Andrew Cort's Blog, page 33

THE GOSPEL OF MARY MAGDALENE

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Today's post is an Excerpt from:
The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle, by Karen L. King (Polebridge Press, Santa Rosa, California, 2003), pp. 3-12

 Early Christianity and the Gospel of Mary

Few people today are acquainted with the Gospel of Mary. Written early in the second century CE, it disappeared for over fifteen hundred years until a single, fragmentary copy in Coptic translation came to light in the late nineteenth century. Although details of the discovery itself are obscure, we do know that the fifth-century manuscript in which it was inscribed was purchased in Cairo by Carl Reinhardt and brought to Berlin in 1896. Two additional fragments in Greek have come to light in the twentieth century. Yet still no complete copy of the Gospel of Mary is known. Fewer than eight pages of the ancient papyrus text survive, which means that about half of the Gospel of Mary is lost to us, perhaps forever. 



Yet these scant pages provide an intriguing glimpse into a kind of Christianity lost for almost fifteen hundred years. This astonishingly brief narrative presents a radical interpretation of Jesus' teachings as a path to inner spiritual knowledge; it rejects his suffering and death as the path to eternal life; it exposes the erroneous view that Mary of Magdala was a prostitute for what it is-a piece of theological fiction; it presents the most straightforward and convincing argument in any early Christian writing for the legitimacy of women's leadership; it offers a sharp critique of illegitimate power and a utopian vision of spiritual perfection; it challenges our rather romantic views about the harmony and unanimity of the first Christians; and it asks us to rethink the basis for church authority. All written in the name of a woman.


The story of the Gospel of Mary is a simple one. Since the first six pages are lost, the gospel opens in the middle of a scene portraying a discussion between the Savior and his disciples set after the resurrection. The Savior is answering their questions about the end of the material world and the nature of sin. He teaches them that at present all things, whether material or spiritual, are interwoven with each other. In the end, that will not be so. Each nature will return to its own root, its own original state and destiny. But meanwhile, the nature of sin is tied to the nature of life this mixed world. People sin because they do not recognize their own spiritual nature and, instead, love the lower nature that deceives them and leads to disease and death. Salvation is achieved by discovering within oneself the true spiritual nature of humanity and overcoming the deceptive entrapments of the bodily passions and the world. The Savior concludes this teaching with a warning against those who would delude the disciples into following some heroic leader or a set of rules and laws. Instead they are to seek the child of true Humanity within themselves and gain inward peace. After commissioning them to go forth and preach the gospel, the Savior departs. 



But the disciples do not go out joyfully to preach the gospel; instead controversy erupts. All the disciples except Mary have failed to comprehend the Savior's teaching Rather than seek peace within, they are distraught, frightened that if they follow his commission to preach the gospel, they might share his agonizing fate. Mary steps in and comforts them and, at Peter's request, relates teaching unknown to them that she had received from the Savior in a vision. The Savior had explained to her the nature of prophecy and the rise of the soul to its final rest, describing how to win the battle against the wicked, illegitimate Powers that seek to keep the soul entrapped in the world and ignorant of its true spiritual nature.


But as she finishes her account, two of the disciples quite unexpectedly challenge her. Andrew objects that her teaching is strange and he refuses to believe that it came from the Savior. Peter goes fur­ther, denying that Jesus would ever have given this kind of advanced teaching to a woman, or that Jesus could possibly have preferred her to them. Apparently when he asked her to speak, Peter had not expected such elevated teaching, and now he questions her character, implying that she has lied about having received special teaching in order to increase her stature among the disciples. Severely taken aback, Mary begins to cry at Peter's accusation. Levi comes quickly to her defense, pointing out to Peter that he is a notorious hothead and now he is treating Mary as though she were the enemy. We should be ashamed of ourselves, he admonishes them all; instead of arguing among ourselves, we should go out and preach the gospel as the Savior commanded us.


