reverendannie.myfreeforum.org :: gnostic and other early christian texts

tarotgirl

for several days some have been asking questions regarding Christianity's beginnings. We all know Christians use the early Judaic texts referred to as the old testament, and several newer texts written by contemporaries of jesus and his followers, referred to as the new testament. but there are hundreds of texts that were written at the time that are not included in most modern Christian bibles. i stress over and over to my students and those who seek answers that we never limit ourself to one point of veiw. Did you know emperor Constantine made all the heads of the early Christian church sit down and formulate one "true" version of the birth and ministry of Jesus? They sat while he supervised and made them organize the churches doctrine. They took all the "stories" that fit their idea of how it should be and then they added this took out that and wah la, roman catholics were created, so to speak. But my point here is this, all the texts written by Jesus' contemporaries that didn't agree with their chosen doctrine were thrown out and later declared heresy. Most copies were found burned or destroyed somehow but a few people, some monks, some educated men, they sought to hide the knowledge and save it for those who come after them, they packed them in jars and hid them deep in caves, and 1500 years down the road we started digging them up. Anthropologist love to dig!!! And many have been translated over these last 50 yrs some 300 ancient texts have been found. here is the best resource available online for Gnostic text:

http://www.gnosis.org/welcome.html

i hope you find this useful, I would be happy to help you find certain articles if you contact me.

Rev/Scout · Site Admin

Note: As Theosophy is so very close to Gnosticism, I feel that this post and subsequent posts about Theosophy probably belong here.

Rev/Scout

Definitions of theosophy on the Web:

* a system of belief based on mystical insight into the nature of God and the soul
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* Theosophy is a doctrine of religious philosophy and metaphysics originating with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy

* Theosophy (Greek: θεοσοφία theosophia "knowledge of things divine", literally "god-wisdom"), designates several bodies of ideas since Late Antiquity. The Greek term is attested on magical papyri (PMag. Leid. W.6.17: ἡ ἄγαν θεοσοφία).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophy_(history_of_philosophy)

* A philosophy that holds that all religions have a portion of the truth
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/theosophy

* theosophist - a believer in theosophy
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* theosophical - of or relating to theosophy; "theosophical writings"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

* The Theosophist is a theosophical journal. It was founded in 1879 by Helena Blavatsky, and is still being published. The journal features articles about philosophy, art, literature and occultism.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theosophist

* a late nineteenth-century philosophical movement that combines a variety of belief systems to seek an underlying universal harmony. In art, the use of geometrical forms was seen to exemplify this harmony in its purest form.
www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/EmilyCarr/en/resources/glossary.php

* A system of beliefs promulgated by Theosophical Society, founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. ...
ncronline.org/NCR_Online/archives/022103/022103k.htm

* ( in theosophy: History ) The contemporary theosophical movement was born with the founding of the Theosophical Society in New York City in 1875 ...
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/591126/Theosophical-Society

* The word is derived from the Greek theos (god, divinity) and sophia (wisdom). The Neoplatonists, the Gnostics, and the kabbalists are generally considered types of theosophists. ...
www.gnosticteachings.org/component/option,com_definition/Itemid,10262/index.php

* theosophist - Of the absolute, the Logos, the Word of God, Theosophists profess to know further than that exists. The universe with their solar systems are but ...
newagevillage.com/wiki/index.php/Theosophy_Glossary

The Sevenfold Constitution of a Human Being by H.P. Blavatsky. (Includes The Higher Self and the Egos of a Human Being)

From: http://blavatskyarchives.com/constitutionofahumanbeing.htm