ON LOVE; PART CCCLXX

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GoodWill IS Love in Action

ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•ΑΩ•Α

The Gospel of Thomas

These are the hidden words that the living Jesus spoke. And Didymos Judas Thomas wrote them down.

(18)  The disciples said to Jesus: “Tell us how our end will be.”  Jesus said: “Have you already discovered the beginning that you are now asking about the end? For where the beginning is, there the end will be too. Blessed is he who will stand at the beginning. And he will know the end, and he will not taste death.”

(19) Jesus says: “Blessed is he who was, before he came into being. If you become disciples of mine (and) listen to my words, these stones will serve you.  For you have five trees in Paradise that do not change during summer (and) winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever comes to know them will not taste death.”

(20)  The disciples said to Jesus: “Tell us whom the kingdom of heaven is like!”  He said to them: “It is like a mustard seed.  <It> is the smallest of all seeds.  But when it falls on cultivated soil, it produces a large branch (and) becomes shelter for the birds of the sky.”

(21)  Mary said to Jesus: “Whom are your disciples like?” He said: “They are like servants who are entrusted with a field that is not theirs. When the owners of the field arrive, they will say: ‘Let us have our field.’ (But) they are naked in their presence so as to let them have it (and thus) to give them their field.” “That is why I say: ‘When the master of the house learns that the thief is about to come, he will be on guard before he comes (and) will not let him break into his house, his domain, to carry away his possessions.’ (But) you, be on guard against the world! Gird your loins with great strength, so that the robbers will not find a way to get to you.” “For the necessities for which you wait (with longing) will be found. There ought to be a wise person among you! When the fruit was ripe, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand, (and) he harvested it. Whoever has ears to hear should hear.” ¹⁴

Our next group of sayings is posted above. The last saying was one that is not found in the accepted gospels but the intent of it is found in the Apostle Paul’s words as well in in the words of the Prophet Isaiah and although the context of these two is different, the idea is the same, that to the righteous, to those who Love God as expressed in keeping His words, will come these things that are spoken of as “what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has not entered into the heart of man” and these are in our understanding those deep mysteries of Life and of the Kingdom that have been “kept secret from the foundation of the world” but which are found in the Master’s parabolic words and parables but ARE ONLY revealed to those who come in discipleship which is the Truth of righteousness and of keeping His words. And this is as the the Apostle Matthew reports of the Master’s teaching to the people, that He “spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 13:34-35). We should note here that this is not to confound the people but rather to give them meaningful teachings that hide within themselves the deeper meanings that are revealed by one’s own Soul; there are Life’ lessons in most ALL of His words for every level of listener but the secrets are reserved as He Himself tells us saying to His disciples: “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand” (Luke 8:10). Here of course we should understand that same idea as before, these parables are not to confound the people but rather to protect the mysteries from those who would not have the wherewithal to understand and in this is the meaning of “that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand“.

And as we have discussed this is still true today, the same parables are interpreted according to the world and the ways of the world instead of the in spiritual way that is hidden within them and while we ourselves believe that we have somewhat unlocked many of these, we KNOW that there are yet deeper Truths yet to be discovered by revelation which IS the tone of Paul’s words to the disciples at Corinth as he told them “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard , neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). And as we discussed, the key here is to Love the Lord and the key to that Love is to keep His words….it is then that we can get the fullness of the revelation of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. The Master also makes it known that those who believe that they KNOW, the wise and the prudent regarding the ways of man in the world, that KNOW naught of the True mysteries as He tells us speaking aloud to the Father saying: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes” (Matthew 11:25); this is the revelation to the man who comes to the Truth, to keeping His words and thereby to discipleship, the man who need KNOW little about the world and its ways. This word rendered as babes should be seen as the lexicon offers, saying in part that this refers to: childish, untaught, unskilled ² or as we read in Strong’s: childlike, childish, infantile, with a negative implication of immaturity or positive implication of innocence, depending on the context ³. And these ideas of untaught and unskilled as well as that childish innocence should be apparent in the nature of the men who are His disciples and His apostles; fisherman, tax collectors and the like…..not governors and Pharisees and scribes. We should remember here as well that one of the requirements for the Kingdom of God is found in the Master’s words saying: “Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein” (Mark 10:15).

In ALL of this we should have a clear picture of to whom the mysteries will be revealed and this IS the intent of the saying from the Apostle Thomas as well and, although there IS NO context to this saying, we should understand it as along the lines of these ideas above, as can also be seen in these other words from Paul who, speaking to the disciples at Rome, tells them: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Romans 16:24-26). Here of course we must see the same ground rules and although they are not stated, they are implied by the very nature of this epistle which carries within it some of the deeper mysteries of Life; mysteries that are only revealed to those who are as those disciples to whom the Master speaks saying: “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear” (Matthew 13:16).

