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Religious Texts:

Who were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?

The Christian Bible

Defining Religion

The word "religion" comes from the Latin "religare", which means “to tie, to bind.

What is religious text?

Canadian legal definition of religion

  • Communicate practices or values of a religious traditions
  • Act as a set of guiding principles which dictate physical, mental, spiritual, or historical elements considered important to a specific religion.
  • Convey the history of the religious group as well as laws and values to be upheld
  • Written tradition vs Oral tradition

A religion is "(1) a system of symbols (2) which acts to establish powerful, pervasive and long-lasting moods and motivations in men (3) by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic." (Clifford Geertz)

Talal Asad's Critique of Geertz:

  • Interiority is the locus of religion
  • The task of defining anything presumes a discrete object that can be identified, this implies a model of religion that emerged with Enlightenment

“Defined broadly, religion typically involves a particular and comprehensive system of faith and worship.  Religion also tends to involve the belief in a divine, superhuman or controlling power.  In essence, religion is about freely and deeply held personal convictions or beliefs connected to an individual’s spiritual faith and integrally linked to one’s self-definition and spiritual fulfilment, the practices of which allow individuals to foster a connection with the divine or with the subject or object of that spiritual faith.”

Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem, 2004 SCC 47

The Gospels: Who were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

Gospel = an account describing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The most widely known examples are the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John which are included in the New Testament

Discussion

Synoptic Gospels: Mark, Matthew, and Luke

Why do you think the Orthodox interpretation prevailed over Gnosticism?

What is the source of religious authority - do you think it is preferable to rely on the "truth" handed down by the Apostles OR should one rely on their own experiences?

What is 'religion'?

Differences between the Gospels of John (Orthodox) and Thomas (Gnostic)

Discovery at Nag Hammadi

  • Narrative account vs. Sayings
  • Resurrection
  • View of mankind
  • 13 leather bound books – 52 writings in total

  • Including:
  • The Apocryphon of John
  • The Gospel of Thomas
  • ♣ The Gospel of Philip
  • ♣ The Gospel of Truth
  • ♣ The Gospel to the Egyptians
  • ♣ Letter of Secret Book of James
  • ♣ The Apocalypse of Paul
  • ♣ Letter of Peter to Philip
  • ♣ The Apocalypse of Peter

The Gospel of Thomas

Jesus was a twin?!

Didymus (Greek) and Thomas (Aramaic) both mean "twin"

Jesus said: "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the mysteries will be revealed to him" (Thomas, 108)

The Gospel of Thomas

What are the Gnostic Gospels?

Our focus: The Gospel of Thomas

Jesus said: "If you bring forth what is within, what you have will save you. If you do not have that within you, what you do not have within you will destroy you"

Jesus said, “If they say to you, ‘Where have you come from?’ say to them, ‘We have come from the light, from the place where the light came into being by itself, established [itself], and appeared in their image.' If they say to you, 'Who are you?' say, 'We are its children, and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they ask you ' What is the sign of your Father in you?' say to them, 'It is movement and rest.”

What do these passages tell us about the Gospel of Thomas?

How do they differ from the Orthodox Christian perspective?

GNOSTIC

Liz Czyrnyj, Nicole Deniset & Ashley Kaufmann

from the Greek for "knowledge"

Gnosticism: widespread movement that derived sources from various traditions.

Attacked by orthodox Christianity as blasphemous, heretical. As a result Gnostic texts were destroyed.

Gnostic Christians strive for a continual increase in knowledge

The Big Picture

Do religious texts need to be "true" or accurate to have meaning?

What impact have religious texts had on our legal system?

  • Gnostic Christians believed they "knew" God in a much more intimate way
  • Self-enlightenment
  • Answers can be found within
  • Intensely private interior journey

Case Study: The Resurrection of

Jesus Christ

Orthodox Interpretation vs. Gnostic Interpretation

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Various Gnostic Gospels including the Gospels of Thomas, Mary, and Phillip

Political Implications of Different Views of the Resurrection

Gnostic

Orthodox

Anyone who sees the lord claims their own authority, making them equal to or surpassing the 12 disciples

Restricts circle of leadership to small group with uncontestable authority

Only apostles had right to ordain future leaders and their successors

Resurrection

Gnostic

Orthodox

Unique Historical Moment

Interpret resurrection in various ways

Jesus tells Thomas to touch and believe (John)

Disciples watch Jesus eat (Luke)

Resurrection is moment of enlightenment. "It is... the revealing of what truly exists... and a migration into newness" Whoever grasps this becomes spiritually alive (Treatise on Resurrection)

Literal interpretation of resurrection

Christ on spiritual level

Teachings

Gnostic

Orthodox

  • Secret teaching known only to few

  • Jesus shared with his disciples certain mysteries he kept from outsiders

Christian Movement Authority

  • Public teaching of Christ and apostles offered to "the many"

  • Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: written anonymously

Orthodox

Gnostic

The Creation of the Church

All future generations must trust apostles' testimony even more than their own experience.

Only ones own experience offers ultimate criterion of truth

Orthodox

Gnostic

  • Human spirit resides "in" a body

  • People who named themselves bishops/deacons are waterless canals.
  • Church never had ultimate authority
  • All who had received gnosis had gone beyond church's teaching and had transcended the authority of its hierarchy
  • Legitimizes Church hierarchy.
  • Determine how all others much approach God.

  • Doctrinal conformity defined the orthodox faith
  • Catholic Church declared:
  • one soul
  • one and the same heart
  • churches planted throughout globe do not teach different things
  • Conflict to be resolved by most ancient churches
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