God
Faith
Prayer Request
Earlier today I was reading a bit about Gnosticism. The general notion is that the spiritual is good, while the physical is bad. God could not have created the material world, because he wouldn't have dirtied himself with it. To them it follows that the goal is to liberate the spirit from matter; even suicide is above board for them.
A parallel concept is one of Docetism. Docetism is the belief that Jesus didn't actually have a body; that his apparent physical presence was some kind of illusion-- a phantasm, or a hologram, or something along those lines.
Gnosticism predated Christ. But after Christ, the idea that God would have sullied himself by becoming matter does not fit within their mental framework. So most Gnostics reached for one of two explanations. The first was that Christ wasn't actually God; he did create everything, but he was actually an aeon, or some other kind of spiritual being.
The second was an endorsement of the aforementioned Docetism-- which is also tidily compatible with their model.
Off topic, but Duncan and I served at Mass today. I could do ten Masses in a row, in a day. I can't get enough of it. I want to do it every weekend. It's such a satisfying way to give glory to God, through such close participation in the liturgy.
Please pray for me. I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakdown. It's difficult for me to conceive how I am going to survive a whole new week of work-- I'm simply not sleeping from the stress of it, for days-on-end.
After this week? Another week. After that? Another. It's like standing at the bottom of a cliff as high as the sun is tall, and asking me to scale it. Today, I'm in such a state that it feels almost impossible. I know the Lord will provide, but I must also be in tune with other doors He may open for me.
I was able to pick up His voice again last night, which was a huge relief. The Evil One played a terrible trick on me, and got me to doubt that what I was hearing in my mind was in fact God. For months, I tuned the Lord out. But last night, by His grace, my heart was re-attuned to the proper frequency.
I'd be happy to write more about this if people are interested.
A parallel concept is one of Docetism. Docetism is the belief that Jesus didn't actually have a body; that his apparent physical presence was some kind of illusion-- a phantasm, or a hologram, or something along those lines.
Gnosticism predated Christ. But after Christ, the idea that God would have sullied himself by becoming matter does not fit within their mental framework. So most Gnostics reached for one of two explanations. The first was that Christ wasn't actually God; he did create everything, but he was actually an aeon, or some other kind of spiritual being.
The second was an endorsement of the aforementioned Docetism-- which is also tidily compatible with their model.
Off topic, but Duncan and I served at Mass today. I could do ten Masses in a row, in a day. I can't get enough of it. I want to do it every weekend. It's such a satisfying way to give glory to God, through such close participation in the liturgy.
Please pray for me. I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakdown. It's difficult for me to conceive how I am going to survive a whole new week of work-- I'm simply not sleeping from the stress of it, for days-on-end.
After this week? Another week. After that? Another. It's like standing at the bottom of a cliff as high as the sun is tall, and asking me to scale it. Today, I'm in such a state that it feels almost impossible. I know the Lord will provide, but I must also be in tune with other doors He may open for me.
I was able to pick up His voice again last night, which was a huge relief. The Evil One played a terrible trick on me, and got me to doubt that what I was hearing in my mind was in fact God. For months, I tuned the Lord out. But last night, by His grace, my heart was re-attuned to the proper frequency.
I'd be happy to write more about this if people are interested.