The story ends here, but the controversy is far from resolved. Andrew and Peter at least, and likely the other fearful disciples as well, have not understood the Savior's teaching and are offended by Jesus' apparent preference of a woman over them. Their limited understanding and false pride make it impossible for them to comprehend the truth of the Savior's teaching. The reader must both wonder and worry what kind of gospel such proud and ignorant disciples will preach. 

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PETER AND JUDAS – A SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

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"Contrary to his reputation as a treacherous sinner, Judas is the apostle with the highest understanding of Christ's mission."

When Passover came, Jesus and his disciples celebrated the Seder. While they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will deliver me up." (The Greek phrase is usually translated "will betray me", but literally it means 'will deliver me up' or 'will hand me over', which carries a somewhat less onerous connotation and suggests the fulfillment of a necessary task.) The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. Finally, Jesus said, "'It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it.' So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot." (John.13.22-26)

[image error] Interestingly, John tells us that no one at the table understood why Christ had said what he said about Judas. In fact, none of the disciples ever speaks a word against Judas. (The first three Gospels never make negative comments about him. John, the only one that does, and this only once, says nothing derogatory about him here.) Is it possible they do not realize what he is?
Jesus often intimates that everything that is happening is being done deliberately, and he himself is directing the action. Jesus, who knows exactly what he is doing, chose Judas, just as he chose all of the twelve, to play a necessary part in this consciously enacted drama. It was a terrible and difficult part for which he would have to suffer the hatred and condemnation of the ages – which is why Jesus will lament that it would have been better for him if he had never been born. But without h
After Jesus handed him the bread, Satan entered into Judas, and Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do." One thing this signifies is that Satan could not act until Christ allowed it. In this sense, evil loses. Satan only enters Judas because Christ, the play's director, allows him to. This is no great triumph. And certainly the disciple who made this all possible could not be the evil traitor that popular belief would suggest, since Satan's action was performed with the blessing of Christ himself. Christ's choice of Judas was no accident.
They concluded the Seder and went out to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus said to them, "You will all become deserters because of me this night."

Peter, however, said that no matter what anyone else did, he would never desert Jesus. Peter, who represents the most earth-bound level of the Apostles (his name means rock or stone), continues not to understand Christ's higher needs. Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." Peter objected vehemently, "Even though I must die with you, I will never deny you!"
Jesus then went deeper into the garden alone to pray three times. When he returned to the disciples the third time, he said, "It is over. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Get up, let us be going. The one who delivers me up is at hand."

While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him was a great multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. And the one who delivered him up had given them a sign saying, "The one I will kiss is he: arrest him." At once he came up to Jesus and said, "Hail, Rabbi," and kissed him. Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you are here to do."Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested him. (Matt.26.47-50)
Suddenly, one of those who was with Jesus (John identifies him as Peter) drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest's slave. But Jesus said, "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." He then reprimanded Peter, who still did not understand:
Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father,and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?But how then would the scriptures be fulfilled,which say it must happen this way? (Matt.26-53-54)
He touched the man's ear and healed it. And then, all the disciples deserted him and fled. He was taken to Caiaphas, the high priest, and was questioned for many hours. 

Now Peter had been sitting in the courtyard waiting, and a servant girl saw his face in the firelight and said, "You were also with Jesus, the Galilean." But he denied it, and said, "I do not know what you are talking about." Then another servant girl saw him and said, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." Again he denied it, saying, I do not know the man." After a while, some bystanders, who had heard his Galilean accent, said, "Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you." Then Peter began to curse, and he swore, "I do not know the man!"
At that moment the cock crowed.Then Peter remembered what Jesus had said….And he went and wept bitterly. (Matt.26.75)

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THE TITANS

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In Greek mythology, the universe gets going when Reason makes Order out of Chaos. The Greeks represented Chaos as the first goddess, Gaia: that is, Gaia is the spiritual essence of the world, the transcendent mother-principle of the Nature that will come. Her husband (and, in some tales, her son)
Uranus is the Archetypal Man, corresponding to what the Kabbalists call 'the First Adam', (the Idea or Principle of Man), and Gaia is the Archetypal Woman, corresponding to 'the First Eve' (the Idea or Principle of Woman.) 

