–Dedication–
1. Gus DiZerega, Pagans and Christians: The Personal Spiritual Experience (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2001), 214.
–Foreword–
2. Steven Herrmann, William Everson: The Shaman’s Call, Inter- views, Introduction, and Commentaries (New York: Eloquent Books, 2009), 94.
3. Ibid., 95.
4. See Matthew Fox, “Otto Rank as Mystic and Prophet in the Creation Spirituality Tradition,” at www.matthewfox.org.
5. Herrmann, William Everson, 100.
6. I tell the story in Matthew Fox, Creativity: Where the Divine and the Human Meet (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2002), 173. See also: Lynda Paladin, Painting the Dream: The Visionary Art of Navajo Painter David Chethlahe Paladin (Rochester, VT: Part Street Press, 1992).
7. Herrmann, William Everson, 105.
8. Steven B. Herrmann, Walt Whitman: Shamanism, Spiritual Democracy, and the World Soul (New York: Eloquent Books, 2010), 255.
9. Ibid., 255, 256.
10. Ibid., 256.
11. Ibid., 42.
12. Ibid., ix.
13. Ibid., 258.
14. Ibid., 287, 288.
15. Mary Ford-Grabowsky, The Making of a Prophet: Matthew Fox at 60 (Self-published, 2000), 70, 71.
16. Barbara Ehrenreich, Dancing in the Streets (New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006), 21, 22, 28, 29.
17. I have described some of these experiences in Matthew Fox, Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996) and I have treated some of the intellectual gifts I have received from earth-based spiritual teachings in Matthew Fox, Wrestling with the Prophets (New York: Jeremy Tarcher, 2003), chapters 6, 7, 8. So much of pre-modern Christian mysticism was creation- centered and earth-based as well, thus Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and Thomas Aquinas among others carry deeper similarities to earth-based religions than to heady modern anthropocentric theologists.
18. Matthew Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths (New York: Jeremy Tarcher, 2000), 119.
19. I treat this subject at some length in Matthew Fox, The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine (Novato, CA: New World Library, 2010)
20. Thomas Berry, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future (New York: Bell Tower, 1999), 190.
–Introduction–
21. Albert Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity (London: Darton Longman and Todd, 1977), 3.
–Chapter One–
22. Janet and Stewart Farrar, The Witch’s God (Blaine, WA: Phoenix Publishing, 1989), 52.
–Chapter Two–
23. Robin R. Meyers, Saving Jesus from the Church (New York: HarperCollins, 2009), 10.
24. Jacques Baldet, Jesus the Rabbi Prophet (Rochester VT: Inner Traditions), 1.
25. Marcus Borg, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time (New York: Harper Collins, 1994), 28, 29.
26. Gospel of Mark 14:50.
27. Gospel of Matthew 3:13–17.
28. Mark’s use of the Greek language is far more basic and “primitive” than Luke or Matthew, who will state a parallel Jesus quotation with far more eloquence than Mark. Mark also occasionally uses an unusual word or phrase where Matthew uses a more common one. This clearly makes more sense if Matthew was revising Mark, rather than the other way round. An internet search for “Marcan Priority” will give you ample examples of the reasons why this is the most commonly held position among scholars.
29. John Dominic Crossan, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995), xviii, xix.
30. Many archaeologists and theological scholars now believe that Jesus was actually born in Nazareth, or perhaps Bethlehem of Galilee, a small town not far from Nazareth. They use both biblical and archaeological evidence to support their theory. This is a huge subject, but one example is this: throughout the Bible, Jesus is referred to as ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ not ‘Jesus of Bethlehem.’ In John there’s even a passage questioning Jesus’s legitimacy because he’s from Galilee and not Judaea where the long-awaited messiah was expected to come from (7:41–43).
31. A large number of modern scholars hold that Jesus may have been a direct follower in John the Baptist’s movement, and later went his own way with a less desert-based/aesthetic message and a more urban-based/grace-filled one.
32. Flavius Josephus was a first-century Jew and Roman citizen who wrote the Antiquities of the Jews in 93 ce. Here Jesus is mentioned twice, the first passage being called the Testimonium Flavianum, where it says: “About this time came Jesus, a wise man, if indeed it is appropriate to call him a man. For he was a performer of paradoxical feats, a teacher of people who accept the unusual with pleasure, and he won over many of the Jews and also many Greeks.” It must be said that there are concerns about the authenticity of certain parts of Josephus and it is widely held by scholars that at least part of the work had been altered by a later scribe.
