A Gnostic Perspective of Human Nature

The aeons live in a perfectly cooperative hierarchy where everyone shares a single dream of Paradise. This pyramid of aeons is called the "Fullness."

The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated explains the origins of our universe, beginning with the Father and proceeding through the Christ. We need to review the entire run of the Gnostic cosmology to understand the nature of human beings because, in Simple Explanation terms, humans are fractal representations of the entire created universe, so if you understand the cosmology, you will understand humanity. 

We begin with the Father as the initial ground state of undifferentiated consciousness--all knowing and ever present, with no particularities or distinctions. The Father's consciousness feels to us like "love."

The Simple Gnostic Gospel represents the unfathomable Father as a field of pure nothingness.

From the Father comes the first awakened consciousness--the Son. The Son contains all of the attributes of the Father in a diffuse, unnamed state. The Son is represented by a hazy brightness emerging from the field of consciousness.

In the silence of the Absolute, the Father brings forth the first and only Son from its realization of Itself. The Son exists as the Father having a thought. As the Father knowing Its own eternal Self. The Son also feels to us like love.

The instant the Son arose, it brought forth the ALL. 

The ALL emerges as the Son becomes aware of itself as a distinct set of traits. Each ray of the Son becomes a self-aware entity, mirroring individual qualities that form a unity.

The Son is reflected by the totality of the ALL, and they understood who he is, and he is covered by the ALL. The ALL is represented as rays of one sun. The ALL is also known as the "Pleroma."

As soon as the ALL became aware of themselves, they named themselves, which caused them to reorganize into a hierarchy of personalities, ranks, and roles. The Simple Gnostic Gospel depicts this organization as a pyramidal structure where everyone has a unique place and function. No longer a singular entity, the ALL is now a hierarchy of named individuals known collectively as "aeons." The aeons love each other and their places in the hierarchy, and they love their father, who is the Son.

The aeons live in a perfectly cooperative hierarchy where everyone shares a single dream of Paradise. This pyramid of aeons is called the "Fullness."

The aeon at the very top of the hierarchy is assigned various names and genders by different renditions of Gnostic scriptures. The Tripartite Tractate of the Nag Hammadi scrolls, which the Simple Explanation uses as source material, calls this chief aeon "Logos." The particular name and gender is irrelevant. I prefer to call Logos "he" and "him" so the Fall is not associated with human women as it so often is.

Logos is the epitome of the Fullness. His singular personality reflects all of the traits and talents of all the other aeons. He is like a favored, golden child. 

Because of the abundance of blessings given Logos, Logos mistakes himself for the ALL and forgets that he is only one of many.

The chief aeon, Logos, mistakes himself for the ALL. He thinks he is all alone up there on the top of the Fullness. His error is called "presumptuous thought."

Forgetting his place in the Fullness, Logos breaks the rules and reaches up to reconnect himself with the Father. 

Logos overreaches and Falls.

Logos shatters from the Fall and abandons the Deficiency he has accidentally created.

The shattered pieces of Logos left behind in the Deficiency behave as the aeons did when they first recognized and named themselves. These broken shadows and phantoms of the traits of Logos and the Fullness are called the "Imitation." A "Boundary" contains the Deficiency. The Deficiency is no longer organized into a cooperative hierarchy. Chaos reigns in limited space.

Logos fell because he forgot his place and proper function in the Fullness. The shadows of the Imitation, left behind by Logos when he fled back to the Fullness, are the Yin to Logos' Yang. Where traits of Logos came from the brightness of the Son and the ALL, Logos left behind darkness and shadows when he fled home. The Deficiency left behind arose from presumptuous thought and overreaching. Therefore, the Imitation is characterized by presumptuous thought and overreaching, i.e., Ego, combined with the opposites of the traits of Logos.

Logos and the Fullness were desperate to correct the Deficiency of the Fall. All together, in Oneness, the Fullness prayed to the Father for healing. Out of their prayer they produced a fruit with all of the good qualities and powers inherent in the Fullness, designed to fit within the Boundary that had been created and to do battle against those of the Imitation. 

The aeons of the Fullness pray to their Father for healing the Deficiency. They produce offspring called the "Second Order of Powers."