The Greeks symbolized the further unfolding of unified Divinity as it transforms into diverse entities and qualities – the 'One' becoming 'Many' – as the appearance of the many Titans, the elder gods. These were the children of Uranus and Gaia. They included Cronus and his wife Rhea, the ruling Titan deities, who represented heaven (sky) and earth (land) on the one hand, and also represented Time and Space respectively. There were a great many others as well, such as Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, and Themis. And many of these had children and grandchildren, among whom were the better known Prometheus and Atlas.
According to legend, Uranus hated his children – he accurately suspected that they would one day overthrow him and take over – and he forced them to be held captive within Gaia. They conspired against him with their mother's aid, but when the time came to rebel they all recoiled in fear, with the exception of the brave Cronus. When Uranus approached his wife, Cronus fell upon him and castrated him with a sickle.


The story represents the separation of the Eternal world from the Material world on the descent of the soul into Life (the Lesser Mysteries). Uranus (Spirit) has by now impregnated Gaia (Matter) with all the seeds and forms and qualities that it requires. He had kept his progeny hidden and latent, but now it is time for them to live. His castration means that he will no longer fertilize Gaia, and thus a door between 'the Above' and 'the Below' has been closed by the advent of Time (Cronus), and the creative process in this world thenceforward must continue to unfold automatically and mechanically on its own.

This legend is also found in the story of Noah in the Hebrew Bible. Noah is a symbol of high, spiritual Individuality, the divinely appointed figure from whom the whole regeneration of human life would come forth after the purging Flood: in other words, Noah, like Uranus, 'seeded' the world. His son Ham was punished for coming into his father's tent while he slept (Noah was somewhat the worse from wine) and "uncovering his nakedness" – when Noah awakened he was so angry that he cursed Ham's fourth son (Noah himself only had three). But why would this make Noah so angry? According to a commentary in the Talmud, what actually happened was that Ham castrated his father.
Cronus and Rhea soon gave birth to the next generation of gods, the 'Planetary' gods – Zeus, Hera, Apollo and others – symbols of the highest human ideals, who will take over from the Titans.

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THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

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In his Divine Comedy, the great Dante would weave a tale of waking up to find himself "lost in the woods". He looks up and sees his home a short distance away on top of a hill, so he sets off to return there by the quickest possible route, i.e., by walking directly up the hill. But his way is blocked by wild beasts (symbols of cravings and appetites) that will not let him pass. Before being allowed to return 'home' (i.e., before attaining spiritual awakening), he will have to take a much longer journey, overcome many difficult obstacles, and learn and experience a great deal.                     
The Israelites had a similar experience when they 'awoke' from their 'sleep' in Egypt. Canaan was just a short distance away, just over the border to the northeast, about a ten-day's march. But God did not lead them this way. He led the people roundabout, by way of the wilderness, by way of the Red Sea.              They would not reach Canaan for forty years. It's a long Quest. They had much to learn.
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VETERAN'S DAY 11-11-11

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Today, 11-11-11, as we remember with gratitude the sacrifices of our soldiers and their families, and we hope for a future of peace, security, and happiness, I think it is worth recalling these beautiful words of John F. Kennedy, in his commencement address at American University in 1963:


"What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children -- not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women -- not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
"Too many of us think it is impossible. Too many think it unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable -- that mankind is doomed -- that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.
"We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade -- therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable -- and we believe they can do it again.


"I am not referring to the absolute, infinite concept of universal peace and good will of which some fantasies and fanatics dream. I do not deny the value of hopes and dreams, but we merely invite discouragement and incredulity by making that our only and immediate goal.
"Let us focus instead on a more practical, more attainable peace -- based not on a sudden revolution in human nature but on a gradual evolution in human institutions -- on a series of concrete actions and effective agreements which are in the interest of all concerned.
"There is no single, simple key to this peace -- no grand or magic formula to be adopted by one or two powers. Genuine peace must be the product of many nations, the sum of many acts. It must be dynamic, not static, changing to meet the challenge of each new generation. For peace is a process -- a way of solving problems.
"With such a peace, there will still be quarrels and conflicting interests, as there are within families and nations. World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor -- it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement. And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbors.
"So let us persevere. Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable. By defining our goal more clearly, by making it seem more manageable and less remote, we can help all peoples to see it, to draw hope from it and to move irresistibly toward it."
(The entire speech can be found at http://www.ratical.org/co-globalize/J... .)




