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Welcome Gnosteric. I look forward to reading your point of view on things.

That's possible. The story seems to indicate that the judge is unjust because he "neither fears God, nor cares about men." And because of this, he doesn't seek justice for the widow until she repeatedly entreats him to do so. You could certainly be a person who does not see all, hear all and...

I apologize as well. Sometimes I feel like the circumstances require me to be obtuse. I should know better with you. I sent you a PM.

This isn't a fair characterization. It isn't isn't just any knowledge, but a rather particular knowledge, and that knowledge is the path to Love. Of course. I've said as much myself several times now. The ideas expressed in both of these sentences are also a matter of personal judgment...

Short version: My objection to creeds is that they are often uttered to a baseline by which all who disagree may be adjudged wrong - and that is certainly how they've been used in Thomas's posts. If someone wants to believe in a creed, it's not for me to say they are wrong. But, by the same...

Well, yes and no. Sure, everyone considers themselves a free-thinker. But it's not necessarily true that everyone considers themselves "right", or, more to the point, it is not necessarily the case that everyone considers everyone who disagrees with them as "wrong." One of the things I've...

Great post, Taijasi! I particularly liked the above paragraph .

Same objection. The Gnostic doesn't insist on anything other than what he knows. We can conduct an investigation using the methods of science and reason (to the extent possible) into the matter of whether Scripture is literally true. One may or may not be convinced by the evidence discovered...

Certainly it does. In technical terms it's an "objection to the question because it assumes facts not in evidence." Your question relies on a false premise, in other words. Perhaps you are missing something. Perhaps not. My questions assumes no facts about you, so it should be quite easy to...

Thanks to both of you. I know, and I didn't read your comments as doing so. Unfortunately, my post began with a quote from your post and I may have mistakenly given the impression that my later comments were a response to you. They weren't. My sole point in pointing out the parables is...

Are you Muslim, Thomas? If not, why not?

The Gnostic doesn't insist anything about another's cosmology. A person can have "faith" in whatever cosmology they want. It's of no matter. And the reason it's of no matter is because Gnosticism isn't about cosmology in the first instance. The literalist and their creeds, on the other...

Perhaps. Gnostics aren't known by what they call themselves. They are known by what they know. I think you've got it backwards, though. The "right" thinking side of the equation begins slandering and prosecuting free-thinkers, who want to continue to be free-thinkers (and teach others about...

Thomas: Let's begin with first principles. Who wrote the Synoptic gospels? Why did they write them? And specifically when? These question do not ask you to make assertions you've heard from your orthodox teachings. It asks you to investigate first-hand the evidence for those assertions and...

Do you mean Luke 18? That's an interesting comparison. I read the parable of the widow and the unjust judge along these lines: "even an unjust judge who cares not about people will respond to pleas for justice if asked enough." Initially, my thought was to read into the parable the idea along...

Gnosticism isn't a religion, it's a method. It transcends religions for that reason. It is a means of taking an interior journey to find one's "self." Modern Gnosticism is more closely related to psychology, linguistic philosophy and anthropology then it is with religion. Indeed, I have been...

Ahhhh . . . but he did. He spoke in parables intended to convey many of his most important teachings that went right over the heads of many of his listeners, including his disciples, to whom he offered explanations out of earshot from the Pharisees and "Joe Citizen." This is a recurring theme...

Personally, I don't think there actually is any conflict between science and faith . . . just people who haven't carefully considered the purpose and methods of each. Science doesn't "disprove" faith (and can't), unless you have a problematic understanding of what constitutes "faith." On...

That's already what it means, I think. We refer to the "Gospel of John" for example, but it's usually regarded as short hand for "The Gospel According to John." It's the gospel according to a writer or group of writers more likely to whom the name "John" has been attached. The term "gospel"...

If it isn't "evil" then "evil" isn't getting done. None of the moral codes are "correct" except within their own internal logic. Compassion, love, and tolerance are another matter, however. The latter is "universal" and I think accouts for your conscience. "Morality" and ethics - reasoning...