Adoptionism
Feb. 25th, 2003 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sophiaserpentiaIn response to a question by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
badsede
The view taken by Gnostic Adoptionists is that the Spirit of Christ came to reside within Jesus at the moment of his baptism. The Spirit was said to to have left Jesus just before the death of his body, prompting him to lament, "God, God, why have you abandoned me?" In their view it was impossible for the divine to actually die.
As best we can tell, the earliest versions of the Gospel of Mark, the first Gospel, ended with his burial and a short note that his grave was found empty. This gospel of course begins with the baptism, not the birth, of Jesus.
This view also follows from statements in the New Testament such as these of Jesus and Paul.
[Matthew 10:19] But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
[20] for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
In this passage Jesus suggests that Spirit works through people. Indeed the author of Luke writes often that people are "filled with the Holy Spirit," and Paul writes often of charismata, "gifts of the Spirit."
[Matthew 21:21] Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
[22] If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
This passage suggests that there is nothing about Jesus that cannot be attained by the disciples. In fact in the book of Acts the apostles are shown performing all manner of miracles after they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
[Matthew 19:17] And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? Only One is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
[Many translations have this as, "Why are you asking me about what is good?" but this seems a silly question, and strikes me as a poor and dishonest translation.]
One could easily read this to mean again that Jesus meant to deflect attention from himself and onto Unity (which is reflected in Spirit).
[Galatians 2:20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This is the quintessential statement of Christian mysticism, and holds special meaning for the Adoptionists -- it insinuates that the Spirit of Christ can literally reside within each of us.
And now this, from the Gnostic Gospel of Philip:
[Philip 52-53] Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. One will not receive truth in any other way. ... What is the resurrection? The image must rise again through the image. ... If one does not acquire the name for himself, the name "Christian" will also be taken from him. But one receives them in the aromatic unction of the power of the cross. This power the apostles called "the right and the left." For this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ.
I am uncertain what the reference to "the right and the left" is; this is perhaps lost forever. But the conviction is made clear in the last sentence -- the person who passes through this transformation (the Mystery of the Bridal Chamber) is no longer merely a disciple of Christian teaching but actually embodies the Spirit of Christ.
Now, to add a few words of personal interpretation: I read the above in a strictly figurative sense. There are groups out there who teach that someone who follows a given arcane course of teaching will literally be able to heal lepers and move mountains and so forth. IMO what accomplishes this is the effort of people unified in compassion.
badsedeThe view taken by Gnostic Adoptionists is that the Spirit of Christ came to reside within Jesus at the moment of his baptism. The Spirit was said to to have left Jesus just before the death of his body, prompting him to lament, "God, God, why have you abandoned me?" In their view it was impossible for the divine to actually die.
As best we can tell, the earliest versions of the Gospel of Mark, the first Gospel, ended with his burial and a short note that his grave was found empty. This gospel of course begins with the baptism, not the birth, of Jesus.
This view also follows from statements in the New Testament such as these of Jesus and Paul.
[Matthew 10:19] But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,
[20] for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
In this passage Jesus suggests that Spirit works through people. Indeed the author of Luke writes often that people are "filled with the Holy Spirit," and Paul writes often of charismata, "gifts of the Spirit."
[Matthew 21:21] Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.
[22] If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
This passage suggests that there is nothing about Jesus that cannot be attained by the disciples. In fact in the book of Acts the apostles are shown performing all manner of miracles after they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
[Matthew 19:17] And he said to him, "Why do you call me good? Only One is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments."
[Many translations have this as, "Why are you asking me about what is good?" but this seems a silly question, and strikes me as a poor and dishonest translation.]
One could easily read this to mean again that Jesus meant to deflect attention from himself and onto Unity (which is reflected in Spirit).
[Galatians 2:20] I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
This is the quintessential statement of Christian mysticism, and holds special meaning for the Adoptionists -- it insinuates that the Spirit of Christ can literally reside within each of us.
And now this, from the Gnostic Gospel of Philip:
[Philip 52-53] Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. One will not receive truth in any other way. ... What is the resurrection? The image must rise again through the image. ... If one does not acquire the name for himself, the name "Christian" will also be taken from him. But one receives them in the aromatic unction of the power of the cross. This power the apostles called "the right and the left." For this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ.
I am uncertain what the reference to "the right and the left" is; this is perhaps lost forever. But the conviction is made clear in the last sentence -- the person who passes through this transformation (the Mystery of the Bridal Chamber) is no longer merely a disciple of Christian teaching but actually embodies the Spirit of Christ.
Now, to add a few words of personal interpretation: I read the above in a strictly figurative sense. There are groups out there who teach that someone who follows a given arcane course of teaching will literally be able to heal lepers and move mountains and so forth. IMO what accomplishes this is the effort of people unified in compassion.
