instead of realising that scripture asks us to do the unpopular thing and stand against the prevailing culture."

Mike Barwell, a spokesman for Bishop Robinson, said: "Jesus was a non-traditional person who broke all the rules and hung out with all the wrong people. Anything else that people infer from the Bishop's comments is all speculation."

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Ekklesia

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The REAL reasons Americans are opposed to gay marriage?

2009-02-22T00:37:00.000-08:00

Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Can Religion Change Your Sexuality?

2009-02-22T00:28:00.000-08:00

Perspectives - Vol. 1, No. 3 - Can Religion Change Your Sexuality?
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=283

Barb Chandler

Recently there has been increasing attention to support groups that promote change from homosexual to heterosexual behavior. These ex-gay ministries have been around for years, however, with the advent of 'the moral majority', 'traditional family values', and other values promoted by the religious right, they have become much more widespread.

My partner and I heard a testimonial from an ex- lesbian. She said that she has attended to a church-sponsored support group, and was 'in recovery' from her lesbianism. Her story was entwined with the familiar assumptions that those who are anti-gay pronounce with undaunting authority.

This women said that she came from a dysfunctional home. Her mother was an alcoholic and, her father sexually abused her. She became very depressed, and was suicidal. Her sister, who was lesbian, suggested that she visit a gay/lesbian bar. She did, and liked it. To be 'in' with the crowd, she cut her hair short, bought a motorcycle and a pickup, donned leather apparel, and thus made her entrance into the bar scene. She turned to drugs and alcohol, went through many relationships, and hit bottom. She begin a relationship with a woman who would turn her life around. Both of them decided that they needed to turn to God for help since they felt that their lesbianism was at the root of their depression. They begin to go to church, and found a support group that made the claim to heal people of their homosexuality. They went, and made the choice to stop being sexual with one another. They wanted to maintain their emotional relationship, and continue to live together. However, a woman from the support group told them that they needed to live separately. They both decided that this was for the best, and, after a tearful goodbye they separated. The speaker said that her 'recovery from lesbianism' is a constant struggle, which she maintains by continuing to go to 'counseling', praying for God to heal her of her lesbianism, and removing herself from temptation.

I found this testimonial to had quite an emotional impact upon me. Actually encountering a person face to face who believes her lesbianism is evil, and is a 'continual struggle', was a definite trigger for me. I was saddened by the fact that people who are anti-gay/lesbian find it necessary to project their distaste upon others, and claim that their way is the only moral way. I wondered how the talk would impact those people who may be struggling with personal issues regarding homosexuality. Would they be vulnerable to 'conversion' groups. Instead, I hoped that they can reconcile their homosexuality with their spirituality, and if not, then will look for a group which will give them positive support.

The generalizations in this woman's testimonial was, in my experience, a prime example of the assumptions that some ministers, priests, and facilitators of support groups commonly make. They see homosexuality from a pathological standpoint, are convinced that homosexuality is inherently evil and is against God's plan for humankind. They believe it is their 'Christian' duty to change people who exhibit homosexual behavior to heterosexual. Not only is this a waste of time and money, but it can prove psychologically damaging. Treatment takes many different forms; counseling, psychotherapy, aversion therapy, support groups, exorcism and prayer. The assumptions underlying treatment is that God thinks homosexuality is wrong because this is what the Bible says. Therefore, as long as the person is willing to repent of their homosexuality, God will heal them. In addition, these people think that sexual orientation is a matter of choice, and can be easily changed. Research findings suggest that efforts to change homosexuals are nothing more than a social prejudice garbed in psychological language.

Perhaps the strongest testimonial of what a negative impact counseling to change one's homosexuality has on a person's life is an autobiography by Mel White, the gay man who did ghostwriting for the likes such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robinson. Mel was raised as an evangelical, the church which typically encourages ministries as counseling homosexual's to change their orientation. He discovered he was gay early in his life. The book details the extremes he went through to try to avoid his homosexuality. He tried, very unsuccessfully to be heterosexual by getting married and having children, went through years and years of therapy, shock treatments, depression, despair, suicidal thinking, and promiscuity. It was not until he accepted his homosexuality that he begin to lead a happy life. He is now a very strong advocate of gay and lesbian rights, and is the Dean of The Cathedral of Hope MCC/Dallas.

Mel's reactions to his homosexuality seems to be a very typical response of a person who has been raised hearing about how God considers homosexuality to be an abomination, and how society considers those who are homosexual as 'perverts' and 'sexual deviants'. A person is apt to hide their sexual orientation from their relatives, friends, and sometimes even from themselves. They strive to find a quick fix to the emotional pain and conflict they are in. It is this attitude that these groups appeal too, with their false promise of everything being all better once you repent of your homosexuality. Besides the promise of 'quick fix', gaining acceptance and support of the group has alot of appeal to a person who believes they need this type of acceptance and support.

There are general characteristics that groups such as these have. They often use manipulation, fear, and deception to maintain a hold on members. They often shower the members with unbelievable amounts of affection and approval for staying in the group and meeting their expectations, which is called love-bombing. Groups also control and distort information from the outside. Thus it becomes a sin to read any 'worldly' publications or 'spiritual pornography'. These groups make an extremely sharp distinction between right and wrong, good and evil; everything in the group is positive, godly, and everything outside is negative, satanic. Ambiguity, doubts, and serious questions are not tolerated. The authority of the group's leadership is virtually absolute. All problems are oversimplified and deflected either away from the group or back towards the individual. Trying to change a person's God given sexuality is not only very unethical, since the counselor relies on their own agenda rather than the client's, it can become deadly. For example; the National Institute of Health reports that 'about 30% of youth suicides are by gay and lesbian people who recognize that they are homosexual and realize that they cannot change their sexual orientation'. There are professional organizations that have spoken out against the practice of categorizing homosexuality as moral depravity or mental illness. The American Psychological Association released a statement on homosexuality in July 1994. "The research on homosexuality is very clear. Homosexuality is neither mental illness nor moral depravity. It is simply the way a minority of our population expresses human love and sexuality. Study after study documents the mental health of gay men and lesbians. Studies of judgment, stability, reliability, social and vocational adaptiveness all show that gay men and lesbians function every bit as well as heterosexuals. In August of 1994, the American Psychological Association sent a proposal to one of its committees that would declare as unethical: attempts by a psychologist to change a person's sexual orientation through therapy, referral of a patient to a therapist or organization who attempts to change people's sexual orientation". The American Medical Association released a report in December 1994 which calls for "nonjudgmental recognition of sexual orientation by physicians. Finally, the American Psychiatric Association took homosexuality off of its list of mental illnesses many decades ago.

