Freethought & Rationalism Archive

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 10:29 PM

Strom 5:14 -

Quote:

It is then, now clear to us, from what has been said, that the beneficence of God [τοῦ θεοῦ εὐποιία] is eternal [ἀίδιος], and that, from an unbeginning principle [ἀρχῆς ἀνάρχου], equal natural righteousness [φυσικὴ δικαιοσύνη] reached all, according to the worth of each several race [κατ' ἀξίαν ἑκάστου γένους γενομένη], -- never having had a beginning [οὐκ ἀρξα μένη ποτέ]. For God did not make a beginning of being Lord and Good, being always what He is [οὐ γὰρ ἀρχὴν τοῦ κύριος καὶ ἀγαθὸς εἶναι εἴληφεν ὁ θεὸς ὢν ἀεὶ ὅ ἐστιν]. Nor will He ever cease to do good, although He bring all things to an end [οὐδὲ μὴν παύσεταί ποτε ἀγαθοποιῶν, κἂν εἰς τέλος ἀγάγῃ ἕκαστα]. And each one of us is a partaker of His beneficence, as far as He wills [μεταλαμβάνει δὲ τῆς εὐποιίας ἕκαστος ἡμῶν πρὸς ὃ βούλεται]. For the difference of the elect is made by the intervention of a choice worthy of the soul, and by exercise [ἐπεὶ τὴν διαφορὰν τῆς ἐκλογῆς ἀξία γενομένη ψυχῆς αἵρεσίς τε καὶ συνάσκησις πεποίηκεν].

Castration and the hermaphrodite Adam.

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 10:37 PM

Strom 6:7 -

Quote:

But those of them who believed the Lord's advent and the plain teaching of the Scriptures, attain to the knowledge of the law; as also those addicted to philosophy, by the teaching of the Lord, are introduced into the knowledge of the true philosophy: "For the oracles of the Lord are pure oracles, melted in the fire, tried in the earth, purified seven times." Just as silver often purified, so is the just man brought to the test, becoming the Lord's coin and receiving the royal image. Or, since Solomon also calls the "tongue of the righteous man gold that has been subjected to fire," intimating that the doctrine which has been proved, and is wise, is to be praised and received, whenever it is amply tried by the earth: that is, when the gnostic soul is in manifold ways sanctified, through withdrawal from earthy fires. And the body in which it dwells is purified, being appropriated to the pureness of a holy temple. But the first purification which takes place in the body, the soul being first, is abstinence from evil things, which some consider perfection, and is, in truth, the perfection of the common believer -- Jew and Greek. But in the case of the Gnostic, after that which is reckoned perfection in others, his righteousness advances to activity in well-doing [νομιζομένην τελείωσιν ἡ δικαιοσύνη εἰς ἐνέργειαν εὐποιίας προβαίνει]. And in whomsoever the increased force of righteousness advances to the doing of good, in his case perfection abides in the fixed habit of well-doing after the likeness of God [καὶ ὅτῳ δὴ ἡ ἐπίτασις τῆς δικαιοσύνης εἰς ἀγαθοποιίαν ἐπιδέδωκεν, τούτῳ ἡ τελείωσις ἐν ἀμεταβόλῳ ἕξει εὐποιίας καθ' ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ θεοῦ διαμένει]. For those who are the seed of Abraham, and besides servants of God, are "the called;" and the sons of Jacob are the elect -- they who have tripped up the energy of wickedness.

If; then, we assert that Christ Himself is Wisdom, and that it was His working which showed itself in the prophets, by which the gnostic tradition may be learned, as He Himself taught the apostles during His presence; then it follows that the grinds, which is the knowledge and apprehension of things present, future, and past, which is sure and reliable, as being imparted and revealed by the Son of God, is wisdom.

And if, too, the end of the wise man is contemplation, that of those who are still philosophers aims at it, but never attains it, unless by the process of learning it receives the prophetic utterance which has been made known, by which it grasps both the present, the future, and the past -- how they are, were, and shall be.

