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Greetings! Call To Ministry?


WidowsSon

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I stumbled upon the progressive christian website. It is very inspirering! I'm Jim and live in Bellefonte, Pa. I'm 33, married and have three kids. By proffesion I manage a photo lab and my wife and I recently stated a bussiness Lotus Mobile Spa. Spiritually I concider myself to be a sophianic gnostic, but have not really found a faith I can wholeheartedly connect with. Strangely I have some sense of calling to become a minister. A minister of what? I don't know. Can't really support a family with a career as a gnostic minister, but in an ideal world this is what I would do. If anyone has any ideas let me know, because I will not rest until I find out what the meaning of this calling is. There is know dout that I would be good at a career of this sort, but the how to get there part is overwhelming at this point. Any thoughts would be appriciated. Thanks

Jim

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I stumbled upon the progressive christian website. It is very inspirering! I'm Jim and live in Bellefonte, Pa. I'm 33, married and have three kids. By proffesion I manage a photo lab and my wife and I recently stated a bussiness Lotus Mobile Spa. Spiritually I concider myself to be a sophianic gnostic, but have not really found a faith I can wholeheartedly connect with. Strangely I have some sense of calling to become a minister. A minister of what? I don't know. Can't really support a family with a career as a gnostic minister, but in an ideal world this is what I would do. If anyone has any ideas let me know, because I will not rest until I find out what the meaning of this calling is. There is know dout that I would be good at a career of this sort, but the how to get there part is overwhelming at this point. Any thoughts would be appriciated. Thanks

Jim

 

 

 

Jim,

 

I suggest you begin by sharing what you mean by sophianic gnosticism. This subject is relatively new to me. Can you describe other kinds of gnosticism? How does sophianic gnosticism appeal to you? Please share your thoughts when you have a minute to write! Thank you in advance.

 

Dave :)

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Jim,

 

I suggest you begin by sharing what you mean by sophianic gnosticism. This subject is relatively new to me. Can you describe other kinds of gnosticism? How does sophianic gnosticism appeal to you? Please share your thoughts when you have a minute to write! Thank you in advance.

 

Dave :)

Dave,

 

Thanks for your response. The Sophian Tradition is a oral gnostic christian tradition that its oral teaching state has a appostolic succession going back to St. Mary Magdelene, but can be traced back to the 1700's, I think. It's non-dualistic, based on a form of christian kabbalah, and pre-Nag Hammadi with deep Jewish roots. It's teachings have resently been made public by linage holder Tau Malachi.

-I'm currently looking for a progressive christian theological school and would like to persue a Bachlers Degree. Would any one have any recommendations? It would be nice to be able to do this online if possible.

LVX, Jim

 

Gnosticism from Wikipedia:

Gnosticism is a descriptive term used to identify a common belief among various religious movements and groups that likely originated in prehistory and became most active in the first few centuries AD/CE. The key to understanding the core belief of these movements is provided by the term gnosis, a Greek word expressing a type of understanding/consciousness gained through personal experience. It is through this type of transcendental experience that followers of Gnostic belief systems ("Gnosticism") seek escape from ignorance and thus the mundane.

 

Throughout history, followers of various incarnations of Gnosticism (particularly Christian persuasions) were persecuted by those who held the opposing belief that salvation came through faith in particular religious concepts or figures rather than personal knowledge of them. There is no evidence that followers of these earlier Gnostic belief systems ever characterized themselves with the word 'Gnostic.'

 

The term has become widely used by modern scholars and others as a way to identify an emphasis placed on the salvific benefit of individual wisdom. Although many Gnostic movements identified with the teachings of Jesus Christ and were Christian by their own definition, there remains widespread variation in the particular religious orientations of many Gnostic groups. Especially notable for their extended and uninterrupted presence up until the modern era are the followers of the Persian Prophet Mani, the Manicheans; and the Pre-Christian Mandaeans who still survive in Iraq and Iran.

 

Particularly with the rise and fall of the Albigensian "Cathar" movement, European Gnostic thought became heavily influenced by the idea of a mythological struggle between competing forces of light and dark. This viewpoint would lead to the development of a strongly dualistic system in which there was a marked division between the higher celestial realms, and the material realms, the latter of which were thought to be under the governance of an ignorant entity known as the Demiurge. Influenced by more widespread branches of Christianity, the Demiurge was eventually conflated with many of the properties of Satan. One potential source of this newfound dualism is directly from the other Near-Eastern schools of Gnosticism, possibly via the influence of the Bogomils.

 

Contents [hide]

1 Nature and structure of Gnosticism

1.1 A typological model: the main features of gnosticism

1.2 Dualism and monism

1.3 Moral and ritual practice

2 Major Gnostic Movements and Their Texts

2.1 Persian Gnosticism

2.2 Syrian-Egyptian Gnosticism

2.2.1 Syrian-Egyptic Scripture

2.3 Later Gnosticism and Gnostic-influenced Groups

3 Important terms and concepts

3.1 Aeons

3.2 Archon

3.3 Demiurge

3.4 Gnosis

3.5 Monad

3.6 Pleroma

3.7 Sophia

4 History

4.1 The development of the Syrian-Egyptian school

4.2 The development of the Persian school

4.3 Influence in East Asia

5 'Gnosticism' as a potentially flawed category

6 Gnosticism in modern times

7 See also

8 References

8.1 Books

8.1.1 Primary sources

8.1.2 Secondary sources

8.2 Audio lectures

8.3 Videos

9 External links

9.1 Ancient Gnosticism

9.2 Gnostic blogs

9.3 Discussion groups and email lists

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Spiritually I concider myself to be a sophianic gnostic, but have not really found a faith I can wholeheartedly connect with.

Hello Jim. It's nice to find another Gnostic on this forum. While I don't consider myself exclusively Sophian, it is part of my gnowledge. If I was forced to be more specific than plain old Gnostic? Universalist Gnostic? The Sethian texts speak to me on some topics while the Valentinian mythology connects with my Christian roots and Sophia plays a major role when I'm in a rather Jungian mood.

 

I also fully share your sense of being an "alien." Fearfully, it seems to be a large part of our religion for many. I, too, have had much difficulty finding a spiritual home. The UCC folks haven't found me Christian enough and many UU congregations identified me as too Christian.

 

Strangely I have some sense of calling to become a minister. A minister of what? I don't know. Can't really support a family with a career as a gnostic minister, but in an ideal world this is what I would do. If anyone has any ideas let me know, because I will not rest until I find out what the meaning of this calling is. There is know dout that I would be good at a career of this sort, but the how to get there part is overwhelming at this point. Any thoughts would be appriciated.

You are part of a growing movement and your awakening to the call is not done in isolation. I wonder how the religious landscape will be changing over the coming years. The ignorance seems to be lifting for many. :D

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The Sethian texts speak to me on some topics while the Valentinian mythology connects with my Christian roots and Sophia plays a major role when I'm in a rather Jungian mood.

 

Hmmmm. Sophian is somewhat Jungian? Methinks I'll be looking into that. B)

 

The UCC folks haven't found me Christian enough and many UU congregations identified me as too Christian.

 

Gnosticism is STILL too Christian for the UU? :blink: Good grief.

Edited by AletheiaRivers
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I'm surprised that most UCC folks would care what you believed. No one has asked me what I believe. I might have volunteered info a few times. Though as I said many times UCC churches are pretty different from each other. (There was actually a pastor led discussion on the Gospel of Thomas, though since I was working when it was going on I didn't attend.)

 

--des

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