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Recent content by Orbital SD

  1. O

    Scientology

    No, I don't see any connection. There are no specific points in the scientologists' belief system that bear any significant resemblance to Gnostic doctrines. And what is Gnosticism about? It is about returning the human spirit into communion with the spiritual realm. As I see it, there really is...
  2. O

    Scientology

    I see no particular connection between Scientology and any "brand" of historical Gnosticism.
  3. O

    Scientology

    I politely disagree. I am "into Gnosticism," and I don't see anything I relate to or admire in the religion of Scientology.
  4. O

    Adam Kadmon

    Yes, undeniably. I just doubt that any Gnostics were among them.
  5. O

    Adam Kadmon

    I agree with almost everything you said, Abbadon. The only point I disagree with is the remark about "tri-sexuals." Many scholars of Gnosticism are now very skeptical that any Gnostics engaged in libertinistic practices. The fact is that none of the surviving original writings of the Gnostics...
  6. O

    Adam Kadmon

    This is a great example of why Wikipedia articles should be taken with a grain of salt. The "core terminology" of Gnosticism is the "Jewish names of God" — Gnosis, Pneuma, Pleroma, Bythos, etc. = Jewish names of God? "Mainstream Gnostics" accept a "Jewish Messiah" — they accept the guy whom Jews...
  7. O

    Adam Kadmon

    While it's true that Gnosticism absorbed ideas from forms of Judaism that existed at that time, I don't see how Gnosticism could be based on the Kabbalah, which emerged in the medieval period, long after the suppression of the Gnostic sects. No, "Adam Kadmon" and the kind of esoteric...
  8. O

    Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up?

    *stands* :D Nice post, Ammon. But there were a couple of points that I think were inaccurate. That isn't true. While some of the orthodox heresiologists, such as Irenaeus, tried to paint Gnostics as believing that salvation is a matter of predestination which we could do nothing to change...
  9. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    Okay, but don't you think that holds true of any religion? Christians believe what they believe, and are hard pressed to believe anything else; Muslims believe what they believe, and are hard pressed to believe anything else, etc. That is a trait of religion in general, not just Gnosticism. But...
  10. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    Hmm... Could you give a specific example of the kind of "modern Gnostic" group that you have in mind here? I do believe that there are other religions, both dead and alive, that have at their core the same essential, liberating truths as Gnosticism, though expressed in a different manner; and I...
  11. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    I agree, however I think that "musty old tomes" such as the Nag Hammadi library must nevertheless be an indispensable component of any religious viewpoint that claims a connection to the old Gnostics. That is, without being firmly rooted in the specific doctrines and mythologies that constitute...
  12. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    Definitely, Gnostics certainly did at times express theological notions through sexual metaphors, and by no means did I intend to deny that in my post. What I am addressing, though, are the heresiological accusations that Gnostics engaged in sexual debauchery. It is that notion specifically that...
  13. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    I think there is little chance that the Gospel of Philip has anything to do with an actual apostle Philip. As far as its reliability, it depends on what you mean. Keep in mind that the Gospel of Philip is not a narrative of Jesus's life, as are the canonical Gospels, or even a collection of...
  14. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    Gnostics generally believed that the Old Testament presents a distorted or limited view of spiritual truth. With regard to the New Testament, some Gnostics saw a lot they agreed with in certain texts, such as the Gospel of John. To many other Gnostics, though, NT texts were irrelevant (since not...
  15. O

    Gnostic Christianity

    Many scholars of Gnosticism are now very skeptical about whether this sort of libertinism ever existed among the historical Gnostics. The fact is that there is really no example of libertinistic thinking in the surviving Gnostic texts. And with regard to the Carpocratians specifically, the one...
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