And the gnosis itself is that which has descended by transmission to a few, having been imparted unwritten by the apostles. Hence, then, knowledge or wisdom ought to be exercised up to the eternal and unchangeable habit of contemplation.

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 10:52 PM

Strom 6:8 -

Quote:

The absence of respect of persons in God is not then in time, but from eternity. Nor had His beneficence [εὐεργεσία αὐτοῦ] a beginning [ἤρξατό]; nor any more is it limited to places or persons. For His beneficence [εὐποιία αὐτοῦ] is not confined to parts. "Open ye the gates of righteousness," it is said; "entering into them, I will confess to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter by it." Explaining the prophet's saying, Barnabas adds, "There being many gates open, that which is in righteousness is the gate which is in Christ, by which all who enter are blessed."

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 11:23 PM

Strom 6:12 - this is the mystic experience of Alexandria, I think cryptically alluded to in Secret Mark. At the very least it is a brother-making rite -

Quote:

For we have heard that God knows the heart, not judging the soul from movement, as we men; nor yet from the event, For it is ridiculous to think so. Nor was it as the architect praises the work when accomplished that God, on making the light and then seeing it, called it good. But He, knowing before He made it what it would be, praised that [which was made, He having potentially made good, from the first by His purpose that had no beginning, what was destined to be good actually. Now that which has future He already said beforehand was good, the phrase concealing the truth by hyperbaton. Therefore the Gnostic prays in thought during every hour, being by love made kinsman to God [δι' ἀγάπης οἰκειούμενος τῷ θεῷ]. And first he will ask forgiveness of sins; and after, that he may sin no more; and further, the power of well-doing [τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν δύνασθαι] and of comprehending the whole creation and administration by the Lord, that, becoming pure in heart [καθαρὸς τὴν καρδίαν γενόμενος] through the knowledge, which is by the Son of God, he may be initiated into the beatific vision face to face [δι' ἐπιγνώσεως τῆς διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον τὴν μακαρίαν θέαν μυηθῇ], having heard the Scripture which says, "Fasting with prayer is a good thing."

Now fastings signify abstinence from all evils whatsoever, both in action and in word, and in thought itself. As appears, then, righteousness is quadrangular; on all sides equal and like in word, in deed, in abstinence from evils, in beneficence [ἐν εὐποιίᾳ], in gnostic perfection; nowhere, and in no respect halting, so that he does not appear unjust and unequal. As one, then, is righteous, so certainly is he a believer. But as he is a believer, he is not yet also righteous -- I mean ac cording to the righteousness of progress and perfection, according to which the Gnostic is called righteous.

For instance, on Abraham becoming a believer, it was reckoned to him for righteousness, he having advanced to the greater and more perfect degree of faith. For he who merely abstains from evil conduct is not just, unless he also attain besides beneficence and knowledge [τὸ εὖ ποιεῖν καὶ τὸ γινώσκειν]; and for this reason some things are to be abstained from, others are to be done. "By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left," the apostle says, the righteous man is sent on to the inheritance above, -- by some [arms] defended, by others putting forth his might. For the defence of his panoply alone, and abstinence from sins, are not sufficient for perfection, unless he assume in addition the work of righteousness -- activity in doing good [τὴν εἰς εὐποιίαν ἐνέργειαν]

Then our dexterous man and Gnostic is revealed in righteousness already even here, as Moses, glorified in the face of the soul, as we have formerly said, the body bears the stamp of the righteous soul. For as the mordant of the dyeing process, remaining in the wool, produces in it a certain quality and diversity from other wool; so also in the soul the pain is gone, but the good remains; and the sweet is left, but the base is wiped away. For these are two qualities characteristic of each soul, by which is known that which is glorified, and that which is condemned.

And as in the case of Moses, from his righteous conduct, and from his uninterrupted intercourse with God, who spoke to him, a kind of glorified hue settled on his face; so also a divine power of goodness clinging to the righteous soul in contemplation and in prophecy, and in the exercise of the function of governing, impresses on it something, as it were, of intellectual radiance, like the solar ray, as a visible sign of righteousness, uniting the soul with light, through unbroken love, which is God-bearing and God-borne. Thence assimilation to God the Saviour arises to the Gnostic, as far as permitted to human nature, he being made perfect "as the Father who is in heaven."