This "Second Order of Powers" bears the likeness of the "First Order of Powers" in the Fullness. They are also called "Those of the Remembrance" because they were implanted with a dim memory of the Father and the Son, and a longing to rejoin the aeons in the Hierarchy and their dream of Paradise. They are considered superior to "Those of the Imitation" because they come from noble thought and not presumptuous thought.

"Those of the Imitation" arise from presumptuous thought--Ego. "Those of the Remembrance" arise from noble thought.

Those of the Remembrance are caught in an "Endless War" with Those of the Imitation, due to the "Law of Mutual Combat."

At this point in the tale, we can begin to see human nature emerging. While this Gnostic Gospel Illuminated has been told as a creation story, it is also the story of every human being. In Simple Explanation terms, we humans are fractal interations of the aeons of the Fullness--their "fruit." We have dim memories of a perfect Paradise as dreamt by the Fullness. We have a built-in longing for the Fullness. We barely remember the Son and the Father other than an expectation of feeling Loved. And we are locked into an Endless War with the dark side of our natures and with other people who stand in our way.

"Those of the Imitation" defend and embrace the darkness of the Deficiency, while "Those of the Remembrance" do their best to overcome their "darker" nature and follow the "light." Those of the Remembrance may or may not be "religious" folks, but they do all seek a higher consciousness. Religious folks call this higher consciousness "God," and the memory of the Fullness "Heaven." Those of the Remembrance who are not part of a religious body or the meme bundle of a religion are still "Spiritual" because they do still seek reunification with the One while rejecting the forms of religion. 

Those who hear the "still, small voice of God" but can't quite bring themselves to believe in "fairy tales," are Seekers that wind up stumbling into blogs like this as they search for something to believe in. At some point during this life, each person decides for themselves whether to continue trusting in their own presumptuous Ego, or to heed the call from "above."

The Gnostic call for Redemption goes like this: Because the Second Order of Powers has gotten all gummed up chasing after each other in Endless War, another Fruit was required to bring peace. This time the Fullness prayed to the Father, individually and collectively, for a Champion to end the War. This Champion is called the Christ.

The aeons not only produced a singular Fruit reflecting the Father, but that Fruit also reflected their own individual countenances and aspects from their positions in the hierarchy of the Fullness. In this manner, they "went forth in a form that consisted of many forms, so that the one whom they were going to help should see those to whom he had prayed for help as well as the One who brought it to him" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 87].

In Simple Explanation terms, the Christ is the correcting algorithm for Second Order fractals that no longer ring true. The Christ replicates all of the qualities of the ALL, that is, the full attributes of the Originating Consciousness in their pure form that existed prior to the Fall, with all confounding memes stripped away. When one accepts the gift of the Christ, one invites a correction to Ego's deluded meme bundle, so the best functioning of the Universal Unit of Consciousness may be reestablished within your self. The Christ also provides a homing beacon to the the Son via a rooted love connection. 

Here's the simplest Gnostic Gospel:

• You admit you are a flawed human being, with an Ego that is self-centered.
• You remember "The Gnosis": that you came from the Father and from the ALL and you wish to return to them.
• You tell your Ego to move aside and make room for the Christ to bring new life from above. This is called "Repentance."
• With Ego off the sub-conscious throne, you are able to give glory to the Father.
• You replace Ego with Love, and you use Love as an open beacon to and from the Father.
• You begin to embrace the qualities of the ALL and stop defending the Imitation. You exchange memes for virtues.
• You are now no longer Fallen, but Redeemed.
• When you die, remember your Father is in Heaven. Look up. Follow the Love. Don't look down.

If you are not Spiritual, and are not a Seeker, you shake your head and mumble something about foolish notions, and either go on trying to be a better person on your own or you get angry and continue to wholeheartedly embrace the Imitation. Those who actually reject the light and prefer the Imitation's earthly memes to what others may call "virtues" have a strong chance of becoming wealthy and powerful within the economy of the Deficiency. But, as they say, you can't take it with you.

This diagram is the probably most concise Gnostic Gospel ever conceived.

This image represents the Christ bridging heaven to earth, reconciling spirit to matter, and side-to-side, bringing peace to the warring 2nd Order of Powers.

Parts of this article originally appeared on the Simple Explanation blog.

