steve_bank
Diabetic retinopathy and poor eyesight. Typos ...
First and foremost we do not know who the 'first Christians' were. Initially Romans saw them as Jewish heretics.
We know there were multiple competing versions, at times violent. Paul never knew Jesus and created his own version to suit his ambitions.
Gnostic Christianity appears to be a mix of older non Jewish traditions with a version of Jesus. Buddhism and Hinduism were fully developed by the time of Christ, and there would certainly have been exposure to them in the mid east.
Keep in mind Jewish mythology was also a blend of other existing myths adapted to Judaism. Assimilation of culture and mixing traditions is how civilization evolved.
There are synthetic traditions that are still around today, like Rosicrucian, Free Masons, s and Theosophy. They generaly claim ancient secret knowledge and wisdom. The mystical experience and rituals.
Like many in the 70s I drifted through a number of things. A more modern version is Ekankar. There is Bahai from the 19th century. The process of new traditions never end. Unitarianism is yet another Christian offshoot.
So, you can proclaim the virtues and superiority of Gnostic Christianity from the highest mountain, but I have to say I have heard it all before.
My conclusion was there is no special or secret knowledge or wisdom. I decided it was better to do something useful than waste my time on any of it, hence my career as an engineer.
One does not religion to be ethical and moral.
You are welcome to your beliefs, but you are wasting your time trying to conibce me it i unique and superior to the rest.
We know there were multiple competing versions, at times violent. Paul never knew Jesus and created his own version to suit his ambitions.
Gnostic Christianity appears to be a mix of older non Jewish traditions with a version of Jesus. Buddhism and Hinduism were fully developed by the time of Christ, and there would certainly have been exposure to them in the mid east.
Keep in mind Jewish mythology was also a blend of other existing myths adapted to Judaism. Assimilation of culture and mixing traditions is how civilization evolved.
There are synthetic traditions that are still around today, like Rosicrucian, Free Masons, s and Theosophy. They generaly claim ancient secret knowledge and wisdom. The mystical experience and rituals.
Like many in the 70s I drifted through a number of things. A more modern version is Ekankar. There is Bahai from the 19th century. The process of new traditions never end. Unitarianism is yet another Christian offshoot.
So, you can proclaim the virtues and superiority of Gnostic Christianity from the highest mountain, but I have to say I have heard it all before.
My conclusion was there is no special or secret knowledge or wisdom. I decided it was better to do something useful than waste my time on any of it, hence my career as an engineer.
One does not religion to be ethical and moral.
You are welcome to your beliefs, but you are wasting your time trying to conibce me it i unique and superior to the rest.