I hope that through this expose clergy and pastoral counselors will become aware of the influence that these ex-gay/lesbian ministries have upon the spiritual and psychological lives of gays and lesbians. If any of you reading this article are struggling with spiritual issues regarding your homosexuality there are many organizations that you can turn to for help. Most mainstream churches have gay and lesbian ministries that celebrate homosexuality as God's gift, and are advocating for equal rights for gays and lesbians.

A Resource List

Books

* Stranger At The Gate. To Be Gay and Christian in America, Mel White, 1994.

* Is The Homosexual My Neighbor? Another Christian View, Letha Scanzoni and Virginia Mollenkott, 1978.

* Ex-gays? There Are None! What It Means To Be A New Creature In Christ, Sylvia Pennington, 1989.

* A Complete Workbook for Demystifying the Bible's Position on Homosexuality. Torrey Stuart

Barb Chandler is a regular contributor to "Perspectives".

Reference
Chandler, Barb (1996). Can religion change your sexuality? [Online]. Perspectives. [1996, July 15].

Buddhism and sex in Japan and the Homosexual

2009-02-22T00:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.westernbuddhistreview.com/vol3/homosexuality.html

"From the earliest times until today, indigenous Japanese religion, known as Shinto, has maintained a sex-positive ideology, particularly with regard to the role of sex in procreation. Even now, it is possible to see in village festivals processions which feature enormous carved wooden phalli which are taken out of the local shrine and paraded around the fields so as to bless them and make them fecund. Unlike in Christian creation myths where the advent of awareness of sexual dimorphism is seen to mark a deterioration in the human condition (resulting in expulsion from Eden), in Japanese mythology the divine ancestors Izanagi and Izanami are shown to be curious and experimental about sex. The male Izanagi, tells his female companion that he would like to take his ‘excessive part’ and insert it into ‘the part where you are lacking.’ From this divine union springs the Japanese race. Although Shinto is largely without a developed theological system, when sex is theorized, it is usually understood to be a good thing, a ‘Way’ or doo, originating with the divine ancestors. As one seventeenth-century theologian explains:

From the beginning of the two support oomikami, Izanagi no mikoto and Izanami no mikoto, down to the birds and the beasts who receive no instruction, the intercourse of male and female is a way, like nature, that has been transmitted to us. Since the procreation of descendants is a great enterprise, it must be revered.[3]

The first challenge to Japanese nativism came with the introduction of Buddhism in the seventh century. It was in contrast to Buddhism, the ‘Way of the Buddha’, that native beliefs became codified as Shinto or the ‘Way of the gods’. It is, of course, impossible to describe the Buddhist attitude toward sexuality because ‘Buddhism’ is reformulated and re-expressed in different cultures and at different times, adopting and redefining aspects of the cultures in which it has taken root. However, as with Christianity, there are broad outlines or features that have persisted over time and that can be pointed to when attempting to make generalisations. Firstly, early Buddhism discerned two forms of lifestyle appropriate to Buddhist believers: monastic and lay. For those men and women ordained as bhikkhus or bhikkhunis, total celibacy was required, while lay followers undertook to take five ‘training principles,’ the third of which was ‘kaamesu micchaacaaraa verama.nii sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami’ (I take the rule of training ‘verama.nii sikkhaapada.m samaadiyaami,’ not to go the wrong way ‘micchaacaaraa,’ for sexual pleasure ‘kaamesu’). Unlike the Christian penitentials of the medieval period, Buddhist texts do not go into great detail explicating exactly what the ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ ways regarding sexual pleasure actually are. As with other actions, they are subject to the application of the golden mean: ‘[t]he deed which causes remorse afterward and results in weeping is ill-done. The deed which causes no remorse afterwards and results in joy and happiness is well done’ (Dhammapada). Rather than essentialising actions as good (puñña) or bad (paapa), Buddhism instead utilised an ethic of intention, understanding acts as skillful (kusala) or unskilful (akusala). Motivations were skillful or unskilful, not in relation to a creator deity’s designer-realist agenda but in terms of the degree to which they resulted in a lessening of desire. In Buddhism, desire was a problem, not because it was evil but because the attachment it produced caused suffering.

Buddhism was essentially disinterested in procreation which was, after all, seen as the mechanism whereby beings were chained to a constant round of rebirths in sa.Samara. This necessarily brought it into conflict with the indigenous cultures of Eastern Asia where, under Confucian influence, the perpetuation of the family line was seen as an obligation to the ancestors. Yet, although doctrinal Buddhism had little interest in procreation and never developed a discourse about it, Mahayana Buddhism did utilise the powerful imagery surrounding the sex act as a hermeneutic device. From the fifth century in northern India, various Buddhist schools developed which utilised sexual imagery as a means of communicating metaphysical truths such as the non-differentiation of Samara and nirvana. Male Buddha and Bodhisattva figures were represented in sexual union with their female consorts, thus giving a heightened exposure to female elements within the tradition. Practitioners occasionally went beyond symbolism and integrated sexual practices into their rituals. However, as with Taoist sexo-yogic practices designed to promote long life, these practices were not meant to result in ejaculation but to transmute sexual into spiritual energy. The Shingon school of Japanese Buddhism founded by Kuukai (774 -835) developed its own form of Tantra, Tachikawa Ryu, ‘the main sex cult of Japan’[4] which taught that the loss of self in the sex act could lead to an awakening of the spirit. These developments represent an important difference between Buddhism and Christianity with regard to sex. As LaFleur comments: ‘there does not seem to be anything comparable in Europe to the Japanese Buddhist use of sexual union as either a religious symbol, or as increasingly became the case, as itself a context for religious realization’[5]. What was remarkable about certain trends within Japanese Buddhism was that sex came to be viewed as a good in itself apart from its role in procreation. In Japanese Buddhism, the divorce of sexuality from procreation enabled sex to become a religious symbol released from the domesticating realm of the family.