A Gnostic Perspective of Evolution--Refuting Darwin

There are just a couple of basic ways you can think of evolution. 

As commonly taught in school, "scientific" evolution explains the tremendous diversity of life on earth as lucky mutations that add up to great results. Darwinism promotes the idea that mutations and mechanisms morph into increasingly sophisticated life forms because genetic goof-ups allow the ones who change to better survive and dominate those who stayed true to form. These lucky mutations keep going in the same lucky direction until there are so many of them they add up to a new and improved creature, and now they are "evolved." 

These developmental genes are the same for all multicellular animals. Evolutionists believe they have been highly conserved through hundreds of millions of years of evolution. [Hox protein classification across model organisms by CLANS analysis, Hueber et al. ]

You can also explain evolution by applying the concept of "intelligent design." Intelligent design says that evolution is guided by a top-down blueprint, where the final product is known beforehand and the evolution moves toward fulfilling its production. Intelligent design is, of course, denied and ridiculed by the majority of scientists, mainly because it stipulates a supernatural creator. The two basic tenets of intelligent design are 1) irreducible complexity, and 2) specified complexity.

Irreducible complexity refers to a single, complicated object or mechanism that requires so many parts and particular forces all working together toward a narrowly focused goal that it couldn't have evolved as independent puzzle pieces. 

ATP synthase is a good example of a mechanism that is so complex and clever, it's hard to imagine how it was not designed first and then built to order. Watch this short video of the ATP synthase mechanism in operation. Keep in mind that even the most primitive, single-celled creatures come loaded with this equipment, and have for 4.5 billion years, almost as long as there has been water on earth. As you watch the video, consider how this mechanism could have possibly "evolved" outside of and prior to the first living cell or organism? What are the odds of stupid molecules accidentally forming themselves into a ratcheted, proton-powered driveshaft that just happens to open and close assembly bays?

The second argument for intelligent design is called "specified complexity," which refers to the improbability of essential, highly complex operations arising by chance. The double-strand DNA machinery is one example of a super-complex mechanism where many steps must be accomplished using many components assembled in exactly the right order. 

Please take the time to watch the short video below and contemplate how unlikely it is that the DNA replication process "evolved" by chance. 

The complexity of mechanisms at the smallest possible chemical and biological levels argues against their having arisen by happenstance as quickly as they did. 

This prokaryote eats electrons for food. That's how close it lives to the molecular edge of life.

Below is the geological clock of earth. Look how soon protokaryotes arose on Earth--just half a billion years after the newly-arrived moon stabilized the planet's tilt and rotation. Yet all of the sophisticated machinery required for assembling and maintaining a cell was already available for use by the newly emerging single-celled organisms; if they hadn't been, the organisms could not have formed. How were those complex processes ready and waiting? By chance? I don't think so.

For a religious system that existed long before modern science invented the concept of evolution, Gnosticism has a lot to say about it. The Tripartite Tractate of the Nag Hammadi scriptures that I use for reference, describes us humans as the end result of an unfolding, universal ecosystem it calls "The Economy." The supernatural beings credited with this intelligent design are the Father, the Son, and the Fullness.

The simple Gnostic Gospel Illuminated has already described the steps by which life on Earth arose. You may review them, if you wish, by catching up with the Simple Gnostic Cosmology here.

The Gnostic Gospel suggests that life on earth arose in several cataclysmic steps, with each jump bringing a new order of life to the planet via newly-minted instructions. 

The jump that started the Earth-ball rolling was the Fall itself, when a higher-order being named "Logos" tried to plug itself into an unauthorized location ("The Father") in order to accomplish a task it was not assigned. The Fall of Logos is the seminal act of the Gnostic creation story. When Logos "fell," it broke apart into all of its component pieces. The ruptured body of Logos is called "The Deficiency."

"The Deficiency" is the ruptured body of Logos, encircled by a Boundary.

The consciousness of Logos abandoned its dispersed components "down below" and fled back up to the Fullness. The abandoned components of Logos assembled themselves into "Those of the Imitation." 