33. A biblical example can be found in Matthew 12:24–30, where the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan/Beelzebub. A non-biblical example can be seen in the Babylonian Talmud (late first or second century ce) Babylonian Sanhedrin 43a–b: “On the eve of the Passover they hanged Yeshu and the herald went before him for forty days saying [Yeshu] is going forth to be stoned in that he hath practiced sorcery and beguiled and led astray Israel. It is taught: On the eve of Passover they hung Yeshu and the crier went forth for forty days beforehand declaring that ‘[Yeshu] is going to be stoned for practicing witchcraft, for enticing and leading Israel astray. Anyone who knows something to clear him should come forth and exonerate him.’ But no one had anything exonerating for him and they hung him on the eve of Passover. Ulla said: Would one think that we should look for exonerating evidence for him? He was an enticer and G-d said (Deuteronomy 13:9) ‘Show him no pity or compassion, and do not shield him.’ Yeshu was different because he was close to the government.”
–Chapter Three–
34. Borg, Meeting Jesus, 10.
35. Baldet, Rabbi Prophet, 120.
36. Borg, Meeting Jesus, 32, 33.
37. Visions: See Numbers 12:6 and Jeremiah 23:28.
Dreams and their interpretation: See Genesis 41:12–13 and Daniel 2:16, 19; 7:15–16; 8:15–16.
Direct communications/meetings with God or angels: See Genesis 32:1–33:11 and Exodus 33:7–34:35.
Miracles of healing/dead raising: See 1 Kings 17:17–24 and 2 Kings 4:18–37.
Miracles of creating/multiplying substances: See 2 Kings 4:1–7 and 2 Kings 4:42–44.
38. Borg, Meeting Jesus, 35, 36.
39. Bruce Chilton, Rabbi Jesus (New York: Doubleday, 2000), 106, 109.
40. Peter Calhoun, Soul on Fire (New York: Hay House, 2006), xiii.
41. Ibid., 8.
42. Robin R. Meyers, Saving Jesus from the Church (New York: HarperCollins, 2009), 124.
43. See Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, Overtures to Biblical Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978).
44. Scott Cunningham, Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2004), 5.
45. DiZerega, Pagans and Christians, 93.
46. Ibid., 94.
47. John Churcher, Setting Jesus Free (New Alresford, Hampshire: O-Books, 2009), 19, 20.
48. Ibid., 19.
49. Meyers, Saving Jesus, 123.
50. Ibid., 92.
51. Ibid., 52.
52. For example see Luke 6:1–4, Luke 7:36–8:3, and Matthew 11:19.
53. Baldet, Jesus the Rabbi Prophet, pp. 112, 113: He gives evidence of how Jesus clearly had something of a bias towards the am ha-eretz—the “country people” or “people of the earth” of the looked-down-upon northern province of Galilee.
54. Albert Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity (London: Darton Longman and Todd, 1977), 37.
55. Ibid., 41.
56. DiZerega, Pagans and Christans, 94.
57. Fr. Sean O’Laoire, Souls on Safari, (Tuscon, AZ: Wheatmark, 2006), 36, 37.
58. Martha and Mary, Luke 10:38–42.
59. Mary Magdalene, Luke 8:2–3, Mark 15:40, Matthew 27:56, John 19:25, and Luke 23:49.
60. Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity, 57.
61. Gospel of Luke 10:30–37.
62. Gospel of Luke 7:1–10.
63. Gospel of Matthew 15:22–28.
64. Rex Weyler, The Jesus Sayings (Toronto, ON: House of Anansi Press, 2008), 314.
65. Brother John Martin Sahajananda, You Are the Light: Rediscovering the Eastern Jesus (New Alresford, Hampshire: O-Books, 2003), 43.
66. Ibid., 45.
67. Ibid., 45.
68. Ibid., 47.
–Chapter Four–
69. Janet and Stewart Farrar, A Witches Bible (London: Hale, 1984), 177.
70. Baldet, Rabbi Prophet, 41.
71. Borg, Meeting Jesus, 29.
72. See Gospels of Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:18–19.
73. Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity, 122.
74. Meyers, Saving Jesus, 14.
75. The Gospel of Thomas translation by Thomas O. Lambdin (Coptic version), Saying 3.
76. Thomas resembles the hypothetical Q both in content and the fact that it is just a collection of sayings. Because of the close parallel between much of Thomas and the synoptic Gospels, some scholars suggest that Thomas is actually based on Q or is actually Q itself. However, these remain only speculations, as there is no conclusive evidence that Q ever existed.
