Dearest Dr Rose, the day you worry about offending people will be a sad one for me and many thousands of others.
You are (in alphabetical order) far too accomplished, articulate, beautiful, intelligent and powerful a person NOT to give offense.
The Monsignor sounds like a decent man; too honest methinks for an organisation that has effectively maintained a flimsily-evidenced narrative to its massive benefit for two millennia.
Father Carlos Martins, also a noted exorcist, said the same thing about demons/aliens on the Exorcist Files podcast. He would be a great person to talk to about this. Thank you for all of your good work.
Multi-dimensionals... Aliens, Demons, Multi-dimensionals - all could be the same entity or similar types of entities. Until a person can wrap their head around that, they are playing inside of a game different from reality.
What is reality? Didn't we visit this question in the movie The Matrix? Is it possible that we are unable to perceive and conceive of the whole truth? So, we are given small puzzle pieces. However, our mind is so limited, that we believe our view of the world is the ENTIRE puzzle instead of just a small puzzle piece or two.
Could this be why tens of millions of people can have access to the Epstein files and first hand accounts of the atrocious actions perpetrated by Epstein, Maxwell, Gates, Fauci, Obama, and others from the ruling elites and STILL not believe their own two eyes nor believe the evidence?
That's why it's important to our own growth for us to remain in an inquiry, always asking ourselves, or God, or our Higher Self, or our Guide(s) {whomever you feel comfortable communicating with)
1) What is there for me to see here in this situation?
2) What is there for me to get here?
3) What is there for me to learn here?
4) What else is there for me to see here? [Never be afraid to ask more than once, never believing that I know everything there is to know on a given topic. Be a Seeker, not a know-it-all.]
5) What am I missing, the presence of which might make a difference?
6) What am I not seeing?
If we remain in an inquiry repeatedly, constantly, and ceaselessly, our eyes, our minds, our knowledge, and our wisdom will continually expand. And, we will be able to see more than one or two points of view in any given circumstance or occurrence. Perhaps we will even be able to put ourselves into that other person's shoes and understand how they feel or felt in any given situation.
Until we do remain inside of an inquiry, we are stuck believing that our limited point of view is correct - is the ONLY correct point of view. All that does is limit what is possible.
So, a guy commonly called Jesus famously said, "Through Him all things are possible".
Do you live in in the realm of possibility? Or do you live in the land of limitation. The choice is yours. Jessica lives in the realm of Possibility and that is why God touched my heart to follow her account. She really is a gift.
I think this incident speaks more to the poor selection of McElroy as Bishop of Washington than anything else. If one believes the sayings of Jesus Christ, he spoke openly of his father and the spirit, ie the holy Trinity. If Jesus, the son, became a man on earth, what does this say to the possible existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos? If it exists, it would be secondary to mankind no? Jesus also spoke of and battled numerous times with Satan and demons. For believers of Jesus, it is much less of a stretch for Rossetti to say UFOs and aliens are demons than to state they potentially are intelligent life from planet X.
When I want knowledge about these kinds of things, I go to the indigenous folk that the church and their overlords tried to completely exterminate.
The Dogon in Mail, Africa, where they are still trying to exterminate them, have talked about the Nommo (amphibious, hermaphroditic beings from the Sirius star system who arrived on Earth in an ark-like vessel, bringing knowledge of astronomy and agricultural cycles).
The Peruvian shamans that I am acquainted with can tell chapter and verse about star relatives. And it isn’t that they’re bad!
Renowned Indian sage Paramhansa Yogananada spoke of different planets occupied by different beings , reminding me of Jesus’ saying that my father has a house with many rooms.
My own experience with star beings leaves no doubt. The only negative things that happened to me was integrating their knowledge.
However, demons (wicked interdimensional forces or a collection of spirits that form a kind of oversoul demon, do exist. The problem with humans is they have a problem with two things being true at the same time. Demons exists. Star beings exist.
But let’s be real: what do you call beings who are now actively exterminating people to acquire vast swathes of land? Performing mass rituals involving women and children? demons! And they are right here!
Yes, and genociding people to acquire swathes of land……and build resorts and casinos….and torturing people with dogs! Like the ancestors of those clans which the real Israelites were told to exterminate before they were allowed to colonize them..
First, I commend your exploration of Jesus, the early Church writings, and the inherent meanings and contradictions of body and soul. To most Catholics, the integrity of Christ's mission and love is embodied by the Sacraments. Use and belief in them really represents the dividing line between the True Church (including the Easter Orthodox members) and the churches devoted to the teachings of Christ. If and when you cross that path in to evaluating the significance and meaning of the Sacraments, I recommend reading a relatively recent book published by a Cardiologist (strict scientist): 'A Cardiologist Examines Jesus, The Stunning Science behind Eucharistic Miracles,' by Dr. Franco Serafini. It doesn't address aliens, but does apply the scientific process into evaluating the existence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Cheers and thank you again so much for your years of contributions in rescuing society from evil.