It is He Himself who says, "Little children, a little while I am still with you." Since also God Himself remains blessed and immortal, neither molested nor molesting another; not in consequence of being by nature good, but in proving Himself actually, both Father and good, continues immutably in the self-same goodness. For what is the use of good that does not act and do good? [τεκνία, ἔτι μικρὸν μεθ' ὑμῶν εἰμι, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ θεός, οὐχ ᾗ φύσει ἀγαθός ἐστι, ταύτῃ μένει μακάριος καὶ ἄφθαρτος, οὔτε πράγματ' ἔχων οὔτε ἄλλῳ παρέχων, ποιῶν δὲ ἰδίως ἀγαθά, θεὸς ὄντως καὶ πατὴρ ἀγαθὸς ὤν τε καὶ γινόμενος ἐν ἀδιαλείπτοις εὐποιίαις, ἐν ταὐτότητι τῆς ἀγαθωσύνης ἀπαραβάτως μένει. τί γὰρ ὄφελος ἀγαθοῦ μὴ ἐνεργοῦντος μηδὲ ἀγαθύνοντος]

He, then, who has first moderated his passions and trained himself for impassibility [εἰς ἀπάθειαν μελετήσας αὐξήσας], and developed to the beneficence of gnostic perfection [εἰς εὐποιίαν γνωστικῆς τελειότητος], is here equal to the angels. Luminous already, and like the sun shining in the exercise of beneficence [τὴν εὐεργεσίαν σπεύδει], he speeds by righteous knowledge through the love of God to the sacred abode, like as the apostles [τῇ γνώσει τῇ δικαίᾳ δι' ἀγάπης θεοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁγίαν μονὴν καθάπερ οἱ ἀπόστολοι]. Not that they became apostles through being chosen for some distinguished peculiarity of nature, since also Judas was chosen along with them. But they were capable of becoming apostles on being chosen by Him who foresees even ultimate issues. Matthias, accordingly, who was not chosen along with them, on showing himself worthy of becoming an apostle, is substituted for Judas. Those, then, also now, who have exercised themselves in the Lord's commandments, and lived perfectly and gnostically according to the Gospel, may be enrolled in the chosen body of the apostles.

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 11:28 PM

When you read these words - how could Ehrman claim that Jesus was a human being? He says that his next book will be about how the historical Jesus became god. Good luck with Clement of Alexandria and the see of St Mark. So many of these people are so stupid. We aren't dealing with '1 Clement' or 'Paul' but Irenaeus's collection of those texts and Irenaeus's interpretation of that material vs. Clement and the Alexandrian's canon and exegesis. Why don't people see this? How can someone spend all this time studying and end up without knowledge of the truth?

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 11:44 PM

Strom 6:14 -

Quote:

Such, according to David, "rest in the holy hill of God," in the Church far on high, in which are gathered the philosophers of God, "who are Israelites indeed, who are pure in heart, in whom there is no guile; " who do not remain in the seventh seat, the place of rest, but are promoted, through the active beneficence of the divine likeness, to the heritage of beneficence which is the eighth grade [ἀγαθοεργίᾳ δὲ θείας ἐξομοιώσεως εἰς ὀγδοαδικῆς εὐεργεσίας κληρονομίαν ὑπερκύψαντες]; devoting themselves to the pure vision of insatiable contemplation.

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 11:53 PM

Strom 6:17 -

Quote:

As the nature of the beneficent is to do good [καθάπερ φύσις τοῦ ἀγαθοποιοῦ τὸ ἀγαθοποιεῖν], as it is of the fire to warm, and the light to give light, and a good man will not do evil, or light produce darkness, or fire cold; so, again, vice cannot do aught virtuous. For its activity is to do evil, as that of darkness to dim the eyes. Philosophy is not, then, the product of vice, since it makes men virtuous; it follows, then, that it is the work of God, whose work it is solely to do good. And all things given by God are given and received well.

