Post by rmcdra on Dec 22, 2013 12:39:27 GMT -5
Some said, "Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit." They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? Mary is the virgin whom no power defiled. She is a great anathema to the Hebrews, who are the apostles and the apostolic men. This virgin whom no power defiled [...] the powers defile themselves. And the Lord would not have said "My Father who is in Heaven" (Mt 16:17), unless he had had another father, but he would have said simply "My father". – Gospel of Philip
For the Forth Sunday of Advent I thought it would be nice to do something a little different. This Sunday is a reflection on fulfillment of Christ and it would be great to look at how other Christians saw the birth of Christ. As we can see in the above passage from the Gospel of Philip, some Christians did not believe that “Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit”. They already had a story about where Christ came from. He came from the Father as the perfect image of God. He was the consort of Sophia, the Wisdom of God. When Sophia fell and the world was created, Christ came to rescue her. Christ while the son of God, was also the son of Mary and Joseph.
Mary is the virgin that no power defiled. She was one who was not corrupted by the world or the so called law which is why she was accursed by the Hebrews. How could she be defiled by the law? What we forget about Mary is that Mary was a young girl in her teens. She was not a grown woman as art works like to portray her but a child who had only lived in the world for a short period of time in her life. She was not married to the man Joseph when she conceived Christ if we give the traditional narrative any weight to the view point of these Christians. She was outside the law and accursed by it in every sense. My who would have thought that the perfect image of God would come from an unwed teenage girl who was charged with sins that usually meant death?
Christ acknowledges he had an earthly father and a heavenly father. Being also children of God, we too have a father and a father who is in Heaven. Christ came to this world to rescue the fallen Sophia who resides in each of us. As we prepare for the coming of Christ, we see that his promise to rescue his consort is being fulfilled. Christ is in each of us that choose to seek him and bring him into our world. Like Mary we must not be defiled by the powers of our world and culture. We must remember that Christ reveals himself in what the world regards as shameful.
Whichever nativity narrative you believe in, the promise is fulfilled and being fulfilled. When we keep ourselves from being defiled by the powers and seek to know who we are as Children of God, we bring Christ into our world. When we allow love and reason to come into our life; we are helping Christ keep his promise to us. Salvation does not come to us through sword or conquest. It does not come in glory and strength. It comes to us in freedom, redemption, and humility. It comes to us in the openness and truth.
For the Forth Sunday of Advent I thought it would be nice to do something a little different. This Sunday is a reflection on fulfillment of Christ and it would be great to look at how other Christians saw the birth of Christ. As we can see in the above passage from the Gospel of Philip, some Christians did not believe that “Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit”. They already had a story about where Christ came from. He came from the Father as the perfect image of God. He was the consort of Sophia, the Wisdom of God. When Sophia fell and the world was created, Christ came to rescue her. Christ while the son of God, was also the son of Mary and Joseph.
Mary is the virgin that no power defiled. She was one who was not corrupted by the world or the so called law which is why she was accursed by the Hebrews. How could she be defiled by the law? What we forget about Mary is that Mary was a young girl in her teens. She was not a grown woman as art works like to portray her but a child who had only lived in the world for a short period of time in her life. She was not married to the man Joseph when she conceived Christ if we give the traditional narrative any weight to the view point of these Christians. She was outside the law and accursed by it in every sense. My who would have thought that the perfect image of God would come from an unwed teenage girl who was charged with sins that usually meant death?
Christ acknowledges he had an earthly father and a heavenly father. Being also children of God, we too have a father and a father who is in Heaven. Christ came to this world to rescue the fallen Sophia who resides in each of us. As we prepare for the coming of Christ, we see that his promise to rescue his consort is being fulfilled. Christ is in each of us that choose to seek him and bring him into our world. Like Mary we must not be defiled by the powers of our world and culture. We must remember that Christ reveals himself in what the world regards as shameful.
Whichever nativity narrative you believe in, the promise is fulfilled and being fulfilled. When we keep ourselves from being defiled by the powers and seek to know who we are as Children of God, we bring Christ into our world. When we allow love and reason to come into our life; we are helping Christ keep his promise to us. Salvation does not come to us through sword or conquest. It does not come in glory and strength. It comes to us in freedom, redemption, and humility. It comes to us in the openness and truth.