77. To put the argument very simply, it’s all about how someone becomes “justified” and “saved” from sin in order to get to heaven after death. The “Works” answer is that we work for our salvation through good deeds, observing holy traditions, and being obedient to God through the Church’s laws, etc. The opposing “Faith” answer is that we are saved through our faith in God alone, as long as we believe in Jesus’s sacrificial death and are repentant of our sins. In my opinion both arguments are flawed (but that can wait for another book!).
78. See the Gospel of Thomas, Sayings 24 and 26.
79. Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief (London: Pan, 2005), 32.
80. Ibid., 41.
81. Ibid., 57.
–Chapter Five–
82. Rachel Pollack, Tarot Wisdom (Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2008), 147.
83. See Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tacitus, etc. An Internet search on any of these names in relation to Jesus will bring up much fascinating information.
–Chapter Six–
84. Deepak Chopra, The Third Jesus (London: Rider, 2008), 23.
85. Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus (London: HarperOne, 1999), 146.
86. Ibid., 147.
87. Ibid., 147.
88. Justin Martyr, Dial, with Trypho, ch. lxix; ANF. i, 233.
89. Mark Townsend, Path of the Blue Raven (New Alresford, Hampshire: O-Books, 2009), 79.
90. William Bloom, Psychic Protection (London: Piatkus, 1996), 63.
91. DiZerega, Pagans and Christians, 213.
92. Mark Townsend, quoted from Pagan Dawn, Imbolc/Spring Equinox edition, 2010 No: 174.
93. The Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, Gwers of the Bardic Grade (Lewes, UK: OBOD 2001), Gwers 14.
94. Ibid.
95. Mark Townsend, The Gospel of Falling Down (New Alresford, Hampshire: O-Books, 2007), 71–77.
–Chapter Seven–
96. My research for this book has enlightened me to the fact that when the accounts of the resurrection are submitted to the “criteria of historicity” (even by the most progressive of biblical scholars), they pass most of the tests.
97. Tom Harpur, quoted (with permission) from the author’s website, www.tomharpur.com
98. Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity (Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2006 edition), 66.
99. Ibid., 60.
100. Bp. Markus Van Alphen, Jesus Christ and His True Disciples (The Esoteric Christianity E-Magazine, 2007).
101. Matthew Fox, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ (New York: HarperCollins, 1988), 111.
102. St. Francis of Assisi—1224 ce, From “The Canticle of the Sun.”
103. Fr. Richard Rohr, The Cosmic Christ (audio CD) (Southport, UK: Agape Ministries, 2000).
104. Ibid.
105. Ibid.
106. Genesis 1:26.
107. Wisdom 6:12 (NRSV).
108. Ibid., 6:16.
109. Ibid., 7:22b–25b.
110. Ibid., 7:27.
111. Proverbs 8:22 (NRSV).
112. Ibid., 8:27–31.
113. 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 (NRSV).
114. Gospel of John 1:1.
115. Gospel of John 1:3, 4 (NIV).
116. Matthew Fox, Radical Prayer, Love in Action (audio CD) (Louisville, CO: Sounds True, 2003).
117. Ibid.
118. Fr. Richard Rohr, The Cosmic Christ (audio CD) (Southport, UK: Agape Ministries, 2000).
119. Ibid.
120. Ibid.
121. O’Laoire, Souls on Safari, 130.
–Part Two–
122. Janet and Stewart Farrar, A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches’ Handbook (London: Hale, 1984), 122.
–Chapter Fifteen–
123. References: Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade (New York: Pantheon Books, 1964).
–Chapter Seventeen–
124. T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1943), 35.
125. Dion Fortune, Mystical Meditations on the Collects (York Beach, ME: Weiser, 1991).
126. See John Michael Greer, The Druidry Handbook (York Beach, ME: Weiser, 2006), 9–43 for a history of the Druid Revival.
127. This is the basic creed of the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA). See David Frangquist, “Outline of the Foundation of Fundamentals,” in Michael Scharding, ed., A Reformed Druid Anthology (Drynemetum Press, 2004), 33–34.
128. James Bonwick, Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions (repr. Dorset Press, 1986), 3–5.
129. Morien (Owen Morgan), The Light in Britannia (Daniel Owen, 1887).
130. See Joscelyn Godwin, The Theosophical Enlightenment (State University of New York Press, 1994) for a readable history of these schools of thought.