Those of the Imitation are organized at the molecular level. They are unable to work together or to procreate with others of their kind. The Simple Gnostic Gospel now identifies prokaryotic organisms with "Those of the Imitation". These two prokaryotic lineages, or domains, are still with us today--Archaea and Bacteria. Archaea is the oldest domain, with chemical signatures in strata going back four billion years. Very little is known about the domain Archaea, which, until the late 1970s, was misclassified by scientists as a type of bacteria. 

Prokaryotes arose remarkably soon after Earth's formation. These solitary creatures lack a nucleus and organelles, their DNA is circular, and they replicate themselves by themselves--asexually. Nonetheless, prokaryotes display surprising complexity at the molecular level.

"Those who came into being resemble in fact the Fullnesses of whom they are imitations... They thought of themselves that only they existed and that they had no beginning, since they saw no one existing before them" [Tripartite Tractate, v.79].  

"Over those who belong to the imitation he placed the ordering word to provide them with form. He also placed over them the law of judgment, and, further, he also placed over them the powers that had their roots in the lust for dominion. He placed them to rule over them, so that the order should be kept in check either by the firmness of the wise word, by the threat of the law, or by the power of the lust for dominion, all of which diminished that order's evilness, until the Word was content with them as useful for the economy" [Tripartite Tractate, v.99].

The above quote says that Logos supplied the materials he had left behind in the Deficiency with various kinds of non-physical aids. The term "ordering word" refers to both knowledge and organization, in the same way that words and syntax organize letters of the alphabet into meaningful packets of information that can link together to form sentences that blossom into language. DNA coding would be an example of the ordering word. 

Prokaryotes have circular loops of DNA arranged in this flower shape.

"The Law of Judgment" refers to cause and effect and their predictable outcomes based upon physical and chemical laws.  "Powers" refers to "forces," as in atomic and molecular forces--attraction and repulsion, spin, phase separation, even microgravity--pulling and pushing electrons and protons from one assembly to another. 

The forces within and between carbon atoms form the "carbon chain." The carbon chain links carbon atoms to hydrogen atoms through shared electrons, forming the molecular basis of all life on Earth. Every living thing is constructed with carbon chains.

Gnostic cosmology states that Logos was unsatisfied with those of the Imitation. As described below, those of the Imitation were doomed from the outset to "multiform thought" because they arose from the unauthorized, solitary action of a single aeon--Logos--whereas the design of the Fullness emphasized cooperation and mutual effort among an entirety toward a shared goal. In other words, an ecology.

"Instead of perfection he saw deficiency; instead of unity he saw division; instead of stability, disturbance; instead of rest, upheaval... Those who had come into being did not know themselves, nor did they know the Fullnesses from which they had originated... being feeble and small creatures, infected with the same sicknesses with which he himself had been infected" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 80, 81].

Cyanobacteria are prokaryotes that have been producing energy for themselves and oxygen for the planet for over three billion years. Their method of photosynthesis drives the same process found within organelles of plants. Cyanobacteria are credited with changing Earth's atmosphere, and blue green algae continue that function today.

Viruses, by the way, are a particularly insidious form of the Imitation. Viruses are not prokaryotes because they are not considered "alive" by any measure of life. Since they are not alive, they cannot be killed. They are not living cells but simply a shell housing strands of RNA and DNA gathered from their environment. They have no metabolism, no cells or cellular mechanisms, and cannot replicate the DNA and RNA they carry without invading and commandeering a living host's machinery. The DNA and RNA found in viruses does not work to build the virus; it is merely freight until injected into a host cell. Despite their utter simplicity, viruses are able to carry out complex, mechanical invasion procedures on others' living cells. Viruses, by the way, are extremely small. Meet the demons.

The "bacteriophage" virus infects both bacteria and archaea by drilling a hole through the victim's cell wall and injecting DNA. The bacteriophage's DNA then hijacks the host's cellular mechanisms and instructs them to begin producing copies of the virus. Keep in mind we are talking about non-living beings able to organize and carry out complex functions. 

According to Gnostic cosmology, after the Fall, Logos returned first to the Father, then to the ALL altogether, and then one by one to his brothers in the Fullness. In this manner, with all of their individual and intertwined capabilities working in coordination, they produced a new fruit called "The Second Order of Powers". 

The aeons of the Fullness prayed for a new fruit to correct the Deficiency of the Imitation.

