Please bear with me as I once again compare a saying from the Gospel of Thomas to a movie ... this time, The Matrix. *
What is meant by "the world" and what is meant by "renunciation"?
To the author of this saying, "the world" is not intrinsically real but is a "corpse", a construct, as it is in The Matrix. It's the interlaced political/economic/social framework in which everyone cannot help but find themselves enmeshed. If someone has the finese to become wealthy in such a framework, it's unlikely they'll care to scrutinize it, much less turn away from it.
For one who is wealthy, what does "renunciation" involve? In the gospel of Matthew (19:21), this means selling one's possessions, giving the money to the poor and following Jesus. In the gospel of Thomas, it seems only to be the realization of the unreality of both the framework and the values that lead them to riches.
This sums up, for me, a difference between the canonical gospels and the gospel of Thomas ... Thomas speaks of gaining knowledge but the canonical gospels speak of the deeds that flow from that knowledge.
And as we all know from watching The Matrix, facing reality and then putting one's knowledge into actual practice, is difficult but rewarding.
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* This idea courtesy of Fantastic Planet
6 comments:
Crystal wrote, "Thomas speaks of gaining knowledge but the canonical gospels speak of the deeds that flow from that knowledge."
That's about as good, and succinct description of the difference as I've ever seen. Put that way it's reminiscent of the argument of James about faith and works. Call the canonical gospels 'works' and call Thomas 'faith'. Of course 'faith' is a loaded word, with many connotations.
facing reality and then putting one's knowledge into actual practice, is difficult but rewarding.
and you get to wear cool sunglasses.
Matrix was a neat flick. There were a handful back then of philosophical type movies exploring epistemology, nature of reality stuff. Matrix was most popular. I liked Dark City better. But same basic notions.
Then there was City of Angels, where the all from higher reality (being an angel) into this world of illusions and ephemera is seen as a good thing. It suggests that we are spiritual beings and love calls us to something higher but at the same time -- to truly love we need to love through the senses and take the risks of being human -- including losing the one's we love.
Larry - maybe both faith and works are needed. I think catholics lean towards the works side and my personal feeling is that if someone is serious about something, it will show in their actions. But I appreciate the other side too ... a sort of contemplative "being"?
David - yes, Dark City was a good one! I liked City of Angels too - did you know it was a remake of another movie ... Wings of Desire ... a german film that takes place in Berlin, where one of the angels falls for a trapeze artist :-)
Oh, I like the way you used The Matrix here. Gives a real picture to the words.
Wings of Desire: yes, yes. That's been one of our favorites for many years, and we have our own copy. I didn't realize that it had started a new genre; we'll have to look up those later films.
Thanks for all your informative posts and comments, Cyrstal.
really enjoyed it. Thanks!
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