knowledge....

Responding to the guestion of knowlege...
I remember someone in class mention the DeadSea scrolls. There is a book called "the Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels, which gives an account of the dead sea scrolls in relations to why they were hidden and left out of the Bible as we know it today. 'Gnosicim' means knowledge I think. I don't have the book on me because I am at a coffee shop. But what I remember about what Pagels says is that everything that the bible contains was included because of political reasoning. Apparently the reason the Gnostic Gospels were left out (actually hidden and found close to 50 years ago) is because it's doctrine included some themes or ideas that promote 'self knowledge' or mysticism. Don't quote me on this but I think Pagels said that at the time the Catholic church's doctrine was being formed it was crucial that it's teaching was consistent in order to form a solid body in the church. The dead sea scrolls has influences of eastern religous thought because Thomas the disciple, who spent much time in India, wrote with an Eastern vibe. The idea behind much of the writing in Gnostic gospels is blurry... between 'God is within us' to 'we are our own Gods.' The way it was interrupted is that man could become his own Christ, and this was a form of enlightenment. And in fact there is a passage where Christ recognizes the "christ" within his brother and (I can't remember his name) Christ tells him to no longer refer to him as master. It is all very interesting and my interpretation may be completely off...(don't quote me on anything because I have a tendency to make things up)...I will bring the book to class if anyone is interested...
Anyways "knowledge" can be very threatening in the political realm if it goes against the current grain of thought.
Ash