nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: 2013/05 - 2013/06
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 09 May, 2013. Q&A: What do Thomasine Seminarians Read? Bishop, I'm curious about what kinds of texts seminarians study while preparing for ordination in your church. Can you tell me about the kinds of texts read? For example, every initiate is encouraged to read Elaine Pagel's The Gnostic Gospels. And German theologian Hans Kung's The Catholic Church. The master reading list contains somewhere around 40-45 titles. The exact number is currently in flux.
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: 2013/03 - 2013/04
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 23 March, 2013. Q&A: Jesusism, Growth. What is the relationship of Thomasine philosophy to Jesusism. Is Thomasine philosophy an expression of Jesusism? How does the Thomasine Church grow if it doesn't proselytize? Last year you answered a question. About apostolic succession. You indicated that you didn't feel that apostolic succession gave you, and presumably priests you ordain, any special power. So, what's the point of ordaining people? What do I think?
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: On Expectation and Hope
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2013/03/on-expectation-and-hope.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 15 March, 2013. On Expectation and Hope. NB This post is from a talk I gave to a group of Zen students in Germany via Skype. There were a few questions, which I am going to omit for the sake of brevity. There's some laughter and nodding at this point. What happens when that hope doesn't come to pass? We pay attention, right? I'm sure none of your own teachers have ever told you this. I unfortunately didn't record the Q&A, either. Justin Mar Shimun is a bis...
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: 2012/12 - 2013/01
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2012_12_01_archive.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 16 December, 2012. The Gnostic Response to Suffering. I get questions about what the Gnostic response to suffering is or should be when tragedies occur. This usually happens when there is a tragedy being reported in the American 24 hour news cycle. I recently received a couple of questions in light of the reprehensible massacre of men, women, and children in Newton, Connecticut. I have been wary of answering questions like these in the past. Some of my stu...
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: The Thomasine Church (in Florida) has a new website...
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-thomasine-church-in-florida-has-new.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 11 April, 2013. The Thomasine Church (in Florida) has a new website. The Thomasine Church in Florida. This is something I have thought about doing for a number of years. Since my teacher withdrew from teaching, the Thomasine Church has lacked a public presence on the Internet, aside from my blog and some random websites that scraped some content from us years ago. It isn't something I have had time to address, until now. Wow, where in Florida are you again?
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: 2012/05 - 2012/06
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 30 May, 2012. I receive a number of questions on apostolic succession. I keep getting them, so I figure I will keep trying to answer the questions about AS until I've done it enough that I don't get anymore questions; or, I'll keep answering them until I don't feel like it. I've said, in the past, that Apostolic Succession isn't something you need. You the Gnostic make the sacrament "valid" by your participation in it. As Gnostics we're not looking to beco...
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: Mailbag Q&A
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2012/04/mailbag-q.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 26 April, 2012. What do you mean when you say there's no self? This is one of those times where I'm going to be mum and rather circumspect. No-self is a realization. It's a direct, experiential insight due to practice. If I tell you exactly what it means, it will be difficult for you to actually come to the realization on your own. Think about it. Who are you? It's a way of saying "A long time ago, someone had a really great message. He passed that mes...
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: 2013/04 - 2013/05
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2013_04_01_archive.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 11 April, 2013. The Thomasine Church (in Florida) has a new website. The Thomasine Church in Florida. This is something I have thought about doing for a number of years. Since my teacher withdrew from teaching, the Thomasine Church has lacked a public presence on the Internet, aside from my blog and some random websites that scraped some content from us years ago. It isn't something I have had time to address, until now. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom).
nascentgnosis.blogspot.com
Nascent Gnosis: 2012/06 - 2012/07
http://nascentgnosis.blogspot.com/2012_06_01_archive.html
The Officially Unofficial blog of Bishop Shimun. 18 June, 2012. Delusion and The Fictitious Mind. I touched on this concept peripherally in " You're crazy and so am I. And it's something I would like to expand on in more detail. In a Thomasine context, we don't really do much talking about Archons or The Demiurge; it's not because those concepts are flawed or phenomenologically untrue, but rather because the Thomasine corpus doesn't talk about those concepts by those names. We describe Delusion as one of...
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