Although present, Tantric sexual imagery which involved the unification of male and female was of marginal influence in Japan. Far more pervasive in male Buddhist institutions was the influence of homoerotic and even homosexual imagery where beautiful acolytes were understood to embody the feminine principle. The degree to which Buddhism tolerated same-sex sexual activity even among its ordained practitioners is clear from the popular myth that the founder of the Shingon school, Kooboo Daishi (Kuukai), introduced homosexual acts upon his return from study in China in the early ninth century. This myth was so well known that even the Portuguese traveller, Gaspar Vilela had heard it. Writing in 1571, he complains of the addiction of the monks of Mt. Hiei to ‘sodomy’, and attributes its introduction to Japan to Kuukai, the founder of Koyasan, the Shingon headquarters[6]. Jesuit records of the Catholic mission to Japan are full of rants about the ubiquity of pederastic passion among the Buddhist clergy. What particularly riled the missionaries was the widespread acceptance these practices met with among the general populace. Father Francis Cabral noted in a letter written in 1596 that ‘abominations of the flesh’ and ‘vicious habits’ were ‘regarded in Japan as quite honourable; men of standing entrust their sons to the bonzes to be instructed in such things, and at the same time to serve their lust’[7]. Another Jesuit commented that ‘this evil’ was ‘so public’ that the people ‘are neither depressed nor horrified’[8] suggesting that same-sex love among the clergy was not considered remarkable."

Homosexuality in Ancient Greece

2009-02-22T00:20:00.000-08:00

Homosexuality in History

@copyright2000 by

Reverend Robert J. Buchanan

Durham, NC 27713 (919) 875-5250

minister at Grace Community

http://hometown.aol.com/GraceEACA/chapter2.html

Homosexuality in Ancient Greece

" Greek culture is often promoted as the most accepting of homosexuality. To some extent, this may be true. The Greeks developed a hedonistic attitude toward the human body and sexuality. Although we may think of hedonism as lustful today, Greek philosophers wrote of hedonism in much more glowing terms. They believed that the naked human body, both male and female, was worthy of respect and admiration. They took great pride in the physical form. Public nudity was both tolerated and often encouraged.
The art and statuary of the ancient Greeks reflects this love for the body, particularly the male body. A major negative of this attitude is that those who were handicapped or unattractive children were often left to die, killed, or used in sacrifice to a god. It was not unusual for men to comment on the attractiveness of other men, or for them to express affection for one another. At least part of the reason for this fascination with physical attractiveness and sex is that the Greeks had developed into a culture that had a great deal of leisure time. They were not required to work constantly in order to survive. Blumenfeld and Raymond wrote: “Similarly, the Greek attitude toward sex was, for the most part, value-neutral. …And, though exclusive homosexuality was probably discouraged as a threat to the family, it was widely tolerated both for older men who had children and for younger men prior to marriage.” (Blumenfeld and Raymond 1988, 155)
The Greek military attitude toward homosexuality was that it brought a sense of comradeship. It was often believed that a person would fight harder to protect his unit if that unit included a lover or lovers. This unique form of male bonding is attributed by some to the greatness of the Greek military might. In spite of this encouragement of homosexual practices, the picture is different for those who were exclusively passive at anal sex. They were believed to be polluted, and to have become like women. Therefore, they were expelled from military service as untrustworthy.
The issue of being exclusively homosexual was extremely difficult. Although the Greeks recognized passion and erotic attraction to both and either sex, they were not tolerant of those who were not also attracted to women. This could very well be due to the recognition that society must be able to reproduce in order to survive. The union of a man and a woman is required to reproduce. “After the age of nineteen or so, the young man was expected to marry and establish a family. Those who did not, or who continued to engage in homosexual relations exclusively, were subject to ridicule, or worse. In addition, exclusive sexual passivity in men was met with criticism and, at times, treated severely. ... rape of a free boy/young man (no such sanctions existed for conduct with slaves) was harshly punished, and male prostitution (again, by citizens) was condemned severely.” (Ibid. 157-158)
Greek society only negatively defined homosexual activity when it was exclusive or related to prostitution by a citizen. In nearly every other instance, homosexual conduct was considered acceptable and practical. It was simply a way of enjoying the beauty and awesomeness of the male bodies that they revered so highly.
The attitude toward the family and education could have also played a role in the attitude toward homosexuality. The family was considered the basis for reproduction. Women were restricted in their sexual activity because they were needed in order to bear children. Men could have sex with either women or men, so long as they met their societal obligation to reproduce. This is probably why exclusive anal sex was prohibited. Catamites could not bear children for their partners.
Fathers were not seen as the primary agent of socialization, and the mothers were often only useful for nursing and caring for children. The state took the greatest amount of responsibility for the child. Education was the responsibility of the teachers and philosophers. Girls were excluded from the education system that was designed to teach boys how to be men. The student was expected to respect and admire his teacher. The teacher was expected to gain the devotion and affection of his student. Therefore, homosexual conduct between a teacher and student was considered a valuable part of the education process. The family, on the other hand, was simply needed for procreation."

Lambent Traces: Franz Kafka

2009-02-22T00:17:00.000-08:00

complete article available at:http://www.fabula.org/actualites/article9023.php

Stanley Corngold, Lambent Traces: Franz Kafka, Princeton University Press, 2004, 296 p.
ISBN: 0-691-11816-7

On the night of September 22, 1912, Franz Kafka wrote his story "The Judgment," which came out of him "like a regular birth." This act of creation struck him as an unmistakable sign of his literary destiny. Thereafter, the search of many of his characters for the Law, for a home, for artistic fulfillment can be understood as a figure for Kafka's own search to reproduce the ecstasy of a single night.

In Lambent Traces: Franz Kafka, the preeminent American critic and translator of Franz Kafka traces the implications of Kafka's literary breakthrough. Kafka's first concern was not his responsibility to his culture but to his fate as literature, which he pursued by exploring "the limits of the human." At the same time, he kept his transcendental longings sober by noting--with incomparable irony--their virtual impossibility.

At times Kafka's passion for personal transcendence as a writer entered into a torturous and witty conflict with his desire for another sort of transcendence, one driven by a modern Gnosticism. This struggle prompted him continually to scrutinize different kinds of mediation, such as confessional writing, the dream, the media, the idea of marriage, skepticism, asceticism, and the imitation of death. Lambent Traces: Franz Kafka concludes with a reconstruction and critique of the approaches to Kafka by such major critics as Adorno, Gilman, and Deleuze and Guattari...