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 11:55 PM

Strom 7:1 -

Quote:

It is, then, our purpose to prove that the Gnostic alone is holy and pious, and worships the true God in a manner worthy of Him; and that worship meet for God is followed by loving and being loved by God. He accordingly judges all excellence to be honourable according to its worth; and judges that among the objects perceived by our senses, we are to esteem rulers, and parents, and every one advanced in years; and among subjects of instruction, the most ancient philosophy and primeval prophecy; and among intellectual ideas, what is oldest in origin, the timeless and unoriginated First Principle, and Beginning of existences -- the Son -- from whom we are to learn the remoter Cause, the Father, of the universe, the most ancient and the most beneficent of all; not capable of expression by the voice, but to be reverenced with reverence, and silence, and holy wonder, and supremely venerated; declared by the Lord, as far as those who learned were capable of comprehending, and understood by those chosen by the Lord to acknowledge; "whose senses," says the apostle, "were exercised.''

stephan huller · 04-21-2012, 11:56 PM

Strom 7:2 -

Quote:

To know God is, then, the first step of faith; then, through confidence in the teaching of the Saviour, to consider the doing of wrong in any way as not suitable to the knowledge of God. So the best thing on earth is the most pious man; and the best thing in heaven, the nearer in place and purer, is an angel, the partaker of the eternal and blessed life. But the nature of the Son, which is nearest to Him who is alone the Almighty One, is the most perfect, and most holy, and most potent, and most princely, and most kingly, and most beneficent. This is the highest excellence, which orders all things in accordance with the Father's will, and holds the helm of the universe in the best way, with unwearied and tireless power, working all things in which it operates, keeping in view its hidden designs.

stephan huller · 04-22-2012, 12:02 AM

Strom 7:3 -

Quote:

Now I pass over other things in silence, glorifying the Lord. But I affirm that gnostic souls, that surpass in the grandeur of contemplation the mode of life of each of the holy ranks, among whom the blessed abodes of the gods are allotted by distribution, reckoned holy among the holy, transferred entire from among the entire, reaching places better than the better places, embracing the divine vision not in mirrors or by means of mirrors, but in the transcendently clear and absolutely pure insatiable vision which is the privilege of intensely loving souls [τὴν ἀκόρεστον ὑπερφυῶς ἀγαπώσαις ψυχαῖς ἑστιωμένας θέαν], holding festival through endless ages, remain honoured with the indentity of all excellence. Such is the vision attainable by "the pure in heart." This is the function of the Gnostic, who has been perfected, to have convene with God through the great High Priest, being made like the Lord, up to the measure of his capacity, in the whole service of God, which tends to the salvation of men, through care of the beneficence which has us for its object; and on the other side through worship, through teaching and through beneficence in deeds [τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς εὐεργεσίας κατά τε αὖ τὴν λειτουργίαν κατά τε τὴν διδασκαλίαν κατά τε τὴν δι' ἔργων εὐποιίαν]. The Gnostic even forms and creates himself; and besides also, he, like to God, adorns those who hear him; assimilating as far as possible the moderation which, arising from practice, tends to impossibility, to Him who by nature possesses impassibility; and especially having uninterrupted converse and fellowship with the Lord. Mildness, I think, and philanthropy, and eminent piety, are the rules of gnostic assimilation. I affirm that these virtues "are a sacrifice acceptable in the sight of God; " heart with Scripture alleging that" right knowledge is the holocaust of God; each man who is admitted to holiness being illuminated in order to indissoluble union.

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04-21-2012, 11:28 PM	#25
stephan huller Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: seattle, wa Posts: 9,337	When you read these words - how could Ehrman claim that Jesus was a human being? He says that his next book will be about how the historical Jesus became god. Good luck with Clement of Alexandria and the see of St Mark. So many of these people are so stupid. We aren't dealing with '1 Clement' or 'Paul' but Irenaeus's collection of those texts and Irenaeus's interpretation of that material vs. Clement and the Alexandrian's canon and exegesis. Why don't people see this? How can someone spend all this time studying and end up without knowledge of the truth?

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