131. For a useful exploration of these issues, see Philippe Borgeaud, The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece, tr. Kathleen Atlass and James Redfield (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1988) and Jon D. Mikalson, Athenian Popular Religion (University of North Carolina Press, 1983)
132. John 3:30
133. John 10:10.
134. See the discussion in Godwin, Theosophical Enlightenment.
–Chapter Eighteen–
Editor’s note: Sources used for this essay follow:
135. Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version.
Maya Deren, Divine Horsemen (London: Thames and Hudson, 1953).
Part 4 of Chapter 1 provides a description and analysis of the process by which the dead become ancestral deities.
Dion Fortune, Applied Magic (Wellingborough, Northamptonshire: The Aquarian Press, 1962).
Chapter III, “The Group Mind,” explores the theory behind artificial elementals and god-forms.
Deborah Golub, “Cultural Variations in Multiple Personality Disorder,” Dissociative Identity Disorder: Theoretical and Treatment Controversies, edited by Lewis M. Cohen, Joan N. Berzoff, and Mark R. Elin (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1995).
Iamblichus, De Mysteriis, trans. Thomas Taylor. Hastings, UK: Cthonios Books, 1895.
–Chapter Nineteen–
136. See for example, Vivianne Crowley, “Wicca as a Modern-Day Mystery Religion” in Graham Harvey and Charlotte Hardman (eds.), Pagan Pathways (London: Thorsons, 1995), 83, 90.
137. Fortune, Mystical Meditations, 32.
138. Mead, G. R. S., The Hymn of Jesus (London: Watkins, 1907), 17.
139. Ibid., 18.
140. Ibid., 19.
141. Ibid., 21–23.
142. Robert Graves, The White Goddess (London: Faber and Faber, 1981), 30–31.
143. Kenneth and Steffi Grant, Zos Speaks (London: Fulgur, 1998), 125–26.
144. http://www.hermetic.com/bey/mundus_imaginalis.htm (last accessed February 22, 2010).
145. Mead, Hymn of Jesus, 23.
146. Ibid., 25.
147. Ibid., 52.
148. Ibid., 55.
149. Ibid., 23.
150. Aleister Crowley, Magick (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985), 125–27.
151. R. C. Hogart, The Hymns of Orpheus (Grand Rapids, MI: Phanes Press, 1993).
152. Mead, Hymn of Jesus, 24.
153. Ibid., 25.
154. Brian P. Copenhaver, ed. Hermetica (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). See the use of metaphor in the discourse of the mixing bowl, 15–17, or the method of teaching employed 18–20.
–Chapter Twenty–
155. Pope John Paul II, Theology of the Body, Pauline Books, 1997, 76.
156. Fox, Hidden Spirituality: Here he explores the Green Man as a powerful male metaphor for fertility and generativity, recalling Hildegard of Bingen calling Jesus “a green man.”
157. “The Torah indirectly alludes to Aaron’s nakedness in the ceremony of his washing and investiture (Leviticus 8:6f). This rite of initiation into the priesthood took place in about 1000 bc.” Michael A.Kowalewski, The Naked Baptism of Christ, in Nudity & Christianity, ed. Jim Cunningham (Author House 2006), 431.
158. John 19:23–26 (Young’s Literal Translation).
159. John 20:7 (New International Version).
160. “Naked on the Cross” by Michael A.Kowalewski, in Nudity & Christianity, ed. Jim Cunningham (Author House, 2006), 349, quoting St. Jerome, Epistle 58 ad Paulinum.
161. Pope John Paul II, Theology of the Body, 76. Christopher West, writing on a website dedicated to John Paul’s Theology of the Body, states: “The TB calls us to look deeply into our own hearts, to look past our wounds and the scars of sin, past our disordered desires. If we’re able to do that we discover God’s original plan for creating us as male and female still ‘echoing’ within us. By glimpsing at that ‘original vision,’ we can almost taste the original experience of bodily integrity and freedom—of nakedness without shame. And we begin to sense a plan for our sexuality so grand, so wondrous, that we can scarcely allow our hearts to take it in.” http://www. theologyofthebody.net/index.php?option=com_content&task =view&id=27&Itemid=48.
162. Karol Wojtyla, Love and Responsibility, trans. H.T. Willetts (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1981), 176–92.