Wiliam Blake, The Last Antinomian and the First Prophet of the Modern World?

2009-02-22T00:10:00.000-08:00

The Last Antinomian and the First Prophet of the Modern World

The Last Antinomian and the First Prophet of the Modern World
The word 'antinomian' was formerly more in usage than at present, when 'anarchist' has probably taken its place (though they are not exactly the same). According to my dictionary, an antinomian is 'one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation'; also: 'one who rejects a socially established morality.' More practically, from a concrete historical perspective, the Civil War and Interregnum in England, 1640-1660, is the 'classic period of the rise of the antinomians, generally of the poorer classes, who rejoiced in the overthrow of the monarchy, the execution of the King, and the suspension of royal law. Hence, their version of Christianity emphasized the indwelling of faith, in sharp contrast to the 'outward show' of pomp and circumstance associated with the aristocracy.

During that era, a Londoner named Thomason made the rounds of the booksellers, purchasing a copy of every new publication, including the wildest tracts, prophecies of the end of the world, etc. I have had the pleasure of using this remarkable collection, which is one of the treasures of the British Museum. Indeed, manby of these tracts survive in single copies, preserved by Thomason, three and a half centuries ago. Some of these have recently been reprinted, and will be reviewed in future issues. Amon the many diverse radical groups of the period were the Levellers, Diggers, Quakers, Ranters, and the Muggletonians. It is this last group and its connectinos to the poet Wiliam Blake, which is the subject of a new book by the late British historian, E.P. Thompson, Witness: William Blake and the Moral Law(New York: The New Press, 1993). Other scholars have previously noted the connection between various themes and images in Blake's work, and the Muggletonians, but Thompson has drawn together the curcial documentation and argument for how the connection worked. This has not always beena problem, since the Muggletonians flourished in the mid to late 17th century, and were vaguely known to have survived as an obscure religious sect until Blake's own times a century later.

William Blake was born in London in 1757, the son of a hosier. Early in life, he displayed artistic ability, and was apprenticed to an engraver, becoming a journeyman in that trade. As a young man, Blake befriended Thomas Paine and the other radicals, and expressed his rebellious tendencies in books which he published himself, combining original graphics with poetry and prose of his own composition. These were similar in some ways to the illuminated manuscripts of the middle ages, but were actually printed, and then hand-colored. In addition, the content of these books ranged from the seemingly simple lyrics, as in teh Songs of Innocence and of Experience to the openly revolutionary, as in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Blake produced enigmatic but somehow archetypal poetic narratives of the American Revolution (in America), and the French Revolution (in The French Revolution, which survives only in a single set of page proofs, and apparently was never published). Others of these 'prophetic books' area radical reinterpretation or revision of the Bible itself: The Book of Urizen, The Book of Los, and so on. Though Blake was clearly proud of his work, he soon was the victim of the generally reactionary response to the French Revolution, and 'public opinion' such as it was, considered him to be eccentric, if not actually insane. For the rest of his life, he continued to survive as an engraver, and through commissions of a very few friends and patrons who recognized his genius. His 'illuminated books' were printed from his own plates, to order, and were often gorgeously colored. His great masterpiece, the epic Jerusalem, survives in one colored copy, and few printed in black. A biography by Alexander Gilchrist, published in 1863 began the process of rescuing Blak from the charge of madness. The studies of S. Foster Damon in the 1920s demonstrrated the logic and significance of Blake's unique personal mythology. David Erdman showed how the poetry reflected the political events of his times, in Blake: Prophet Against Empire. The 1960s produced what amount4ed to a Blake rennaissance, in which he was viewed by young radicals as a forerunner of their own rebellion against the established order. Indeed, at that time, Blake's reputations became international, from France and England, to china and America. From the obscurity of his own times, Blake finally came to be recognized by many as the equal of Chaucer, Milton and Shakespeare--and the only 'major' British poet who was clearly of working class origins. This is surely one of the most remarkable transformations in the history of literature.

There is not space here to explore his oetry in greater depth. A few libraries around the country may have a long out of print volume, edited by Norman Rudich, and entitled Weapons of Criticism (Palo Alto: Reamparts, 1976), which includes my illustrated essay, 'William Blake and Radical Tradition.'

Edward Thompson's monumental book The Making of the English Working Class, which was published here in 1964, evoked the world of plebeian radicalism of the early 19th century, a turbulent scene in which the new factories of the Industrial Revolution supplanted the samll-scale cottage industries of the countryside. Based on original sources, Thompson's study rescued from oblivion, the many courageous attempts of the people to confront the injustices of the time, in riots, massacres, in their own newspapers, and so on. This was clearly Blake's own culture, as distinct from the 'regency' culture of the upper classes.

At the end of the introduction to present book (his last), Thompson recalls, '...in 1968 I gave an early lecture on Blake at Columbia University (in New York City), at the time of excitement when some sort of campus revolution against the Moral Law was going on, and I startled the audience by acclaiming Blake as 'the founder of the obscure sect to which I myself belong, the Muggletonian Marxists.' Instantly I found that many fellow-sectaries were in the room. As the years have gone by I have become less certain of both parts of the combinations. But that is still the general area in which this book falls.'

For the record, I'd like to say that not only was I present on that occasion at Columbia University; Mike Friedman and I were the sponsors of the event, under the auspices of the Students for a Democratic Society Radical Literary Project (members=two!). We had sponsored a few events, sparely attended, so we were both astonished when the whole place was packed for Thompson's lecture, around 200 or so, standing room only. A few were aware of A.L. Morton's 1958 study of Blake, which linked him with the 17th century traditions of radicalism, and called him 'The Last Antinomian.' Now Thompson made the link specific, in the form of a connection with the followers of Lodowich Muggleton. These constituted a tiny remnant by Blake's time, but some of the imagistic similarities (of which, more in a moment), were too unusual and too close to be accidental. Those of us there on that occasion had the pleasure of 'being in' on the announcement of the solution to an intellectual puzzle of some significance.