Thank you, Jessica. I love everything you write about, even the really technical stuff about COVID vaccines, which I mostly can't understand, but I always manage to find the underlying message you're saying: " Don't ever think of taking the jab", you were a beacon of light which really helped me through the dark days of the pandemic. love your departure into the spiritual end of things, and I will definitely read everything you put out about your understanding of all things spiritual, as I find myself drifting in that direction, and I have huge curiosity about Jesus and the gospel of Thomas and Gnostic teachings. I think you are like the ultimate cool gal, rebellious and virtuous and with a poetic sense of humour.
Great article! I totally agree we should approach these issues very scientifically.
The early church was actually very scientific and rigorous in a logical way in their determination of which documents were genuine and which ones were spurious: to be considered historical and true they had to have "apostolic authority". This was not some power trip -- the early church was the complete opposite of that! In the first couple of centuries, they were throwing themselves into martyrdom, they were loving their enemies with abandon, and they clearly really believed that Jesus was resurrected and that no one could really do anything to hurt them. (This lack of regard for martyrdom and the love for enemies is what no natural explanation can explain about the early church.)
An apostle had to have been an eyewitness of Jesus' resurrection, that was it, someone who had seen him alive three days and more after he died on the cross. Read Acts I, they chose another apostle to replace Judas, and this was the qualification he had to have: that he had seen the resurrected Jesus. So, a document, to be considered genuine, had to have a line of transmission attested to by an apostle, or by someone who was a disciple of a particular apostle
I went through a stage of looking into all this myself, and have read all of the apocryphal documents, and the sayings in Thomas in particular show clear signs of derivation. The particular saying you quoted shows signs that is a mistranslation of Luke 17:20. In English it has often been translated the kingdom of God is in you, but we read it wrongly, because in Greek it is plural.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would be coming, Jesus replied:
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν. The kingdom of heaven is among plural-you.
The funny thing about Chaldean (same as Aramaic, Jesus' language, the lingua franca of the country areas) is that there is some of it in the Bible - the book of Daniel has some excerpts from court documents that are written in Chaldean.
The best book I ever read on the topic of New Testament Documents is by an understated Scotsman, F F Bruce, and it is called "The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?" On some levels it has been superceded by more recent scholarship which only supports the historicity of the NT even more, but F F Bruce's book is a great overview. I would highly recommend you read this, not so that you can join some holy club of evangelical Christians who all think the same (perish the thought! That was the problem with the church during Covid) but so that you can save yourself a lot of work in filtering through the historical sources of the first century. The other thing worth doing is reading the New Testament. The NET Bible, who had Daniel Wallace on their team, a world expert in NT documents, is pretty good mostly. I've translated a lot for musical use myself, and I can mostly recommend their choices.
Regarding the claim by Monsignor Stephen Rosetti about aliens and demons, what he says is backed up by some astonishing evidence: people abducted by aliens, who pray the Lord's prayer, cry out to Jesus or who tell the aliens to go away in the name of Jesus are instantly released. This does not seem to me to be indicative of the behaviour of extra terrestrials....!
Again -- keep up the curiosity! That's what so many people are lacking today.
I first ‘met’ you Jessica through an interview you gave to Jan JeKielek.
You may well recall that interview
You discussed the management of the pandemic and the adverse events records that resulted
I was so impressed by your integrity, your hunger for the truth, your obvious willingness to forego ‘ success’ if the truth being pursued was at risk of compromise and your industriousness
My point is, all of those realities, truth, integrity, industry, are integral to good science but they are not data based, they are not quantifiable but they are real and essential.
Religion has at its core a pursuit of those spiritual goods/ virtues/ God
Why am I here, is there life after death, why is there good and evil and from whence does each arise?
Jesus, as Scripture and his body, the Church ,reminds us, is the Alpha and Omega, Emmanuel, God incarnate.
Just amazing
God who creates, God who loves us, God who forgives, God who conquers death by first submitting to it.
The substack "EKO Loves You" (Example: EKO <eko+nazarene@substack.com> ) has been writing quite a lot of the life of Jesus. I think you would enjoy his articles an I think he would like this one of yours, as well.
I am very happy you are exploring this whole topic and your efforts to learn Aramaic. We are all on a spiritual journey, and I am thankful that you are including us in your explorations. Thank you for also including the sources in this article.
Wow JR! Fascinating post touching so many subjects at once: spirituality, the nature of man, the nature of demons, the nature of ET’s, apocryphal writings, and science. I will not be so hubristic as to attempt to address all of this except to say that I am so glad you are investigating these subjects as a woman of science. As a woman of science, especially modern physics although that is not your speciality, consider the science which indicates all nature and human interactions with it and other “soulful” beings is somehow connected. Some label this as the holographic universe. Others as universal consciousness. The scriptural canon indicates we have both a soul and a spirit. John 4:24 states that God is spirit and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. John 1:1 states “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If man’s spirit comes from God, it comes from the eternal. If it comes from the eternal, it is, or can be, free as it is not constrained in its choices by fate and chance, heredity and environment, and so we are truly free to choose as we will.
