Missing Gospels Myths No. 1 – About The Divine Feminine

It is time to turn our attention to the Missing Gospels. I will be releasing a book on this topic in August (You can check amazon.com for details). These gospels are mostly second and third century works that some claim have equal value to the four gospels for Christianity.

It is time to turn our attention to the Missing Gospels. I will be releasing a book on this topic in August (You can check amazon.com for details). These gospels are mostly second and third century works that some claim have equal value to the four gospels for Christianity. The answer to that question is that it depends what one is asking about. If the question is, do they have value for understanding elements of second century Christianity, then the answer is yes, they are valuable. But if the question is whether they help us understand Jesus better, then the response is no. These works are too late and too detached from the apostolic witness to fit that role. The only gospel that really can even come into discussion for such a question is Thomas. This gospel has overlaps with the four gospels. That fact makes it an interesting source in some of its sayings, even though it is likely an early second century text as a whole. But even this work does not help us as much with knowing about Jesus as the four gospels do. In the next series of blogs I am going to deal with certain myths about these works. The first one I want to discuss is the issue of the divine feminine and the suggestion that these texts are pro-female. If anyone will take the time to read the Apocryphon of John, it might make them ask where this idea of a positive view came from. For in this text, Sophia (= Wisdom, a divine feminine figure) creates without "consulting her consort" and then when she does create the creation is flawed and evil results. She even seeks forgiveness and repents for her independent act. This is not a positive view of the divine feminine. If you have access to this text just take a look at the Apocryphon of John chapters 2-16 and you will see what I mean. You might check this URL: http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html. Here is the most relevant portion: And the Sophia of the Epinoia, being an aeon, conceived a thought from herself and the conception of the invisible Spirit and foreknowledge. She wanted to bring forth a likeness out of herself without the consent of the Spirit, – he had not approved – and without her consort, and without his consideration. And though the person of her maleness had not approved, and she had not found her agreement, and she had thought without the consent of the Spirit and the knowledge of her agreement, (yet) she brought forth. And because of the invincible power which is in her, her thought did not remain idle, and something came out of her which was imperfect and different from her appearance, because she had created it without her consort. And it was dissimilar to the likeness of its mother, for it has another form. And when she saw (the consequences of) her desire, it changed into a form of a lion-faced serpent. And its eyes were like lightning fires which flash. She cast it away from her, outside that place, that no one of the immortal ones might see it, for she had created it in ignorance. And she surrounded it with a luminous cloud, and she placed a throne in the middle of the cloud that no one might see it except the holy Spirit who is called the mother of the living. And she called his name Yaltabaoth.