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Authoritative Teaching
Authoritative Discourse or Authoritative Teaching is the third tractate from Codex VI of the Nag Hammadi Library. The writing reflects on the nature of the soul and its relationship with the material world. The soul is a spiritual entity that has come from the heavens. It becomes separated from its spiritual origins and is entrapped in matter when it falls into worldly desires such as lust, gluttony, and ignorance. The text emphasizes the importance of knowledge and the pursuit of spirituality in order to overcome the forces that try to entrap the soul in matter. The Devil tries to deceive the soul with transitory and deceptive pleasures, but the soul that has tasted these things will eventually realize its true nature and turn away from them. The soul will instead look for eternal, spiritual things and seek to know God. The text warns of those who are ignorant and do not seek God, being identified as the children of the Devil. Summary The opening describes the creation and nature ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tractate
A tractate is a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject; the word derives from the Latin ''tractatus'', meaning treatise. One example of its use is in citing a section of the Talmud, when the term ''masekhet'' () is used in conjunction with the name of the subject, for example, Masekhet Berakhoth, which is relevant to agriculture and blessings. Two further examples are the 1670 and '76 ''Tractatus Theologico-Politicus'' by Baruch Spinoza, and the 1921 ''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus'' by Ludwig Wittgenstein. See also * * Minor tractate * Tract (other) * Tractatus (other) * Treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions." Treat ... References {{reflist Philosophical literature Religious literature * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnosticism
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Judaism, Jewish and Early Christianity, early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent demiurge, lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who is responsible for creating the nature, material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and Enlightenment (spiritual), enlightenment. Gnostic writings flou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gnostic Apocrypha
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (''gnosis'') above the orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the Yahweh of the Old Testament) who is responsible for creating the material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil, and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not in concepts of sin and repentance, but with illusion and enlightenment. Gnostic writings flourished among certain Christian groups in the Mediterranean world aroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charity (Christian Virtue)
In Christian theology, charity (Latin: ''caritas'') is considered one of the seven virtues and is understood by Thomas Aquinas as "the friendship of man for God", which "unites us to God". He holds it as "the most excellent of the virtues". Further, Aquinas holds that "the habit of charity extends not only to the love of God, but also to the love of our neighbor". The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines "charity" as "the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for His own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God". Caritas: the altruistic love The phrase ''Deus caritas est'' from —or ''Θεὸς ἀγάπη ἐστίν'' (Theos agapē estin) in the original Greek is translated in the King James Version as: "God is love", and in the Douay-Rheims bible as: "God is charity" (). Thomas Aquinas does not simply equate charity with "love", which he holds as a passion, not a virtue. The King James Version uses both the words ''charity'' and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paganism
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the time of the Roman empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not '' milites Christi'' (soldiers of Christ).J. J. O'Donnell (1977)''Paganus'': Evolution and Use ''Classical Folia'', 31: 163–69. Alternative terms used in Christian texts were '' hellene'', '' gentile'', and ''heathen''. Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of ancient Graeco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the " religion of the peasantry". During and after the Middle Ages, the term ''paganism'' was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perform some form of work while also having their location or residence dictated by the enslaver. Many historical cases of enslavement occurred as a result of breaking the law, becoming indebted, or suffering a military defeat; other forms of slavery were instituted along demographic lines such as Racism, race. Slaves may be kept in bondage for life or for a fixed period of time, after which they would be Manumission, granted freedom. Although slavery is usually involuntary and involves coercion, there are also cases where people voluntary slavery, voluntarily enter into slavery to pay a debt or earn money due to poverty. In the course of human history, slavery was a typical feature of civilization, and was legal in most societies, but it is no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and sometimes, a standard of deferred payment. Money was historically an emergent market phenomenon that possess intrinsic value as a commodity; nearly all contemporary money systems are based on unbacked fiat money without use value. Its value is consequently derived by social convention, having been declared by a government or regulatory entity to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private", in the case of the United States dollar. Contexts which erode public confidence, such as the circulation of counterfeit money or domestic hyperinflation, can cause good money to l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fisherman
A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreational. Fishing has existed as a means of obtaining food since the Mesolithic period.Profile for the USA * inadequate preparation for emergencies * poor vessel maintenance and inadequate safety equipment * lack of awareness of or ignoring stability issues. Many fishers, while accepting that fishing is dangerous, staunchly defend their independence. Many proposed laws and additional regulation to increase safety have been defeated because fishers oppose them. Alaska's commercial fishers work in one of the world's harshest environments. Many of the hardships they endure include isolated fishing grounds, high winds, seasonal darkness, very cold water, icing, and short fishing seasons, where very long work days are the norm. Fatigue, physical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fish
Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of living fish species are ray-finned fish, belonging to the class Actinopterygii, with around 99% of those being teleosts. The earliest organisms that can be classified as fish were soft-bodied chordates that first appeared during the Cambrian period. Although they lacked a true spine, they possessed notochords which allowed them to be more agile than their invertebrate counterparts. Fish would continue to evolve through the Paleozoic era, diversifying into a wide variety of forms. Many fish of the Paleozoic developed external armor that protected them from predators. The first fish with jaws appeared in the Silurian period, after which many (such as sharks) became formidable marine predators rather than just the prey of arthrop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
God The Father
God the Father is a title given to God in Christianity. In mainstream trinity, trinitarian Christianity, God the Father is regarded as the first person of the Trinity, followed by the second person, God the Son Jesus Christ, and the third person, Holy Spirit (Christianity), God the Holy Spirit. Since the second century, Christian creeds included affirmation of belief in "God the Father (El Shaddai, Almighty)", primarily in his capacity as "Father and creator of the universe". However, in Christianity the concept of God as the father of Jesus Christ goes metaphysically further than the concept of God as the creator and father of all people, as indicated in the Apostles' Creed where the expression of belief in the "Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth" is immediately, but separately followed by in "Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord", thus expressing both senses of fatherhood. Christianity Overview In much of modern Christianity, God is addressed as the Father, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Codex
The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with handwritten contents. A codex, much like the modern book, is bound by stacking the pages and securing one set of edges by a variety of methods over the centuries, yet in a form analogous to modern bookbinding. Modern books are divided into paperback or softback and those bound with stiff boards, called hardbacks. Elaborate historical bindings are called treasure bindings. At least in the Western world, the main alternative to the paged codex format for a long document was the continuous scroll, which was the dominant form of document in the ancient world. Some codices are continuously folded like a concertina, in particular the Maya codices and Aztec codices, which are actually long sheets of paper or animal skin folded into pages. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bridegroom
A bridegroom (often shortened to groom) is a man who is about to be married or who is newlywed. When marrying, the bridegroom's future spouse (if female) is usually referred to as the bride. A bridegroom is typically attended by a best man and groomsmen. Etymology The first mention of the term ''bridegroom'' dates to 1604, from the Old English ''brȳdguma'', a compound of ''brȳd'' (bride) and ''guma'' (man, human being, hero). It is related to the Old Saxon ''brūdigomo'', the Old High German ''brūtigomo'', the German ''Bräutigam'', and the Old Norse ''brúðgumi''. Attire The style of the bridegroom's clothing can be influenced by many factors, including the time of day, the location of the ceremony, the ethnic backgrounds of the bride and bridegroom, the type of ceremony, and whether the bridegroom is a member of the Armed Forces. National or ethnic traditions * In the United States, the bridegroom usually wears a dark-colored suit for a daytime wedding or a tuxe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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