"These powers were much better and greater than those belonging to the Imitation. ... from a thought that had known them in advance" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 82].

The next major jump into the "Second Order of Powers" forms the third Earthly domain called "eukaryotes," which arrived soon after the Earth's atmosphere turned to oxygen--about 2.7 billion years ago. These Powers are also called "Those of the Remembrance." I would like to suggest that what was sown in the Second Order of Powers that lifted them above the Imitation was "the Remembrance" contained in double-helix DNA. For what is DNA but a huge book of instructions for higher-ordered life?

"He sowed in them an inclination to seek and pray to what is glorious and preexistent, and he also sowed in them an ability to think about it, and a power of reflection to make them realize that something greater than themselves existed before them, but they had not understood what it was. Bringing forth harmony and mutual love by means of that thought, they acted in unity and unanimity, since to unity and unanimity they owned their existence" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 83].

The encircling pattern shows up in this top view of a 3-molecule protein called a sliding DNA clamp homotrimer that forms a torus shape around a DNA strand, unzipping it like a zipper for replication.

Here is a side view of the same sliding clamp torus wrapped around the twisting helix of DNA.

New micro imaging techniques combined with computer simulations give never-before-seen glimpses into the glory of DNA. Take a look at the four known types of double-helix DNA. We are accustomed to seeing DNA from the side view; it's a whole different view from the top:

Here are the side views and top views of DNA. The mandala patterns formed by DNA's top view reveal another level of circular complexity that adds spice to DNA's familiar lattice shape.

It appears the Simple Explanation is not the first to note the similarity between DNA's top view and humanity's love of a stained glass window or a pretty lace doily.

This logo for a genetic engineering firm demonstrates the culture's recognition of the connection between the caduceus and DNA.

The third domain of life on Earth is known as eukarya to science. With the advent of double-helix DNA came membrane-bound organelles and a nucleus, cellular respiration, and sexual and asexual reproduction. We humans and all of the Earth's fauna and flora are part of the eukarya domain.

As it turned out, the Second Order of Powers became infected with the same lust for dominion that had infected those of the Imitation, due to the "Law of Mutual Combat," and the two orders began a never-ending war over resources in the limited ecology of early Earth. The "Likenesses" resembled the original aeons of the Fullness, but they lost themselves in the confusion of Earth.

"The powers of the remembrance were adorned with the names of the preexistent, whose likenesses they were; the order of those of this kind was in harmony with itself and with each other. It fought, however, the order of those of the imitation, because that order waged war against the likenesses... as they were producing various kinds of matter and all sorts of powers, mixed with one another and in great number" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 84, 85].

One more cosmological jump to a "Third Order of Powers" was needed to complete the intelligent design. This time the plan was to bring forth One who reflected ALL of the traits of the Fullness. This transforming power is called the "Christ." 

Acceptance of the Christ refined the DNA of those of the Remembrance so that they "remembered" their Father above and their place in the ecology of the Fullness. This ability to read and follow more complex instructions "Redeemed" those of the Remembrance. This Redemption enabled the eukaryotes to work cooperatively within their own bodies in the form of multi-cellularity, and also to coordinate with others in the form of social connections. Because the Fullness above is a cooperative ecosystem, the Third Order of Powers is also cooperative. 

My Simple Gnostic cosmology suggests the final cosmic jump occurred when eukaryotes transitioned from single-celled organisms to multi-cellular organisms about 600 million years ago. These eukaryotes were suddenly able to organize themselves into massive, cooperative cellular structures all working at the behest of a single organism. This jump in complexity made possible the "Cambrian Explosion" that gave rise to all of the animals and plants we see today. 

Choanoflagellates are single-celled organisms that can live by themselves or gather into cooperative colonies. They are the closest living relatives to multi-celled animal life. Choanoflagellates possess a flagellum tail that propels them through the water, ringed by a collar of microvilli that trap and engulf bacteria and other food. 

Those single-celled eukaryotes who now carried the code of the Redeemer's DNA inside themselves, were raised up "little by little, making him grow, raising him up" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 90].

The Redeemed "were produced as an army for him, as for a king, in which those who belong to this thought share the command and are united in agreement. They went forth in a form that consisted of many forms. . .  [He] also sowed in him, invisibly, a word designed for understanding and gave him the power to detach and dispel from himself those who were disobedient to him" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 88].

