Quote:
Originally posted by QuasiMojo
What a nice thread for thought...
I grew up in the "Church of the Brethren" and went faithfully(!) every Sunday until I turned 16 got my own wheels and could realistically say "I don' wanna."
C.O.B was kind of ummm...Mennonite Lite, and although I chose to stop going, I never denied my faith. In fact I am quite sure that this early foundation in what I consider the fundementals of faith has lain the framework for spiritual quest in my life. I think that if "Religion" does serve a purpose it is to be a springboard for ones own inner-search. If you think that your religion has all the answers, I believe you kind of miss the point.
I became interested in something called "Gnostisism" after reading "The Transmigration of Timothy Archer" and some other books by Phillip K. Dick in the early 90's. and it seems to be the bedrock of what feels right to me.
Do you, Lebell (or anyone) have thoughts or opinions on this.
It seems to take the Middle-Man(The Church) out of the picture
and puts the individual 4-squre in front of the creator.
with this mindset I have know problem with THIS Trinity...
FatherGod
MotherEarth
and the Brotherhood of Man.
*edit*
I do realize that what I am saying here is just absolutely contradictory in it's nature.
~sigh~
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Dear QuasiMojo,
Gnosticism is an interesting topic to me as everyone can see by know that I like to think about things and knowledge is the sine qua non of a gnostic.
For those not familiar with the term, the
Catholic Encyclopedia defines
gnosticism as:
A collective name for a large number of greatly-varying and pantheistic-idealistic sects, which flourished from some time before the Christian Era down to the fifth century, and which, while borrowing the phraseology and some of the tenets of the chief religions of the day, and especially of Christianity, held matter to be a deterioration of spirit, and the whole universe a depravation of the Deity, and taught the ultimate end of all being to be the overcoming of the grossness of matter and the return to the Parent-Spirit, which return they held to be inaugurated and facilitated by the appearance of some God-sent Saviour.
But in general, when I here "gnostic" I think (for better or worse) of someone who is attempting to obtain enlightenment or "salvation" (whatever that is) through the power of the intellect.
While this is appealing to my intellect, I think that it is lacking as an approach to God simply because I don't see where it allows those of lesser intellect to achieve the same closeness to the Diety as those with greater intellect.
Alternatively, I prefer Richard Hooker's (1553-1600)
"Three Legged Stool" approach. In brief, this approach says that the best way to define and interpret one's faith is through a combination of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. As the legs on a stool, each is equally important and missing one causes the stool to be unbalanced and tip over (see link for more info if you're interested).
As to your "trinity", it is an interesting interpretation and I certainly wouldn't discourage you from it. I also suspect that we could make many interesting "trinities" that are equally thought provoking!