Word of Thompson's findings soon got around to Blake scholars, and to those interested in the intellectual history of proletarian movements. After 1968, when people met Thompson, they would often ask him when his long=awaited book on Blake was going to be published, somewhat to his vexation, I believe. When the book appeared at last, 25 years after that original lecture at Columbia, the reasons for Thompson's delay were revealed. It turns out that while various of the Muggletonian publications (and some scholarship about them) were available previously, there remained various unanswered questions. Thompson recalls how a correspondence about the Muggletonians developed in the Times Literary Supplement in 1975. In TLS, Thompson mentioned that he was searching for the archive of the Muggletonians, which had survived at least until 1869, when the Reverend Alexander Gordon visited their reading room in London. Through a message from a friend, Thompson learned that aMr. Philip Noakes, of the town of Matfield near Tunbridge Wells in Kent, was 'the last Muggletonian,' having transferred the archive to his safe-keeping during World War II. Searching through some 82 boxes, Thompson found 18th century manuscript songbooks of the Muggletonians, and other contemporary books. Thus, through luck and decades-long persistence, Thompson was at last in possession of 'inside' documents which dated to Bolake's own day.

So, exactly what is Thompson's argument? 'The Muggletonian Church,' he says, 'preserved a vocabulary of symbolism, a whole cluster of signs and images, which recur--but in a new form and organisation, and in association with others--in Blake's poetry and painting. I will go further: of all the traditions touched upon, I know of none which consistently transmits so large a cluster of Blakean symbols.' That is to say, whereas it has long been thought that Blake invented his own mythology (a claim he in fact made), he had a real and explicit cultural context for it. Not only did the Muggletonians participate in the 'anti=Moral Law' currents of the antinomians generally, they specifically developed a curious doctrine unique to them, 'the explicit and repetitive identification of 'Reason' as the Satanic principle, the fruit of the Trea of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.' 'No theme,' says Thompson, 'recurs more in Muggletonian discourse.' Thompson readily demonstrates the persistence of this theme in Blake's work.

In addition, he emphasized two more elements of doctrine: 'the unusual symbolism of the Fall, and the Serpent-Angel's actual copulation with Eve and transmutation into flesh and blood in her womb.' With striking acuity, Thompson discusses the numerous disturbing examples of serpent imagery in Blake's poetry and his graphic art. The strange emphasis ion sexuality and religious corruption, in the form of a Rational Serpent is noted throughout Blake's work, for instance in the 'I saw a Chapel All of Gold.' This poem is surely one of the most 'blasphemous' ever written, but if we study the Muggletonian literature, its context becomes at once apparent. Biblical artists often depicted Satanic serpents, of course, but the connection of Satan and Reason is unique to the Muggletonians, according to Thompson.

Thompson does not find Blake or any of his known friends among the records of the Muggletonians. He speculates that Blake's mother might have been the connection, but that nothing definite can presently be established on that score.

Witness Against the Beast, then, is partly an account of the survival of the Muggletonians, a study of their connection with the imagery and ideas of William Blake, and an explication of some of the shorter lyrics in terms of that imagistic inheritance. The culture of various other sects, such as the Swedenborgians, is also explored. This is carefully wrought special study of how some core puzzles about one of the most important English poets might be addressed, if not entirely solved. Given the fragmentary nature of the documentation, we might never know for certain what Blake's actual connection to the Muggletonians was. For one thing, Frederick Tatham, on of Blake's friends, is alleged to have destroyed some of his most 'heretical' writings or books; that might have been the evidence we need.

What is Blake's connection with the history of Freethought? We have noted his ties to working-class radicalism, and his friendship with Paine, but it is his critique of the 'Enlightenment' that is, perhaps, most interesting. Blake believed that skepticism, Deism in his day, would have a reductive effect on mankind. Locke's denial of faith and his emphasis on experience meant that we would be at the mercy of events themselves. The skepticism of Hume and Gibbon would arrive at a dead end. Newton's mechanistic concept of the universe was, in Blake's memorable phrase, 'single vision.' Thompson demonstrates that the Muggletonians seem to have had an intellectual anti-Rationalist philosophy, which Blake shared, and elaborated into enduring poetry. This is why Blake's view of the world doesn't seem to comfortably fit into any easy pattern. He was a heretic of a particular kind, a radical Christian with no use for the great and powerful of the world.

'Blake did not achieve any full synthesis of the antinomian and the rationalist,' concludes Thompson. 'How could he, since the antinominan premised a non-rational affirmative? There was, rather, an incandescence in his art in which the incompatible traditions met--tried to marry--argued as contraries--were held in polarised tension.' Then, Thompson trenchantly observes: 'The busy perfectionists and benevolent rationalists of 1791-6 nearly all ended up, by the later 1800s, as disenchanted men. Human nature, they decided, had let them down and proved stubborn in resistance to enlightenment. But William Blake, by denying even in the Songs of Experience a supreme societal value to rationality, did no suffer from the same kind of disenchantment.' One ponders on the trajectories of various kinds of reformers in our own day, and why they lacked staying power on the road to a better human future.

My only criticism of Thompson's book is that he somehow failed to grasp the meaning of Blake's longer, more difficult 'prophetic books,' including three epic poems. Admittedly, these are dense in texture and obscure in their action, but I think that in creating his own mythological characters and plots, Blake achieved a breakthrough that not only summarized the received tradition of the antinomians, but illuminated the structure of class conflict in the modern world. In the terrible burning landscapes of the epics, we can glimpse the devastation's of our own times, to which Edward Thompson bore an eloquent witness in his more contemporary books. In his last work, Thompson the master historian remained true to Blake, and to the spirit of English radicalism.
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Were the Gnostics the Original Christians?

2009-02-22T00:06:00.000-08:00

Were the Gnostics the Original Christians : Part Three Enlightenment

Entire article found at: http://www.awitness.org/journal/gnostic_enlightenment.html

In part one of this discussion I made the case that the violence and threats of the Christian conversion experience leads to a traumatic stress disorder common to victims of violence, which then evolves into a Paranoid Personality Disorder. In part two I discussed the origins of the doctrine of sin, since it is the fear inculcated by this doctrine that creates the disorder. This disorder is regarded as very difficult to treat, but the treatment involves the gradual introduction of doubt. Given the harmful effect of the doctrine of sin (paranoia) and the irrational inconsistency of the doctrine (it is reactionary) a satisfactory conclusion can be drawn the revolutionary doctrine of Gnosticism was the original Christian doctrine in that, unlike the doctrine of sin, its revolutionary philosophy is match (rather than a hindrance) to the cross symbol.