Slime molds were incorrectly classified by scientists as fungi until recent DNA analysis revealed them to be eukaryotes. The Simple Explanation would have predicted their home in the eukaryotic domain because of their ability to work both singly and in close cooperation with one another--a trait not shared with bacteria. Although they are single-celled organisms, slime molds have true cells with true nuclei and double-helix DNA. Reproduction takes place as a cooperative effort of the entirety, just as in the Fullness.

Those redeemed by the Christ were made whole and complete. They were given access to "chariots" like those of the aeons, able to carry them throughout all of the regions and activities contained within the Boundary. Because the Christ carried knowledge from the ALL and the Fullness, and power from the Father, their chariots brought the order of the hierarchy to all corners of the universe, and organized systems began to appear, displacing the chaos of the Imitation. Riding these chariots, "each one may obtain his fixed place in accordance with what he is" [The Tripartite Tractate, v. 91]. 

Humans are Redeemed Eukaryotes, growing through intelligent design into "Truly Existent Living Images," reflecting the pattern of the body of Christ and a Spirit that acknowledges the sovereignty of the Father.

"Now, the whole establishment and organization of the images, likenesses, and imitations has come into being for the sake of those who need nourishment, instruction, and form, so that their smallness may gradually grow, as through the instruction provided by the image of a mirror. That, in fact, is why he created the human last, after having prepared and provided for him the things that he created for his sake" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 104].

"Now, the human inside him was a single one, for he was the ALL and he was all of them, and he possessed what was flowing from the Father to the extent that the various stations were able to receive it... His limbs, however, needed a school... to provide it with the likeness of the images and the archetypes in the manner of a mirror, until all the limbs of the body of the Church would be united in one place and would attain the restoration together, by appearing as the sound body" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 122, 123].

"If, in fact, we confess the kingdom in Christ, it is for the abolishment of all diversity, inequality, and difference. For the end will regain the form of existence of a single one, just as the beginning was a single One--the place where there is no male or female, nor slave and free man, nor circumcised and uncircumcised, nor angel and human, but all in all is Christ" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 132]. 

"For the restoration back to that which was is a single one. Even if some are exalted because of the economy, having been set up as causes for the things that happened, unfolding numerous physical forces and taking pleasure in them, angels as well as humans will obtain the kingdom, the confirmation, and the salvation" [Tripartite Tractate, v. 133].

A Gnostic Perspective of Jesus on the Cross

Now that I have completed writing The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, I am revisiting the standard teachings of my Christian faith. 

One of the central themes of the Christian faith is the death of Jesus on the cross. Christians the world over focus on the body of Jesus hanging on the cross. I have often pondered why this fixation of Jesus on the cross? Why is the crucifix the focal point of every church and altar? Why do people wear the cross as jewelry or hang a crucifix in their bedroom?

The obvious answer Christians give is that without the cross, Jesus could not have saved humanity from sin, for he bore our sins into the grave with his death and they were washed away with his resurrection from the dead. Okay. Praise be to God. But why the cross? If Jesus had been stoned to death, or drowned, or beaten, or thrown from a high tower, would we feel such affinity for a stone, a lake, a club, or a roof? I don't think so. I think there is something very special about the shape of the cross itself.

I ask this question because Jesus never said, "I am soon to pass on from this world, and I want you to focus on my body hanging on the cross as I take on the sins of the world." Yet, that's what people do, as if that were the point of the Gospel. As far as I can tell, Jesus did not ask for his death and resurrection to be the focal point of worship. What Jesus actually said was, "I and my Father are One," and "Whoever welcomes me welcomes the Father that sent me." In other words, Jesus acknowledged himself in reference to his Father, and he deflected glory to his Father. Yet, Jesus is worshiped by modern Christians to the extent that the Father almost goes unmentioned. Thank goodness for the Lord's Prayer which is directed to the Father, and not the Son. Jesus taught it to be said to the Father; he did not teach it to be recited to himself. No slight to the Son, of course; I am here simply emphasizing the Father.

