Re: The puzzle of Adam

Rich -
    I have some familiarity with the Gospel of Thomas. I can't see that Logion 114 says what you think it does. Quoting from the tarnslation in Aland, Synopsis Quattuor Evangeliorum (which includes Thomas as an Appendix): "Jesus said: 'Lo, I shall lead her, so that I may make her male, that she too may become a living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself a male will enter the kingdom of heaven.'"

    Mary - & other woman - are to be made male. It does not say that they are to be made androgynous, or that they are to be made male in addition to being female.
Mary is to be changed so that she "resembl[es] you males." I.e., Peter & the other males are OK already - there is no suggestion that they must be completed by their missing female halves. Instead, woman must be changed to be like them.

    Logion 22 OTOH does have a reference to some type of eschatological androgynity: "When you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male will not be male and the female will <not> be female ..."

    Now of course in the Jewish tradition there are ideas about the originally androgyous character of Adam but I don't see any indication that such ideas are being used in 114 - though perhaps in 22. But when all is said and done, I see no reason to accept either those traditions or Thomas as authoritative on this point. Genesis 1 & 2 give no reason to think that Adam was androgynous. If I recall correctly, one think that gave rise to that idea was trying to read "male and female he created them" of the 1st account into the formation of adham in the 2d.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: RFaussette@aol.com
  To: gmurphy@raex.com ; donperrett@genesisproclaimed.org
  Cc: asa@calvin.edu
  Sent: Thursday, December 02, 2004 8:08 PM
  Subject: Re: The puzzle of Adam

  In a message dated 12/2/2004 7:58:01 PM Eastern Standard Time, gmurphy@raex.com writes:
    In particular,
    the type of denigration of women shown in the logion you cite is completely
    different from the attitude that Jesus shows in the canonical gospels.
  George,
  I am not arguing the liberal/conservative divide.
  It was Peter who said Mary should leave. Jesus said you have to be male AND female to enter the kingdom so tells Mary he will make her male (her missing half) not that he will make her superior but that he will make her whole, male and female. Had I given you more context perhaps there would not be your misinterpretation. I am sorry for not providing enough material for your careful review. I don't see any denigration of women in the cite and so don't contrast the canonical /nag hammadi texts on that basis.

  rich
Received on Fri Dec 3 13:25:21 2004