Gnosticism : Knowledge and Enlightenment
Revolution and reaction in the early church
A mini commentary on the Gospel of Thomas
In a desert in Egypt around the middle of the previous century a collection of previously hidden documents was discovered (now known as the Nag Hammadi library). The books were written by persecuted early Christians, and are often referred to as the Coptic Gnostic texts. Gnosticism was not one monolithic movement but rather a number of different groups are typically classified under the blanket umbrella of Gnosticism.

It was the attractiveness of the gnostic teachings and their resulting popularity that made necessary the persecution of this early gnostic movement on the charge of heresy, and scholars have discovered extant copies of manuscripts that were once previously known only through the polemical attacks launched against them in writingsb the early church Patriarchs.

Anyone who first reads these ancient Christian texts is at first struck by how incomprehensible, how utterly foreign is the language of these documents. The view of the world represented by the Gnostics was so completely oppressed, and so thoroughly was every trace of their thought removed from our collective history that their ideas have become so alien to our culture's way of thinking that it seems that they can no longer be understood.

The defining difference between gnostic Christianity (the word gnosis means ‘knowledge' or ‘insight') and what came to be known as Orthodox Christianity is a controversy over the meaning of ‘salvation'. In what became orthodox thought the world is to be understood in terms of sin and punishment or redemption and reward. To the Gnostics what was important was knowledge, insight and understanding which then led to enlightenment. Their Gnosis (knowledge or insight) was not of the scientific sort but rather consisted of an intuitive, very personal way of knowing something, in the same way that through personal experience you might know another person (and one of the highest goals is to know yourself, since if you knew yourself you gained an understanding of human nature that resulted in prophetic insights into the course of the future as well as an understanding of the nature of God, since your nature was a product of the working of God, and thus to know oneself was to know God). The problem with the world then was a kind of ignorance, rather than ‘sin', and in Gnostic thought then ‘salvation' consisted of enlightenment.

As orthodox Christianity developed as a patriarchal hierarchy, there was an emphasis placed on the authority of certain sources of ‘divine revelation' which were located outside the individual (situated then in some authority figure) while to Gnostics the most important source of revelation was to be found by each person embarking on a search for enlightenment within themselves (in this way Gnosticism developed in a way which was not hierarchical).

The difference in outlook between these two viewpoints can then be seen in the political and social order which would result from the application of these two divergent ideologies. Buddhism was another ideology which emphasized ‘enlightenment' rather than a doctrine of ‘sin and atonement' (and it is this viewpoint that characterizes the historical differences meant when comparing ‘East' and ‘West'). According to the Buddha's doctrine crime was the result of poverty. At the time, the Eastern Kings regarded crime as ‘sin' and dealt out severe punishments which were then criticized by the Buddha because they were unjust in that they failed to deal with the fundamental problem. In this way the Orthodox Christian doctrines of ‘sin and punishment versus redemption and reward' can be seen to be a proxy for a system of punitive justice which characteristically ignores all the root causes of social problems and focuses instead on punishing individuals while the doctrine of enlightenment emphasizes a collective social responsibility. An analysis of such things as the intransigent violence surrounding the conflict over resources in the world's poorest nations would then be seen as a problem with ‘individual sinners', a world view which logically results from viewing the world from the perspective of ‘sin and redemption', and in this way it can be seen that what has been called ‘Orthodox theology' actually perpetuates class divisions and inequality, focuses on treating symptoms, and if we ask whose interests are served by such an approach this leads to the conclusion that the doctrine of ‘sin and redemption', with its characteristic dualistic polarity between good and evil, between judge and sinner, mimics the polarity of a society with rigid class divisions, and in that sense is actually an elitist doctrine. The fact that this doctrine was formulated by elitist priests, who were then granted authority by the ultimate elitist, Caesar, and who then ruled as part of the elite alongside Caesar, can be seen as logically connected, in that elites created a doctrine which in the end protected the interests of the elite. The doctrine of sin then cemented into place class divisions by rationalizing the subjugation of lower classes who were ‘defective' by their very nature (having been ‘born sinful').

It can then be understood that the Gnostics were persecuted, and eliminated, not because their doctrine was ‘heresy', but rather because the political implications of the doctrine of ‘enlightenment' was that this would result in a challenge to the class structure of Roman society and would also result in the loss of influence of religious authorities, who placed the emphasis on the outside, in outside sources of revelation, such authorities as ‘scripture' and ‘canon law'. When an individual looks within themselves for Gnosis, religious hierarchy is nullified, and this nullification of the religious elite only mirrors the inevitable political challenge to the Roman elite in general, since if all individuals can seek revelation, then all individuals must be equal and all supposed differences in authority or equality between individuals must be artificial. This classless analysis of social problems would lead to a critique of society at large, and demands for sweeping reforms in the system (of the type demanded by the Buddha, as one example) in contrast to the focus on ‘individual sinners' which is the logical outcome of the opposing doctrine of sin and redemption, which then serves to perpetuate inequality and hierarchical class divisions in society by ignoring root causes and focusing on an erroneous analysis of the symptoms (with the root cause, it is claimed, being ‘inherited sinfulness', such an evil nature being it is claimed the natural state of all humanity apart from the saving intervention of powerful religious elites...that such a thing is a self serving doctrine which perpetuates a power structure should be self evident upon even a cursory examination).

This difference is emphasized in the opening verses of the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, where we are told not to look outside oneself for enlightenment and thus ‘salvation', but rather to look within. To turn away from outside revelation is considered the most natural course of action (since it is suggested that by nature this is what the birds and the animals do) and in this sense then what we have here is an argument which insists that God must have created the world correctly (in opposition to the doctrine of ‘sin and redemption' which incongruously attempts to make the argument that humanity is ‘defective and sinful' from birth, while at the same attempting to uphold the contradictory doctrine which states that God is perfect and thus incapable of error...on this matter the Gnostic doctrine provides a more intellectually satisfying description of the nature of reality than Orthodox thinking ever has).