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EROS PERVERTED

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Eros , the Greek god of Love, represents the passionate Desire for all that is good, true, beautiful and meaningful. Eros is the driving force and motivationbehind all the great discoveries of science, all great art, all great socialendeavors, all the magnificent efforts of the human mind, heart, and spirit.InPlato's Symposium, Socrates says thathe is an expert on Love. For Socrates, Love meant longing, and this state oflonging is what he meant by being always betweenignorance and wisdom, betweenugliness and beauty, always seeking and questioning and desiring. He understoodEros, and lived passionately anderotically, because he acknowledged that he knew nothing, but was always aseeker of beauty, goodness, and truth.
Hetaught the West that these longings – for passionate relationships, for wisdom,for beauty, for immortality, for God – are what make human life meaningful. Eros is the key to the development andfulfillment of our souls. Eros makespossible the hope for human warmth, the hope for a deep connection with lifeand eternity, the hope for an understanding of the sense and meaning ofexistence.ButEros has been badly wounded, just asthe ancient myth of Eros and Psychedescribed so long ago, and he has taken wing and flown away – perhaps never to return.
Herman Cain, Jerry Sandusky, Casey Anthony, abusive Catholic Priests, Gang Bangers.... Wecan't turn on the News without being inundated with stories and images and accusations (true or not)of Presidential Candidates and Directors of the International Monetary Fundabusing women, Football Heroes and Catholic Priests abusing little boys,Mothers murdering their children, Gangs of Boys and Gangs of girls bullying andshooting and stabbing. 
 
Allof this is a twisted perversion of Eros:men abusing women, women degrading men, adults beating and violating children,girls looking for sex without love and making babies without families, boysgoing on killing sprees in order to feel some kind of acceptance and some kindof meaning in their lives. 


Without Eros,without a higher vision guiding the mind, the heart is easily defiled, and thelonging for money, sex, fame, and power over others, is all that remains. Oursouls are so estranged from the guiding light of Eros, our minds and hearts – like men and women – are so fragmentedand antagonistic, that our inner and outer worlds have vividly become what thepoet Yeats expressed a century ago: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity.

Thisrupture – the broken soul directed earthward and the fleeing of Eros – leads to all the barbarism oftoday. The mind becomes obsessed with heartless rationality, reason becomes a tyrant,and scientists accumulate data without meaning like squirrels gathering nuts.The heart becomes obsessed with obscenity, the body's cravings masquerade asthe heart's longing, and love is analyzed and belittled by logical positivists,deconstructionists, and all the other champions of meaninglessness. The rulersof the world degenerate into shopkeepers on a global assembly line, churningout mediocre goods for a debased humanity. The once living universe, filledwith passion and informed by God, becomes a dead mechanical universe, filledwith violence and informed by the Void.IfEros does not return, it is probably'lights out'. We will continue to demean and corrupt ourselves and each other,until no light is left or even remembered.
Butno matter how empty, hopeless, or violent life becomes, a return to meaning,wisdom, and love, is not impossible. There has perhaps never been a moredebased state of humanity than what was endured in the Nazi concentrationcamps. Yet even here, according to survivor Victor Frankl, one could bestronger than one's conditions. "The experiences of camp life show that mandoes have a choice of action.""Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence ofmind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress….[E]verything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms– to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one'sown way."*** Please Leave a Comment and Share Your Thoughts!

AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

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There's a wonderfulmoment in one of my favorite movies, AnOfficer and a Gentleman, when Richard Gere, who plays a troubled, arrogant,and selfish young man named Zack Mayo, is being pressured and tormented by hisDrill Sergeant, Sergeant Foley (played brilliantly by Louis Gossett, Jr.), whounderstandably wants him to quit the Officer Candidate program and go home tohis former petty life. 
But Zack isobstinate, and despite all sorts of harsh, cruel treatment, he refuses to quit.Finally, Foley has had enough, and says that even though Zack won'tquit the program voluntarily, he, the Drill Sergeant, is going to have himdismissed.
"Don't you do that!"Zach begins to scream in a frenzy, lying in the mud, exhausted. "Don't you dothat!"
"Why not?" Foley angrilydemands.
And then the point ismade. "I got nowhere else to go," Zack cries out, trembling, tears anddesperation in his eyes. "I got nowhere else to go!"







Foley lets him stay,and in that moment Zach's transformation begins – from a greedy, selfish,egotistical brat, to an Officer and a Gentleman.
It's an old story.Before we are willing to really change, before we are willing to make thedecision to enter the path of spiritual renewal, we have to experienceeverything life has to offer and finally get to a place where nothing is left.We have to experience for ourselves the terrible reality of what the Hinduscall Maya, what the Buddha called Suffering. We have to hit bottom andacknowledge that we have "nowhere else to go."
Refusing the full experience of this world ofsense, pain, and pleasure, is to reject the plan of God. Spiritual evolutioncan't take place until involution is complete and every bit of life has beenexperienced. Only then can a real choice be made, and we have to make thatchoice from our own selves.
(And who doesn't love the final scene!)





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EID MUBARAK! BLESSINGS TO ALL!

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AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMEN

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There's a wonderfulmoment in one of my favorite movies, AnOfficer and a Gentleman, when Richard Gere, who plays a troubled, arrogant,and selfish young man named Zack Mayo, is being pressured and tormented by hisDrill Sergeant, Sergeant Foley (played brilliantly by Louis Gossett, Jr.), whounderstandably wants him to quit the Officer Candidate program and go home tohis former petty life. 
But Zack isobstinate, and despite all sorts of harsh, cruel treatment, he refuses to quit.Finally, Foley has had enough, and says that even though Zack won'tquit the program voluntarily, he, the Drill Sergeant, is going to have himdismissed.

"Don't you do that!"Zach begins to scream in a frenzy, lying in the mud, exhausted. "Don't you dothat!"
"Why not?" Foley angrilydemands.
And then the point ismade. "I got nowhere else to go," Zack cries out, trembling, tears anddesperation in his eyes. "I got nowhere else to go!"

Foley lets him stay,and in that moment Zach's transformation begin – from a greedy, selfish,egotistical brat, to an Officer and a Gentleman.
It's an old story.Before we are willing to really change, before we are willing to make thedecision to enter the path of spiritual renewal, we have to experienceeverything life has to offer and finally get to a place where nothing is left.We have to experience for ourselves the terrible reality of what the Hinduscall Maya, what the Buddha called Suffering. We have to hit bottom andacknowledge that we have "nowhere else to go."
Refusing the full experience of this world ofsense, pain, and pleasure, is to reject the plan of God. Spiritual evolutioncan't take place until involution is complete and every bit of life has beenexperienced. Only then can a real choice be made, and we have to make thatchoice from our own selves.

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"I WORRY, THEREFORE I AM" (or "JEWISH ZEN")

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Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as the wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with posture like that.There is no escaping Karma. In a previous life you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that?Own nothing but your robes and an alms bowl. Unless, of course, you have the closet space. Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story.To practice Zen and the Art of Jewish Motorcycle Maintenance, do the following: Get rid of the motorcycle. What were you thinking?Be aware of your body. Be aware of your perceptions. Keep in mind that not every physical sensation is a symptom of a terminal illness. If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao is not Jewish.Drink tea and nourish life. With the first sip, joy. With the second sip, satisfaction. With the third, Danish.The Buddha taught that one should practice loving kindness to all sentient beings. Still, would it kill you to find a nice sentient being who happens to be Jewish?Be patient and achieve all things. Be impatient and achieve all things faster.Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkes. 
(Thanks to Larry Bronstein, DC, for sending me these great quips from around the web)
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