Quote:
Originally Posted by marmalade  Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Treklis What are your thoughts on this excerpt from the Gospel of Thomas?
Simon Peter said to them, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life."
Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that he too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Thomas: 114 | That is just a common way of thinking from the Axial Age(Karl Jaspers). The prophets/teachers of that time were challenging the authorities and promoting equality. But, even so, these were all men and it was a patriarchal society. There are texts of Buddha saying the same kind of thing.
Everyone, including portrayed incarnations of God, are limited to the society they're 'born' into. Similarly, some of the great Hindu gurus of the past century were homophobic because, despite being 'enlightened', the society they were raised in was strongly homophobic. This doesn't take away from their teachings having genuine insight.
There is no ancient holy text that isn't a combination of insight and prejudice. |
I think the excerpt I quoted is beyond mere prejudice against women, it appears to be utter and open contempt for them on the part of Simon Peter, going beyond the notion that they should just "stay in the kitchen and have babies". Jesus' comment even more interestingly says he will lead Mary in order to make her a male so she can live a truly spiritual life, and that in order for a female to become enlightened she must first become male. Of course this doesn't mean she must change her physiology from a woman's to a man's, but he is speaking about changing her mentality from a feminine one to a masculine one.