According to the Gnostics, salvation, we are told is to be found both inside of oneself and can also be discerned in the natural world, being displayed without any doubting or second thoughts, without the need for any leaders, by such creatures as the birds and the animals and the fish. The Gnostics mad a call to people to ignore the religious leaders, and then draw the conclusion that by rejecting their necessarily authoritarian doctrines the path would be open to ‘come to know yourself' which would then lead enlightenment, this enlightenment being the only ‘salvation' people require in Gnostic thought, with the implication being that religious leaders and authority figures are actually an impediment to human salvation, since it would appear then that people need to be saved from religion. There is no doctrine of ‘punishment' in Gnostic thought, but rather if you fail to achieve enlightenment, you pay the price by living a life of inner ‘poverty'. When you achieve enlightenment then you will realize that you were not born an incomplete or somehow defective ‘sinner', and thus in the need of authoritarian religion as a form of social control, but rather you are by your very nature children of God. On the other hand, it is implied, if you continue to listen to your religious authorities then you become an impoverished pauper as a result of accepting their doctrines, which are hostile to your very nature, and to the nature of the world around you (which is very true of Orthodox doctrines of ‘corrupted nature' and ‘fallen Eden' and ‘hereditary sinfulness').

Friedlander Revisited: Alexandrian Judaism and Gnostic Origins

2009-02-21T23:53:00.002-08:00

Friedlander Revisited: Alexandrian Judaism and Gnostic Origins
Pearson, Birger 1990 Gnosticism, Judaism and Egyptian Christianity
Fortress Press, Minneapolis ISBN 0-8006-3104-8

Friedlander Revisited: Alexandrian Judaism and Gnostic Origins

entire article available at: http://www.dhushara.com/book/consum/gnos/jgnos.htm

In many fields of human endeavor it sometimes happens that a person sets forth seemingly outlandish theories; the work is dismissed lightly, or perhaps ponderously refuted, and then lies unnoticed by the next generation. At last, however, someone takes notice of what had been proposed many years before, and the earlier work tums out to be exceedingly useful when looked at with new evidence and by a different generation. For example, Alfred Wegener, in a book entitled The Origin of Continents and Oceans, published in 1915, put forward the thesis that South America once lay alongside Africa, but that in a process of many aeons the two continents drifted far away from each other, having been split apart by forces generated beneath the earth's crust. He went on to observe that all of the earth's continents have shifted and broken apart over vast spaces of fime, and are still in the process of drifting. Wegener was laughed out of court by the geologists of his day, and died in 1930 surrounded by incredulity and derision. Now, as we all know, the theory of continental drift has become almost an orthodoxy.' The field of the history of religions also has its Wegeners, and scholars whose interests lie in the complex history of the religions of the Hellenistic-Roman world are well advised to look into the work of bygone eras of scholarship for 'new' light on current areas of interest. Much is currently being written on the question of the origins of Gnosticism and the relationship of Gnosticism to Judaism. It seems to me useful, for the purpose of further discussion, to exhume from the dust of many decades some interesting and provocative ideas set forth by Moritz Friedlander, whose theses did not meet with the approval of his contemporaries, but which may very well be taken more seriously now. In a book entitled Der vorchristliche jiidische Gnosticismus, Friedldnder put forth the thesis that Gnosticism is a pre-Christian phenomenon which originated in antinomian circles in the Jewish community of Alexandria. This Gnosticism, against which Philo polemicizes, came early to Palestine; and the rabbinic polemics against the Minim are directed specifically at such Gnostics. Christian Gnosticism is simply a secondary version of the older Gnosticism' which attached itself to the emergent Christian sect and appropriated for itself the figure of Jesus Christ.

FRIEDLANDER'S ARGUMENTS

Friedlander's thesis is worth considering in some detail. In this article I first want to set forth his main arguments, concentrating especially on what he derives from his reading of Philo. Then I shall comment briefly on the issues he raised from the vantage point of modern scholarship and on the basis of materials unknown to Friedlander and his generation that we now have at our disposal.

It should be mentioned that Friedlander did not write in a vacuum; others had for many years and even decades written on Gnosticism, and specifically on the relationship of Gnosticism to Judaism. Two of the most important of these are H. Graetz and M. Joel. But Friedladnder was the first, to my knowledge, to suggest that Gnosticism originated in Judaism.

Friedlander begins his discussion by referring to the cultural and religious situation in the Jewish Diaspora prior to the time of Jesus. It was a situation in which the 'new wine' of Hellenistic culture and philosophy was being put into the 'old wineskins' of Jewish religion. The allegorical method of scripture interpretation was one of the manifestations of this trend. The Mosaic law was being interpreted allegorically by Jews who had imbibed of Greek philosophy, and the Law was taken to be a 'revelation' of 'divine philosophy.' Indeed, since Moses was more ancient than the Greek philosophers, it was natural to suggest that the latter had learned from the former. Philo is a good example of this trend, but he had forerunners, such as Aristobulus, Pseudo-Aristeas, and Pseudo-Solomon.

The allegorical interpretation of the Law must have led to divisions in Diaspora Judaism between 'conservative' Jews who observed the letter of the Law and 'philosophizers' who regarded the letter of the Law as peripheral. Such a division is not merely a hypothetical reconstruction, but is well documented in historical sources. Eusebius specifically speaks of two parties in Diaspora Judaism whose differences are precisely delineated along the lines here suggested . Philo himself provides clear evidence of such divisions. A key text in Friedlander's argument is On the Migration of Abraham 86-93, which Friedlander quotes in full. In this text, wherein Philo polemicizes against allegorists who neglect the letter of the Law and derive from it only spiritual truths, we have reflected a full-blown schism in the Diaspora. An 'antinomian' party of Jews is referred to here. They differ from the Therapeutae, the Palestinian Essenes, and Philo himself not so much in their use of allegory, but precisely in their antinon-dan tendencies.

A number of Jewish sects are known to us from antiquity whose views were suspect in the eyes of law-abiding Jews, Friedlander continues. Among these are the 'Sibyllists' known to Origen, probably identical to the 'pious ones' referred to in the Sibylline Oracles, book 4. Justin Martyr refers to some pre-Christian sects among the Jews , at least one of which, the 'Hellenians,' is surely a reference to a Diaspora group. Hegesippus derives all Christian heresies from pre-Christian Jewish heresies. According to him the Gnostic heresy reared its ugly head in the church soon after the death of the apostles. The implication of Hegesippus's statement is that 'false' gnosis was already extant in apostolic times, but the powerful influence of the apostles kept it from blosson-dng in the church. The origin of this 'false gnosis,' if we consider the testimony of Hegesippus, is found in pre-Christian Judaism. The view of some later fathers that heresy is necessarily later than orthodoxy is obviously tendentious (9-17).

