Monakhos

We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives.
Tyler Durden - Fight Club (movie)

We don’t have a great war in our generation, or a great depression, but we do, we have a great war of the spirit. We have a great revolution against the culture. The great depression is our lives. We have a spiritual depression.
Tyler Durden - Fight Club (book)

I’ve met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the wall behind him, and God asks me, “Why?” Why did I cause so much pain? Didn’t I realize that each of us is a sacred, unique snowflake of special unique specialness? Can’t I see how we’re all manifestations of love? I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God’s got this all wrong. We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens. And God says, “No, that’s not right.” Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can’t teach God anything.
Narrator - Fight Club (book)

There are so many great lines I wanted to post from that movie/book, but these in particular just really stuck out. If you haven’t read the book and liked the movie (or didn’t like the movie for that matter, the book is more fun) check it out. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, watch it soon. You won’t think of the world in the same way again.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (English Standard Version)

Hebrews has always been one of my favorite books. I was looking through it today and rediscovered what I loved about it. It skips a lot of the more “basic” theology and digs in straight to the meat. Who was Jesus, and why is he important to us? What did he bring to the table, that others had not?

Jesus brought us through the curtain into fellowship with God again. He united the two again. He gave us hope for what had been lost. And he gave us freedom. From here on out “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 English Standard Version.) Furthermore, nothing can seperate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:29-31.)

I know what some of you are thinking, and no this doesn’t mean we go on through life unchanged. We are changed to new creations. If you have truly had that enlightenment or salvation (depending on what you want to call it) experience, you can’t go back! And why would we?

Once we are through that curtain, we are with God. Still distinct, mind you, but as the journey continues the lines start to blur. Where does Zach end and God begin? The two are united inseperably. We become one with God.

As Saint Athanasios said, “God became human that we might be made god.”

That line in the last post stuck with me. “Living as best you can.” What’s the best I can do? How good will that be? How bad will that be? What is good and what is bad? And who is making all these definitions?

A pastor in Ukraine told my friend and I this story/joke once. I just thought of it now, and thought it would be fitting before going on.

A pastor was talking to a group of children in Sunday school. They were playing a game where the object was to name what the pastor was describing. The pastor stated that the thing had a bushy tail and ate nuts. He paused a moment, but no hands were raised. He gave a few more details, and still no hands.

After a while, a little boy raises his hand and says “I know the answers Jesus, but it sure does sound like a squirrel.”

(If you don’t get the moral of the story, you’ll understand when your older… Maybe!)

It’s easy to give “Sunday school” answers to these questions, and if I cared for them at all, I wouldn’t be asking them. After years in Christian school and Sunday school and church, I know every single one of them, and not one of them interests me anymore.

I wrote nearly two months ago on truth and since then my thoughts on the topic haven’t changed much. Truth is individual. No universal truth is true for all people. What is good for one person, might be bad for another. What might furthur one person may detriment another. Universality is nonexistent.

I have really been everywhere in this post, so let me try to narrow down the point I was trying to make in the beginning. Live. Screw up. Fail miserably. Live your own definitions. There is no truth outside of yourself. It is all inside of you. You just have to find it and live life as best you can.

… Wow, this is a sign I think that I should write what’s on my mind. When I do it comes out like this… five posts mangled into one with glaring omissions from each. Oh well, I hope you enjoy my insanity. I might be more normal tomorrow… We’ll see.

God is one
God is inside of us
God is life
God is love
God is suffering
God is the universe
Both that which we see,
and that which is invisible,
To our eyes and minds.

I feel like everyone who’s anyone has posted at least once on The Gospel of Judas. I just finished reading the book myself, and thought I would write a little review. It is a little late for such posts, but I have been busy and actually wanted to finish the book (which is quite short) and the commentaries attached with it (each is longer than the gospel itself) and reflect a little bit on my reactions. However, I am sure that nearly everyone is tired of seeing the same posts over and over with a minor history lesson, quick blurb about Sethian Gnostics, and then some various quotes from the work; especially the verse where Jesus tells Judas that Judas that he will assist Jesus by letting his spirit out of his body. So this review will be a little different. I hope to point out some things that have not been emphasized quite as much.

I said that I would not post a history or anything, but I think I may have lied. The Gospel of Judas was written before 180 AD, as it was referenced in Iraneus’ Against Heresies written that year. Presumably, it must have been written about 20 years before this, so as to have been able to make an impact and pose a threat to the sect of Christianity that would become orthodox. The only known copy of The Gospel of Judas was found in Egypt in the late 1970s. While it was not believed to be too badly damaged at the time, the next twenty years proved to be a trial for the Coptic manuscript. When it was recovered, it took nearly five years to recover and translate the text. Still large portions are missing and the remains that are not missing are nearly impossible to read. That is it for the history lesson, if you want more, read somewhere else. I have more important topics to discuss.

After reading The Gospel of Judas, one can see why the book was deemed as heresy by those who became Orthodox Christianity. The contents attack nearly everything Orthdoxy believes. Only some have a spark of the divine. The gods in charge of this world are rebels and traitors who snatch souls from the supreme God’s dominion and trap them in human bodies. Some bodies on earth trap divine souls that will be released again after their tenure on earth; other bodies have lesser souls that do not survive. It is an interesting cosmology, but it seems more like a reaction against Orthodox Christianity than an innovative truth. Much of it the philosophy is reminiscent of the Pythagorean thought portrayed in Plato’s Phaedo.

Would I recommend the book? Not really. It is interesting to read a work that has been hidden for so long, and it would be good for someone who is into studying gnosticism. For everyone else, I would say the book’s worth is limited. It is just too damaged and too obscure to really be beneficial for casual study or to find practical application. The commentaries are great and very interesting for everyone, but I am not sure that they really are much better or extensive as Elaine Pagel’s The Gnostic Gospels. If you want the history, I would buy that book. If you want a good gnostic work, buy The Gospel of Thomas by Jean-Yves Leloup. Of course if you are a book geek like me, you will probably want to buy it just to pad your bookshelf. It does look really nice up there with my other apocryphal books. Basically, it is up to you. Just don’t expect a lot of revelation to come to you from reading it. It may happen to someone, but I can’t imagine it.