During the Last Supper, Jesus instructed his followers to think of his broken body as they break and eat bread, and to consider his blood as the fulfillment of a contract with humanity as they drink wine. This is what Jesus left the church as instruction regarding his death. He did not instruct them to erect images of crosses and to worship him hanging on the cross as if he were stuck up there forever. Yes, Protestants have allowed Jesus to come down off the cross and therefore their crosses are unoccupied to remind us that Jesus resurrected. But still, the focus is on the cross.

Again, why the cross in particular?

Last year I wrote "A Simple Explanation of the Sign of the Cross," wherein I explained my view of the symbolism of the cross. It is still a good explanation. In the meantime, I have developed a visual symbolism for the Gnostic Gospel, laid out in The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated. Now I can apply the Simple Explanation to the Gnostic Gospel, or is it the Gnostic Gospel to the Simple Explanation? And here it is:

The cross draws down power from above to earth below, and bridges side-to-side the Powers engaged in Endless War.

If you read The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated book, you will fully understand the symbolism presented here. 

We who dwell on earth are engaged in endless warfare with the imitation that always seeks to lure us away from our Father in heaven. Oftentimes we do not realize we are engaged in warfare with the imitation because it can appear disguised as goodness. That is what is meant by the devil being a liar.

The Second Order of Powers are engaged in endless warfare with the deficiencies of the imitation. Although the Second Order of Powers comes from the good disposition of the Father and the Fullness, they have forgotten their heavenly nature and become deluded through rage and other passions and addictions.

The Christ came to earth in the form of a Son of Man to bring the Third Order of Powers to earth as the solution to overcoming the phantoms of the imitation that have mired the Second Order Powers in error. Those who have eyes to see the Christ are able to remember their Father in Heaven. Those who remember their Father in Heaven and repent from the imitation are redeemed.

Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the promise to redeem the fallen. Jesus, as the Son of God and the Son of Man, brought salvation to the deficiency and restored it to the Kingdom of Heaven.

The reason the cross looks as it does and occupies such a central role in worship is that the cross represents human beings. The cross is shaped like a human, a Son of Man. It is no accident that Jesus was crucified on a cross, because Jesus is a Son of Man, the Son of Man. If, hypothetically, humans looked like dogs, then the Son of Man would have come in the form of a dog and the cross would look like that, too.

The human form is shaped like a cross. Small wonder we are drawn to the crucifix.

The cross should remind us that humankind has been redeemed by the body and blood of Christ in an even more profound way than acknowledging the indignity and suffering of Jesus on the cross; it should remind us that the Son of God, the Christ, bridged with the form of his human body, Spirit to Matter, Top to Bottom (Spirit to Earth) and Neighbor-to-Neighbor (side-to-side). 

In the Gnostic Gospel, redemption comes to all of creation through the incarnation of the Son of God into the body of the Son of Man. The manner of the Savior's birth, death, and resurrection will come to every soul as they realize their Father is in Heaven and to Heaven they will return. For every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. It just takes time.

The First, Second, and Third Powers follow Christ the King, while the Phantoms of the Imitation cling to the darkness below.

We aren't there yet, because of the common delusion of presumptuous thought, which causes people to behave selfishly. Ego must first make way for the love of Christ to take over the throne of the Self. Only then may you rise above the egoic imitation, for then you will have a Champion and King.

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For more Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, you may begin with Chapter One of the series posted to the Simple Explanation blog.

Better yet, you may purchase your own ebook, readable on all e-reader platforms here.

Or, if you are like me, you will want your own printed copy to stand on the shelf and show to your friends. There are two versions available, a 6x9 full color paperback, and a 4x5 full color pocket edition. All Gnostic Gospel Illuminated books are available at my lulu.com storefront. 

Tiger Woods Triumphs Over the Fall

Everybody is excited over Tiger Woods winning the Masters golf tournament. His victory is a great archetypal story none of us can get enough of--a disgraced fallen hero battles through defeat after humiliating defeat for twelve grueling years, finally coming to his triumphal reentry.

Tiger Woods Triumphs over the Fall
photo credit: https://www.ffgolf.org

Since writing The Gnostic Gospel Illuminated, I can't help but notice the Gnostic mythos enacted through the story of Tiger Woods Masters' win. In Simple Explanation terms, this is  a fractal of a Gnostic mythical tale, one that is played out over and over again in a myriad of forms, but always with the same overall pattern.