Friedlander goes on to set forth the daring hypothesis that such 'Christian' heresies as those of the Ophites, the Cainites, and the Sethians, as well as the Melchizedekians, are the progeny of the radical antinomians against whom Philo had polemicized. According to the oldest patristic accounts, the Ophites-who according to some accounts are closely associated with the Sethians -were antinomian and venerated the serpent as the revealer of gnosis and as an incamation of the divine Wisdom. Reflected in these ideas is the Alexandrian-Jewish doctrine of the divine dynamis. Philo and other Alexandrian Jews regarded Sophia as a divine dynamis. The Ophites simply took up this doctrine and interpreted it in a heretical fashion.

The Cainites venerated Cain as the divine power, rejected all moral conventions, and rejected the Law along with its God. And what, asks Friedlander, is 'Christian' about that? The Alexandrian school provides the most plausible link for the origin of this heresy. Indeed, the Cainite sect was already well known to Philo. Friedlander quotes in this connection On the Posterity and Exile of Cain. In this text 'Cain' is a symbol of heresy, and the specifics of the heresy represented by him are such that one can only conclude that Philo is arguing against a philosophizing sect characterized not only by construcfing myths contrary to the truth, but by gross antinomianism. Philo speaks against these heretics precisely as Irenaeus speaks against the Gnostics. There can be no doubt that the heretics combated by Philo are the forerunners of the Christian Gnostics later combated by the church fathers.

The Sethians shared in the errors of the Ophites and Cainites, teaching that the world was created by angels and not by the highest God. The dynamis from on high came down into Seth after Abel's death, according to the Sethians, and many held Seth to be the Messiah.

Ophites, Cainites, and Sethians all derive from the Jewish Diaspore. Their members were recruited from the Jewish radicals known to us from Philo, and from philosophically oriented proselytes who had attached themselves to the synagogues. Indeed, Filastrius numbers the Ophites, Cainites, and Sethians among the sects that flourished in Judaism 'before the advent of Jesus." It is obvious that these sects could not have originated from within Christianity, from the very fact that their chief doctrines are derived from the Old Testament rather than from the New. The divine power was seen by them to reside in the Old Testament figures of the serpent, Cain, and other such biblical personages as were not fied to the Law. These Old Testament figures were adhered to even after the Gnosfics came into contact with Christianity. Their origin, in short, is traceable to the situafion in Alexandrian Judaism wherein allegorical exposifion of the Law flourished, and wherein antinomianism also developed. Friedldnder tums next to the Melchizedekians. This group held Melchizedek to be a 'great Power', a being higher than the Messiah, a 'Son of God' who occupied a place among the heavenly angels. Such a belief cannot have originated in Chrisfianity. The figure of Melchizedek, of course, is derived from the Old Testament, and becomes for antinomian Alexandrian Jews a powerful symbol of Law-free religion. When the Melchizedekians came into contact with Christianity, Jesus was incorporated into their system, but his position was below that of Melchizedek. As Jesus is an advocate for humans, so also is Melchizedek an advocate for the angels.

The Alexandrian origin of Melchizedekianism is also demonstrated with reference to Philo himself, for whom Melchizedek is not only a heavenly being but identified with the Logos. Philo nevertheless stresses in his version of the Melchizedek mystery that there is no other God beside God Most High, and he is One. That in this passage a polemic is directed against antinomian heretics is shown also with reference to the 'Ammonites' and 'Moabites' who are excluded from the divine congregation.

The Alexandrian author of the Epistle to the Hebrews obviously knew of the Melchizedek mystery, Friedlander continues, and indeed presents a modified Melchizedekianism to his erstwhile coreligionists, trying to prove to them that Jesus is indeed superior to Melchizedek. In Heb. 7:3 the Melchizedek mystery is qualified with the phrase [greek].

Friedlander distinguishes the Melchizedekians from the Ophites and Cainites, suggesting that the former were not so aggressive in their antinon-danism as the latter. He even suggests that Melchizedekianism is the one form of pre-Christian Gnosticism that qualifies best as the point of departure for Christian Gnosticism.

On the origin of pre-Christian Jewish Gnosticism, Friedlander summarizes his position by stating that it began with the 'Hellenization of Judaism in the Diaspora."o Gnosficism served as the medium by which Judaism should become a world religion. It remained orthodox so long as the Law was observed, as is the case with Philo, and became heretical when the letter of the Law was rejected, as was the case with the radicals' combated by Philo.

In the second half of the monograph Friedlander discusses further the content of gnosis and its propagation among the Jews of Palestine. The chief content of the oldest gnosis consists of cosmogonical and theosophical speculation; the means by which an amalgamation of the old religion with newer philosophical ideas was achieved was allegory. This characteristic of Gnosis-evident in the oldest known Gnostic sect, the Ophites-is found also among the most ancient Mishnah teachers under the designations maseh bresit (the 'work of Creation') and maseh merkabah (the work of the Chariot).

That cosmogonic and theosophical speculations had taken a heretical turn very early in Palestine is demonstrated, according to Friedlander, by the following Mishnah, which is referred to as a tradition of the sages by the first-century rabbi, Yohanan ben Zakkai:

The laws of incest may not be expounded to three persons, nor the Story of Creation before two persons, nor the subject of the Chariot before one person alone unless he be a Sage and comprehends of his own knowledge. Whoever puts his mind to these four matters it were better for him if he had not come into the world-what is above? What is below? What is beyond? What is in the opposite beyond? And whosoever has no regard for the honour of his Creator it were better for him had he not come into the world.

Clearly reflected in this Mishnah, and severely condemned, is the antinomian Gnostic differentiation between the highest God and an inferior Creator. But one finds a polen-dc against such obscene esoterica, Friedlander suggests, already in the second half of the second pre-Christian century in Sir. 3:21-24, a passage actually quoted in the Talmud later in an anti-Gnostic polemic. Heretical gnosis reached Palestine at least by the early first century. 'Gnostic' mystical doctrines were tolerated and fostered by some in orthodox circles, so long as 'the honor of the Father in Heaven' was served and the unity of God maintained. Thus a distinction was made between 'true' gnosis and 'false' gnosis, the latter characterized by arrogance over against God.

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