Our next saying is of a more esoteric nature and one that is not covered in like ways in the accepted New Testament. We should remember as we discuss these ideas that the Master’s words are in response to a question asked: “Tell us how our end will be”. In all our available translations except one the Master’s answer to the disciples is in the form of a question that asks as above if they “Have you already discovered the beginning“; Blatz frames this differently rendering it as “Since you have discovered the beginning” which IS an altogether different approach. Our reading of the interlinear here is unclear and, as we are not Coptic scholars, we can only report what is said; we read here “have revealed forth the beginning, so that will be seeking after the end?” Knowing the disciples as we do, we will opt for the more common rendering of this answer as a question and we place some of this upon the question asked by the disciples as it does not show an overabundance of understanding in these things. This being said, let us look a the available commentary on this eighteenth saying before we continue. We read:

• F. F. Bruce writes: “This saying is reminiscent of 2 Esdras 7.30 (‘the world shall be as it was at the first beginnings’), but perhaps it is to be understood in the sense of Revelation 22.13, where Jesus says: ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.'” (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 121).
• Marvin Meyer writes: “To return to the beginning is to attain the end; compare Gospel of Thomas saying 49. Also compare Manichaean Psalm Book 155,9-12: ‘Holy ones, rejoice with me, for I have returned again to my beginning. I [have] received my clean garments, my robes that do not become old. I have rejoiced in their joy, I have been glad in their gladness, [I have rested] in their rest from everlasting to everlasting.’ Secret Book of John II 9,5-8 makes a similar point: ‘And he spoke, and glorified and praised the invisible spirit, saying, “Because of you everything has come into being, and everything will return to you.”‘” (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 77).
• Gerd Ludemann writes: “The beginning and the end correspond (cf. Logion 4). Brought back to the beginning, the Gnostic will not taste death. The latter is meant in a metaphorical sense. The non-Gnostic does not live at all (cf. 11.2).” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 599).
• Funk and Hoover write: “Thomas consistently opposes speculation about the end (compare Thomas 3; 51; and 113). The idea that one returns in the end to one’s beginning has parallels in gnostic texts: the goal of the gnostic’s existence is to escape the created world of evil and return to the state of primordial perfection that existed at the beginning. Aspects of this concept are also reflected in Thomas 49. The final phrase in 18:3 is particularly Thomean (compare Thom 1; 91:4; 85:2; 111:2). All these factors led the Fellows to designate the saying black.” (The Five Gospels, p. 483).
• Stevan Davies writes: “The light that is within people and outside of them exists now. As a result, those who search for the end are told that the end (i.e., the kingdom of God) is present already (GTh 51, 113). When asked about the end, Jesus responds in terms of the beginning (GTh 18); when asked about the kingdom to come, Jesus responds in terms of the kingdom which is already here (Gos. Thom. 113)” http://www.misericordia.edu/users/davies/thomas/jblprot.htm)

While these comments do seem more as comments overall, they still say little about the meaning of the Master’s words as they relate them to even more obscure writings or to Gnostic beliefs. It is interesting to note this idea about the history of the Gnostic movement and how these ideas from Thomas could have played a role in its creation if Thomas writings are of the earlier date; we read: The earliest origins of Gnosticism are obscure and still disputed. For this reason, some scholars prefer to speak of “gnosis” when referring to 1st-century ideas that later developed into gnosticism and to reserve the term “gnosticism” for the synthesis of these ideas into a coherent movement in the 2nd century**. This would of course be contrary to these commentator’s thoughts above and in previous comments that the Gnostic beliefs are reflected by the writer of this Gospel of Thomas after their origin.

We of course see a different idea that they all in these comments and that is that the Master is speaking to His disciples about eternal Life; not as this is doctrinally understood but rather as we understand it, the eternal Life of the Soul that IS the True man. This IS the point of the idea of eternal Life and why the interpretation of Doctrine is misplaced and, while this IS a difficult concept for the finite mind of the man in form to comprehend, it is nonetheless the reality:

• The lexicon tells us that aionios, the Greek word that is rendered as eternal, means: without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be; without beginning; without end, never to cease, everlasting ².
• Webster’s 1828 version give us this as the definition of eternal: 1. Without beginning or end of existence. 2. Without beginning of existence. 3. Without end of existence or duration; everlasting; endless; immortal. 4. Perpetual; ceaseless; continued without intermission. 5. Unchangeable; existing at all times without change; as eternal truth ¹.

These are our ideas of eternal as well; without beginning, without end; always was and always will be. However, church doctrine has modified this idea to its being a gift of God or a thing bestowed on one by the Christ, ideas that are defied by the very definition of the word. In our previous discussions on this theme we presented our understanding of the dilemma of doctrine from the perspective of their belief and their understanding of Life as the form which we ALL KNOW does die; the form, the human body, IS NOT eternal. It IS the Life within the form that IS eternal and it IS eternal for ALL, not only those so gifted; the difference and the wording of the Master in the gospels should be seen as should so many things spiritual, that they are realized by the conscious awareness of the Soul in the form; an awareness which is in the use of and somewhat controlled by the personality. The man who IS focused upon the self in the world KNOWS Life only as the period between birth and death while the man focused in the Soul, the Christ Within, realizes the greater Truth, that this True man IS eternal and that He is part and parcel of God.