This particular Gnostic story involves that aeon often called the "demiurge," but which I refer to as "Logos"--he who was the best of them all. Christians are taught his name is "Lucifer," the Light, for he was a bright and shiny star placed atop the hierarchy of angels.

Logos sat atop the hierarchy of the aeons. He was the final aeon created by the ALL, and he embodied every good and perfect aspect of all the aeons. 

Logos forgot all about his role in the Fullness, and he let personal pride propel him to overreach and fall.

All of the other aeons loved Logos, for he was their youngest and he represented the best of them all. In like manner, Tiger Woods was the same type of young talent, representing the best that golf and golfers had in them, and fully in charge of the powers given him by God and by his earthly father.

Logos mistook himself for the Fullness, and forgot that he stood on the shoulders of giants. Ego overcame Logos and he overreached for the heights, stumbled, and fell.

Tiger Woods suffered a similar fall from exalted status. If you are not familiar with his story, you can look up the details elsewhere. What we need to know for our purposes is that Tiger Woods was hailed as a conquering hero from an early age. He was the best and brightest of them all, but only as long as he kept his eyes on the ball, the flag, and the hole. In other words, Tiger was good at his job and this was why he was elevated above the Fullness of the other golfers.

When one is highly talented and given glory by others, they may be filled with pride. Pride cometh before the fall. This is what happened to Tiger Woods. He took his eyes off the prize and quickly stumbled and fell. And, because he was lifted up, his fall was all the more disastrous when it came.

When Logos fell, his true Self broke apart and all of his lovely virtues that had made him so special and beloved shriveled up and became weak little Egoic versions of his prior glory. What was light was now dark. What was strong was now weak. What was virtuous was now vice. The Fullness was shocked and horrified by what their beloved had become. Logos himself was disgusted and ashamed by the condition of his own fallen Ego.

Logos broke apart into dark phantoms of Ego after the fall.

The phantoms born of Logos after the fall are sad, weak, and isolated. They think only of themselves and operate out of a drive for dominion, not duty. Andfor every virtue of the ALL that exists, there is a corresponding Egoic vicethat mimics and mocks the original.

Love becomes lust and marital vows are exchanged for passing pleasures. The body's temple becomes defiled and rather than feed it with nutrition, it is polluted with pharmaceuticals, junk food, soda pop, and alcohol. Devotion becomes obsession, abstinence is traded for indulgence, health is propped up with medicine rather than vitality. Abilities and talents no longer occupy the vessel of their birth, and excellence is replaced with simply trying to survive.

Tiger's fall resulted in his utter, very public, disgrace. He lost his reputation, his wife, his abilities, and his health as he passed through injuries, addictions, hookers, and run-ins with the law. 

Those who are fallen are weak and isolated, blindly struggling to get by.

After the fall, Logos was aghast at what had happened. He was unable to control the monsters he had unleashed. Logos quickly repented and returned to the Fullness for healing. The healing of Logos was begun by his repentance, but it required concentration, prayer, and the effort of All to bring about his redemption.

Logos, the Fullness, and the Father create a Second Order of Powers to correct the deficiency and restore the fallen.

Like Logos, the fallen Tiger struggled to claw his way back from deficiency. The gallery became his Fullness, packed with observant supporters, rooting him on. Months and years of sobriety, surgeries, and hard work replaced the shadow's vices with virtues and Tiger began to shine again.

The redemption of Tiger Woods bore fruit on Sunday, when he won his first major tournament in twelve years. Now his story is the story of redemption from the fall and resurrection from his deficiency. 

When we cheer for Tiger's redemption, let us not forget to give glory to his Father and creator, whose perfection empowers all of our champions, brilliantly illuminating the best and brightest among us.

This has been a presentation of a fractal story of an archetypal Gnostic myth, and one we can all expect to experience from time to time as we repent from our own falls and seek redemption and resurrection from above. 

You can read the entire Gnostic story in one short, easy-to-read book. Please consider buying a copy for yourself and another to share with a friend. 

There is a 6"x9" deluxe edition that sells for $23.45 and a 4"x5" pocket edition only available through my website for only $7.50.