Gnostic Nonsense

(The G in Gnostic is silent, making such a lovely euphony.)

It's more than a little exasperating that the Gospel of Judas is making such a splash. One of the best descriptions is "An Authentic Fabrication" (Thanks to Bill Cork of Ut Unim Sint.

This is getting (or has is always been?) just silly. Witness Insight Scoop's parody:

What did B16 tell the Roman curia? Here's the truth behind the secret behind the conspiracy...:

"CWNews.com reports:
'Pope Benedict XVI met with leaders of the Roman Curia on Friday
morning, April 7, but the Vatican issued no announcement about the
topics that were discussed or any decisions that were reached.'

There is speculation that the meeting may be about a document being
prepared (or that is already prepared) that allows for the 'broader use
of the Latin Mass.' But isn't it more logical to conclude that this
meeting is part of a cover-up of the incredible, mind-blowing,
life-altering, world-shaking, Church-destroying 'Gospel of Judas,'
which reveals, among other things, where Jesus actually came from:

Judas [said] to him, ‘I know who you are and where you have
come from. You are from the immortal realm of Barbelo. And I am not
worthy to utter the name of the one who has sent you.’ (Gospel of
Judas, scene one)

Ah, just as I always suspected: Barbelo! No, it's not an island in the South Seas, but refers
to a feminine or androgynous emanation of the Divine Being — a popular
notion among many gnostic sects.' 'This figure,' Wikapedia states, 'is
also variously referred to as 'Mother-Father' (a moniker that hints at
her apparent androgyny), 'First Human Being', 'The Triple Androgynous
Name', or 'Eternal Aeon'.' Kurt Rudolph writes that the word is
'difficult to explain but certainly an artificial Semitic or Aramaic
word' (Gnosis, HarperSanFrancisco, 1987], p 80). 'Barbelo,' he
adds, 'represents the female aspect of the Father and is a kind of
gnostic mother goddess' who has 'bisexual features,' being 'the first
male virgin aeon.'

It's hard to ignore how absolutely enticing this is, so I'm sure that
Benedict and the curia are working hard to figure out ways to keep
people from becoming 'Barbelognostics' or 'Barbeliotes' (as the early
Church fathers called them). After all, as Rudoph points out later (p
214), the Barbeliotes, when they greeted one another, 'made a tickling
stroke on the palm of the hand.' Can you imagine how exciting that
might be! However, the wildly fun world of Barbelognosticology wasn't
all fun and tickling games, as the Catholic Encyclopedia points out:

According to the Pistis Sophia (ch. xxix) Sophia, daughter
of Barbelos, originally dwelt in the highest, or thirteenth heaven, but
she is seduced by the demon Authades by means of a ray of light, which
she mistook as an emanation from the First Father. Authades thus
enticed her into Chaos below the twelve Æons, where she was imprisoned
by evil powers. According to these ideas, matter is the fruit of the
sin of Sophia; this, however, was but a Valentinian development; in the
older speculations the existence of matter is tacitly presupposed as
eternal with the Pleroma, and through her sin Sophia falls from the
realm of light into Chaos or realm of darkness. This original dualism,
however, was overcome by the predominant spirit of Gnosticism,
pantheistic emanationism.

Got it? Good. Now you know the truth, and the truth shall tickle your palm. And perhaps your fancy. Not to mention your aeons."

(Via Insight Scoop | The Ignatius Press Blog.)