Hi Barney,
Thanks for the note.
I figure trying to understand who Y-hw-h was/is has to be an important question to anyone. Further, if one believes that Y-hw-h is the maker of this world, one has to then ask who Jesus was, and what relevance does Islam have?
It's tough in my opinion to be humble in this world but if you believe in a supreme being such as the Lord what else can you honestly be in the end?
I may pick up flak for this but to my mind the whole thing isn't about you or myself or anyone else here... it's about the Lord. The glory of the Lord is all that will matter in the end. If we are fortunate enough to find our humility and repentance in the face of that then we will be a part of that glory I'm sure.
It's tough for the logical mind to make that leap of faith. I have many of the same misgivings about the Lord as described by the Old Testament that Sam does; but on the other hand my bets are on the Lord. My practical mind tells me that if there is something out there of such magntude, "It" had better be respected.
My understanding is that there are many gnostic beliefs, and Sam happens to have one of them.
I don't take Sam's viewpoint to be entirely in line with the following, but the most popular I'm aware of is that the Lord is evil - a "demiurge" unaware of the greater good found in His parents, one of whom has been referred to as "Sophia." In this belief system, the existence of matter is an abomination and procreation is avoided. Another tack on this particular belief is that certain "chosen" gnostics are allowed to party very heartily during their lifetime, although most of this "matter is evil" persuasion chose to live non-sensual, non-sexual lives. The key is to escape without having children, for having children curses trapped spirits to another generation of existence in the body, which is matter.
There are ("were") umpteen other gnostic sects, and to my mind they're all entitled to their own viewpoints. Myself, the Lord appears to be the be-all, end-all. This "Sophia" character hasn't "reached from beyond" in order to convince me there's anything past the Lord, so in on that count matter appears to be more of a mixed blessing rather than "all bad" - as I honestly once believed. The body shows glimmers of beauty, but there is that fallen ugliness about it too at times.
In any event there came a point where I quit wondering if there was something "beyond Y-hw-h" and decided to reach out to that which was in front of me, as imperfect as my overatures are.
Without the tree of life who are we? The Lord is magnificent in His glory.
As for today's culture I could swear America is turning into a giant kindergarten. I find very little critical thinking going on anywhere. I find myself slipping off into la-la land. When will intellectual honesty be appreciated again?
FWIW
Andy
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