163. See “Was Jesus Married?” by Bill McKeever at http://mrm.org /jesus-married.
164. See Bruce Chilton Mary Magdalene: A Biography (Image, 2006) for an accessible but well-researched book by a biblical theologian that supports a possible relationship between Mary and Jesus.
165. It is important to note that the crucifix was not used as a Christian symbol until the fifth century.
–Chapter Twenty-One–
166. A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (Stamford, CT: US Games Systems, 1990), 156.
–Chapter Twenty-Two–
167. Rex Weyler, The Jesus Sayings: The Quest for His Authentic Message (Toronto, ON: House of Anansi Press, 2008).
168. The Gnostic Gospels, such as the Nag Hammadi Library, contain texts that show every evidence of being authentic writings of the followers of Jesus, but were condemned and banned by the orthodox church hierarchy. Indeed, the Gospel of Thomas is considered by experts and Christian historians to be the source for the material in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The political and religious battles that led to this outcome are well documented in Pagels’s important study, The Gnostic Gospels (New York: Vintage Books, 1981).
169. Thomas 3, 51, 109, 113. Matthew 13:44. Mark 13:21. Luke 10:16. Mary 4:3–4. According to Pagels in The Gnostic Gospels, Jesus “rejects as naïve … the idea that the Kingdom of God is an actual event expected in history,” and saw it instead as “a state of transformed consciousness.” (137).
170. Thomas 3, 20, 51, 113. Matthew 13:31–32, 24:26. Mark 4:30–32. Luke 13:18–19, 17:23.
171. Thomas 96–97. Matthew 13:33. Luke 13:20–21.
172. Thomas 2, 92, 94. Matthew 7:7–8. Mark 11:24. Luke 11:9. John 14–16. Mary 4:7. Dialogue of the Saviour 70. Apocryphon of James.
173. Thomas 2, 3, 5, 6, 92. Mark 4:22. Matthew 10:26. Luke 12:2. 1 Corinthians 12:7–11. Dialogue of the Saviour 44. Gospel of Mary.
174. Wiccan Charge of the Star Goddess can be read at http://www .wicca-spirituality.com/charge-of-the-star-goddess.html.
175. (Serving two masters— i.e., being less than fully committed to the Divine, seeking both earthly success and spiritual reward) Thomas 47. Matthew 6:24. Luke 16:13. (Letting the dead bury the dead—i.e., leaving the affairs of the material world to those who do not seek Divine life) Matthew 8:22. Luke 9:59–60. Apocryphon of James.
176. Thomas 24, 33. Mark 4:21. Matthew 5:14–16. Luke 8:16, 11:33. John 8, 11, 12. Gospel of Mary. Dialogue of the Saviour 14, 34.
177. Dr. Martin Luther King: “No one can be free until all are free.”
178. Thomas 14, 45. Mark 7:15. Matthew 7:16, 12:33, 15:11. Luke 6:43–45. James 3:12.
179. Thomas 45. Matthew 7:16–20. Luke 6:43–45.
180. Thomas 48, 106. Mark 11:22–23. Luke 17:6. 1 Corinthians 12:10.
181. Every act of affirmation, positive thinking, visualization, and prayer is a form of magick: they aim to make miracles.
182. (Know yourself) Thomas 3, 70. Dialogue of the Saviour 30, 35. Apocryphon of James. Book of Thomas the Contender. “To know yourself is to know God”—attributed to Jesus, Joseph Smith, Judaism, Taoism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Baha’i writings … and likely every spiritual teacher and tradition throughout history.
183. “ … popular or everyday use of ritual power [magick] was proscribed by the church authorities (though the use of ritual power per se was just as characteristic of the legitimate church ritual).” Ancient Christian Magic: Coptic Texts of Ritual Power, ed. Marvin Meyer and Richard Smith (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994), 18.
184. Oxford Dictionary and Online Etymology Dictionary
185. Ibid.
186. Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Online Etymology Dictionary.
187. Thomas 14. Mark 6:7–13. Matthew 10:1–14. Luke 9:1–6.
188. Thomas 25. Matthew 5:43–48. Luke 6:25–37.
189. In its original Greek, the biblical word for sin is hamartia. It’s an archery term that means missing the mark. In other words, sin doesn’t mean a flaw in your being nor a crime against God. To sin is to make a mistake, to miss the target (i.e., the Divine).
