March 17, 2009, 11:45 pm by dc-agape.

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Testing using Nag Hammadi as a reference.  How does Zemanta work with 1and1 and WordPress.  My posts recently have been about the Apocryphon of James. 

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March 17, 2009, 7:05 pm by dc-agape.

Recently I have been accused of removing unfavorable posts.  This is far from the truth.  I am still waiting for the second negative comment.  I have had a few of my Russian friends say rather rude things.  But unfortunately, they have had nothing of value to say.  I do not erase “hit and runs”, but they are meaningless to the purpose of this blog.

I have used my one negative comment, with any meat to it, as an example of the need to back up any claims made with a little research.  When someone tells me “I am going to hell” they might want to make sure that they are using the Word of God correctly.

Recently, I have begun to receive numerous comments with the exact same message.  These are deleted.

Recently, I have begun to receive numerous comments with the exact same message.  These are deleted.

Recently, I have begun to receive numerous comments with the exact same message.  These are deleted.

Oops, I am repeating myself.  See how annoying it is.

I have broken links in comment to websites that lead to businesses, porn, or poker sites.  This blog is not designed to advertise your product. 

I do use black lists which help to remove spam.  Again, this blog is not designed to advertise your website or your product.  If I wanted to advertise products on this website I would sell my extra bandwidth to companies willing to pay for it.

I will not remove any comments made.  I will edit those that have offensive language.  But I will attempt to leave the full meaning of the comment intact.  Since I am a gay Atheist, comments about a person’s character, lifestyle, religion (or lack of), race, or sex will not be taken lightly.  I will wait and see about rude comments about a person’s intelligence.  On other blogs I have seen some rather stupid comments that are poorly written and have huge intellectual gaps in their arguments.  I would hope that we can keep our comments considerate of others, but in some cases I understand the need to “slap some sense” into a nitwit.

Posted in Comment Policies, State of Mind | Print | 13 Comments »

March 17, 2009, 9:04 am by dc-agape.

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Codex 1, Tractate 2, 6:21 – 8:27

This section of the Apocryphon of James starts with a question about prophecy.  Jesus answers them that when the “head” is removed there will be no more prophecy.  Two verse from the Word of God explain this concept and why removing the “head” had ended prophecy.

Eph 4:15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

So from this verse, from Paul to the Ephesians, Jesus is the Head.  Which means that when he is gone prophecy will end, making John the last Prophet.  But there is one more verse that collaborates with this passage from the Apocryphon of James:

1^st Cor 13:8-10 Love never fails.  But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophecy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

Many Christians see this verse as the explanation of why prophecy does not occur today.  But when you put all three passages together there is no need to guess.  Jesus and Paul have made it clear that after Jesus left prophecy would end.  What Paul meant by the “when perfection comes” has been lost.  Great going inerrant Word of God!

Jesus continues to remind James and Peter about his teachings.  This section reminds me of an earlier post in the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus is still showing his humanity…he rebukes his disciples for not being able to perceive his teachings through the parables and even his straight talk.  Yet we know that YHWH has to open the eyes and unblock the ears for people to understand (Mark 4:12).  Obviously, YHWH has still not accomplished this task!

Here again Jesus changes the subject rapidly.  This entire section is more like clips than a narration.  He talks about how to be saved.  He says that being saved requires eagerness and cannot be urged upon anyone.  No less to his apostles, who should already be saved?  I do like his next topic about hypocrisy:

7:17-22 Come to hate hypocrisy and the evil thought; for it is the thought that gives birth to hypocrisy; but hypocrisy is far from truth.

Hypocrisy is one thing that I can say is a pet peeve of mine!  It would seem that it was also one of Jesus’.  The decision to be a hypocrite does come before the action itself.  And hypocrisy is most definitely far from the truth.  As I have said before, Jesus had some wonder teaching.  I just wish that the “Christians” would actually follow his word and his actions.  They claim to imitate him and yet there is not a single sign that this is true.

Jesus continues to jump from topic to topic.  At one point he talks about the kingdom of heaven.  He warns that it can wither.  The cause of this withering is similar to a fruiting plant.  If you allow the plant to go to “seed” it stops producing seed, but if you continue to harvest the plant continues to grow more seeds.  Jesus claims that he has done exactly this while on earth and is eager to return to heaven.  Jesus then mentions some of the Parables that he taught and how some people understood them.  It would seem that Jesus is rebuking James and Peter for not being satisfied with these Parables.  But the text jumps to the next subject abruptly.

He jumps to the concept of being earnest about the word:

8:10-15 “Become earnest about the word!  For as the word, its first part is faith; the second, love; the third, works; for from these comes life.

This definitely goes in the face of modern “Christianity”.  Works actually ranks third in the list of things required to receive life!  Many of today’s “christian” believe that only faith is required.  How wrong they are!  Love and works are also required.  Jesus goes on to explain why this is so.  Using an example of a grain of wheat, he tells James and Peter that it is by faith that one sows the seed (hoping that it will sprout).  That same person lovingly tends the plant that sprouts.  But to live the person must do the work of harvesting and preparing the food to live.  This is so true and seems to be self-evident, yet the “christians” of today seem to focus on only single parts of this lesson.

Remember, you can read the entire Nag Hammadi Library here…The Gnostic Society Library.

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Posted in Apocryphon of James, The Nag Hammadi, Inerrancy - My Ass, kingdom of God | Print | 6 Comments »