This is however an inner understanding and one that is simply KNOWN by the Soul and realized by the consciousness in form based in the ability of the personality and the depth of the focus along with the reality of dealing with the subject itself or having some reference to it. In other words, how does one KNOW that he has eternal Life without contemplating the idea? Vincent, in his defense of doctrine, gives us this from a use of this idea in John’s First Epistle; the verses from John tell us: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)” (1 John 1:1-2). This for us says what it says, that this eternal Life was manifested unto us without any spoken conditions; taken from the Prologue to his gospel he speaks again about the Word, the Logos, and he tells us that this Word was manifested as the Christ in the world, that his is the eternal Life “ which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us“. In the vagueness of these words doctrine sees the gift while we see the reality that the Life that is in the manifest Christ, the eternal Life of the Father, is in us as well. Vincent tells us of this verse that: That eternal life (τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αιώνιον);A particularly faulty translation, since it utterly fails to express the development of the idea of life, which is distinctly contemplated by the original. Render, as Rev., the life, the eternal life; or the life, even the eternal life. For a similar repetition of the article compare 1 John 2:8; 1 John 4:9; 2 John 1:11. This particular phrase occurs only here and 1 John 2:25. John uses ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternal life, and η αιώνιος ζωη the eternal life, the former expressing the general conception of life eternal, and the latter eternal life as the special gift of Christ. Αἰώνιος eternal describes the life in its quality of not being measured by time, a larger idea than that of mere duration ⁴.

It is likely based upon the saying referenced: “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life” (1 John 2:25) that many believe that this eternal life is a special gift of Christ and while this can be found in these words and likely others in the New Testament, this is more because of the intentional clouding of these mysteries than it is by the intent of the words for again, the very thought of the word eternal defies the idea of the gift. And there is seemingly intentional confusion in the words of the Master and His apostles which is clearly seen in the question by the rich young man asking Jesus “what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17), which question the Master never answers directly, choosing instead the idea of “treasure in heaven” as His answer and, to the lawyer who asks the same question Jesus says that he should keep the law saying in the end “this do, and thou shalt live” (Luke 10:28).

Our thoughts here for this saying are that the whole of this are in reference to eternal Life and in the idea of without beginning and without end  one should clearly see the Master’s response “For where the beginning is, there the end will be too” and we should try to understand here that there is none.

We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.

Aspect of God	Potency	Aspect of Man	In Relation to the Great Invocation	In relation to the Christ
GOD, The Father	Will or Power	Spirit or Life	Center where the Will of God IS KNOWN	Life
Son, The Christ	Love and Wisdom	Soul or Christ Within	Heart of God	Truth
Holy Spirit	Light or Activity	Life Within	Mind of God	Way

Note on the Quote of the Day

This daily blog also has a Quote of the Day which may not be in any way related to the essay. Many of these will be from the Bible and some just prayers or meditations that may have an influence on you and are in line with the subject matter of this blog. As the quote will change daily and will not store with the post, it is repeated in this section with the book reference and comment.

Today’s quote of the day is a repeat of the Mantram of Unification which is an affirmation of the Oneness of the human family from the perspective of the disciple and the aspirant and any who hold these ideals as important. In this we find the essence of the two ideas that we have discussed from Values to Live By and that these are firmly grounded in the desire to Love not hate; to serve and not exact due service and to heal and not to hurt. It is Love shown as Truth and justice that is at the heart of this mantram.

Mantram of Unification

The sons of men are one and I am one with them.
I seek to love, not hate;
I seek to serve and not exact due service;
I seek to heal, not hurt.

Let pain bring due reward of light and love.
Let the Soul control the outer form, and life and all events,
And bring to light the love that underlies the happenings of the time.

Let vision come and insight.
Let the future stand revealed.
Let inner union demonstrate and outer cleavages be gone.
Let love prevail.
Let all men love.

The Mantram of Unification is a meditation and a prayer that at first affirms the unity of all men and the Brotherhood of Man based on the Fatherhood of God. The first stanza sets forth several truly Christian ideals in Unity, Love, Service and Healing. The second stanza is a invocation to the Lord and to our own Souls asking that from the pain (if there can truly be any) incurred in focusing on the Spirit and not the world will come Light and Love into our lives and that we begin to function as Souls through our conscious personalities. We ask that the spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes and also that the Love that we bring forth, individually and as a world group, can be seen by all and ultimately in all. Finally, in the last stanza we ask for those things that are needed for Love to abound. Vision and insight so that we can direct our attention properly; revelation of the future in the sense that all can see the Power of Love in the world; inner union so that we do not fall back into the world’s ways, that we faint not; and that a sense of separation, the antithesis of brotherhood, ends as we know it today. Let Love Prevail, Let All Men Love.spiritual control of our lives will bring to light for us the Love that underlies world events; a Love that the world oriented man will not see working out behind the scenes.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!

• ¹ Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1828 and 1913
• ² New Testament Greek Lexicon on BibleStudyTools.com
• ³ Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible – 2001
• ⁴ Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition, 1888
• ¹⁴ The Gospel of Thomas; Translated by Stephen J. Patterson and James M. Robinson; http://gnosis.org/
• ** Wikipedia contributors. “Gnosticism.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.  26 Aug. 2013.