190. The Wiccan Rede: “Do as ye will, an ye harm none.”
191. Thomas 14. Matthew 5:38–44, 6:12–15. Luke 6:29, 11:4. Mark 3:28–30.
192. Thomas 26. Matthew 7:3–5. Luke 6:41–42.
193. Matthew 23:12. Mark 12:38–40. Luke 17:10, 20:45–47. Peter 5:5. Romans 12:3–8, 12:16. Apocryphon of James.
194. Thomas 22, 37, 46. Matthew 18:2–6, 18:3, 19:14. Mark 10:13–16. Luke 18:15–17. John 3:5.
195. (Blessed are the hungry) Thomas 36, 64, 69. Matthew 5:6, 22. Luke 6:21, 12:22–34. (Eat what is before you) Thomas 14. Luke 10:7–9.
196. Thomas 95. Matthew 4:11, 5:41–42. Luke 6:30, 14:12–14. Romans 12:20.
197. Thomas 2, 36, 92, 94. Matthew 6. Mark 11:24. Luke 11:11– 13. Mary 4:7. Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654:2.
198. Wiccan Three-Fold Law: “Whatever you do, for good or ill, will return to you three times over.”
199. Matthew 23. Luke 11:46. Gospel of Mary.
200. Thomas 39, 102. Luke 11:52, 12:1–3. Matthew 23:13–15.
201. Buddhism, Hinduism, yoga, etc. See also Teaching 19: Personal Experience of God.
202. Frequent in Thomas, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Mary. Dialogue of the Saviour 76.
203. The Dialogue of the Saviour 76, Sylvanus 117: 19–22 and 30–32.
204. Thomas 39. Matthew 10. Gospel of Nazareth 7. P. Oxy. 655. Ignatius’s Letter to Polycarp.
205. Genesis 3:14–15.
206. Knowledge: The Apocryphon of James 8:23–27, The Gospel of Thomas: 39, The Apocryphon of James 8:23–27. Self- knowledge: Gospel of Thomas: 3, 70, 111; The Book of Thomas the Contender 138:14–18; The Apocryphon of James 12:19–22; The Gospel of Truth 24:32–25:19, The Gospel of Philip 61:33–35, 76:17–22; The Teachings of Silvanus 92:10–12.
207. Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels.
208. Thomas 114. (Having female disciples) Luke 8:1–3, 24:10. 2 Timothy 4:19–21. Gospel of Mary.
“In its earliest years the Christian movement showed a remarkable openness toward women. Jesus himself violated Jewish convention by talking openly with women, and he included them among his companions.”—Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, 73.
209. Men have their own powers and gifts, but in Western history that has never been denied, so there’s no need for that discussion here.
210. “Second-century followers of Carpocrates in Alexandria, for example, credited their teachings to Mary, Martha, and Salome. Marcion, who researched the historical Jesus, appointed women as priests. Valentinus in Egypt supported women prophets and healers. Early Jesus followers included women and practiced healing that later Christians considered heretical magic.”—Rex Weyler, The Jesus Sayings, 158.
“All initiates, men and women alike, participated equally in the drawing; anyone might be selected to serve as priest, bishop, or prophet.” Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, 49.
211. Luke 10:42.
212. Gospel of Thomas 1, 18, 19, 85, 111. John 8:52. Matthew 16:28. Mark 9:1. Luke 9:27.
213. Thomas 3. Gospel of Mary. Apocryphon of James. Book of Thomas the Contender.
214. Not accepting worship: John 5:41, John 6:15.
Be Christ: The Gospel of Thomas 108; The Apocryphon of James 2:28–32, 7:10–15, 8:30–36; The Gospel of Philip 61:29–31, 67:26–27; The Teachings of Silvanus 90:29–30, 103:12–15; The Gospel Of Mary 8:15–20, 18:15–18; Mark 10:21 and various other exhortations to “take up my cross and follow me.”
215. Matthew 13:11–17. Mark 4:10–12, 4:33. Luke 8:10. Thomas 13, 62. Gospel of Mary. Apocryphon of James.
“Members of the inner circle suggested that what the bishop and priests taught publicly were only elementary doctrines. They themselves claimed to offer more—the secret mysteries, the higher teachings.”—Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, 47.
216. Tom Harpur, The Pagan Christ (Toronto: Thomas Allen Publishers, 2004).
–Part Three–
217. From a conversation I had with Raymond Buckland.
218. From a conversation I had with Vivianne Crowley.
219. Quoted by St. Augustine in City of God 19.23. Christianity and the Roman Empire, Ralph Martin Novak. (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press, 2001.) 133–34.