Seriously, if you are going to claim diversion from "His" will, how is this will to be determined without reliance on human sources? And what human sources have proven to be immune from human error?
With a source such as the Bible, we are looking at the result of generations of oral transmission, multiple translations across cultural boundaries, deliberate editing for political and/or ideological reasons, and significant contributions (in the case of the New Testament) by some who missed physical contact with Christ or his disciples by multiple generations.
The Gospel of Thomas is a very interesting text. I believe it is among the items removed from the canon by the Council of Nicea, although I could be wrong about that. I have read two or three different translations, and they are very, very, different from one another. This is to be expected in translation, which is not in the least a predictable or infallible task.
I'm not singling out Christianity here, either. All human texts, particularly ancient human texts, and particularly texts which existed in oral form only for centuries, have uncertainties regarding source, transmission, and translation.
If you would claim an exception for one text out of all texts which came through human beings, on what grounds will you base your claim? And if you cannot base your claim on common grounds, on what ground will you base your authority regarding "His" will, or morality?
One thing I do find interesting in the text as it is, however, is that when asked the essence of the law, Jesus did not go to any "thou shalt nots", but rather said (paraphrasing) that thou shalt love the lord, and that thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy own self. And elsewhere, that thou shall be more concerned with thine own error than with that of thy brother.
No mischief can possibly come from this advice. The only problem with it is that it does not feed our human egos. And this is only a problem to the human ego, IMO.
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"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
-- Albert Einstein
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- fanofnothing 2012-05-09 12:39:22 (150 views)
- bongo 2012-05-11 16:20:01 (69 views)