I wrote a SCI Fi novella which investigates, not scientifically but in a fictional thought piece, the possibility of AGI and consciousness. You might enjoy reading it. https://haroldgielow.substack.com/p/mavin
Fellow science geek here. I highly recommend you read “New Proofs for the Existence of God” by Father Spitzer. You will love it.
Regarding the firing - Cardinal McElroy is not a pillar of discernment. Google his name and Cardinal McCarrick….but do so on an empty stomach, as it will make you sick. Msgr. Rosetti’s reply to his firing is worth reading. It is FULL of humility……this is important. God’s #1 tool is humility(the ability to conform yourself to the Truth), it is His signature Ninja move, as it can NOT be faked. It is the ultimate dying to self, the ultimate refusal to say “non serviam”……the litmus test. It is also anathema to demons, and to people who crave power/influence, consciously or subconsciously. The Apostles, and MANY after them over centuries, were willing to die for their beliefs and their beliefs have born fruit. This is different from those who are deceived and willing to die (like Jonestown) - one thing has flourished and grown, another has died on the vine. As scripture says, you will know them by their fruit. And yes, there will always be bad apples in this fallen world on both sides - Judas is Exhibit A.
Regarding the Gospel of Thomas - there are sayings in there that are beautiful, but it also teaches Duality - a separation of the soul and the body, whereas the Church teaches we are a body-soul composite. Our souls are imprinted into our body, and our body is imprinted on our soul. Science is proving this, from stories of transplant patients feeling totally new cravings to the fact that our cells have memory and transmit that memory to other cells and even on to the following generations. The difference between these 2 teachings is profound. Dualism allows you to separate the body from the soul and therefore do whatever you want to the body…it has no dignity. The other proves we must have as profound a respect for the body as we do the soul….so no, you can’t just maim the body and butcher it into the opposite sex, for example, without harming the soul. Never in the history of man has there ever been a soul without a body or a body without a soul……the 2 are what makes us human, they are our essence.
I hope in your search you give both sides a chance - meaning, you read some of the Catholic Churches teachings. That was the clincher for me. The Truth is so clear, so beautiful. And you, Jessica, are a Truth Seeker. What a wonderful journey you are on. I pray that Jesus, who is Truth, brings you His Peace and Joy…..there is nothing else like it.
Dearest Dr Rose, the day you worry about offending people will be a sad one for me and many thousands of others.
You are (in alphabetical order) far too accomplished, articulate, beautiful, intelligent and powerful a person NOT to give offense.
The Monsignor sounds like a decent man; too honest methinks for an organisation that has effectively maintained a flimsily-evidenced narrative to its massive benefit for two millennia.
Stay dangerous, Charles.
Aye aye Capn'.
Father Carlos Martins, also a noted exorcist, said the same thing about demons/aliens on the Exorcist Files podcast. He would be a great person to talk to about this. Thank you for all of your good work.
As well as the VP of the USA
Multi-dimensionals... Aliens, Demons, Multi-dimensionals - all could be the same entity or similar types of entities. Until a person can wrap their head around that, they are playing inside of a game different from reality.
What is reality? Didn't we visit this question in the movie The Matrix? Is it possible that we are unable to perceive and conceive of the whole truth? So, we are given small puzzle pieces. However, our mind is so limited, that we believe our view of the world is the ENTIRE puzzle instead of just a small puzzle piece or two.
Could this be why tens of millions of people can have access to the Epstein files and first hand accounts of the atrocious actions perpetrated by Epstein, Maxwell, Gates, Fauci, Obama, and others from the ruling elites and STILL not believe their own two eyes nor believe the evidence?
That's why it's important to our own growth for us to remain in an inquiry, always asking ourselves, or God, or our Higher Self, or our Guide(s) {whomever you feel comfortable communicating with)
1) What is there for me to see here in this situation?
2) What is there for me to get here?
3) What is there for me to learn here?
4) What else is there for me to see here? [Never be afraid to ask more than once, never believing that I know everything there is to know on a given topic. Be a Seeker, not a know-it-all.]
5) What am I missing, the presence of which might make a difference?
6) What am I not seeing?
If we remain in an inquiry repeatedly, constantly, and ceaselessly, our eyes, our minds, our knowledge, and our wisdom will continually expand. And, we will be able to see more than one or two points of view in any given circumstance or occurrence. Perhaps we will even be able to put ourselves into that other person's shoes and understand how they feel or felt in any given situation.
Until we do remain inside of an inquiry, we are stuck believing that our limited point of view is correct - is the ONLY correct point of view. All that does is limit what is possible.
So, a guy commonly called Jesus famously said, "Through Him all things are possible".
Do you live in in the realm of possibility? Or do you live in the land of limitation. The choice is yours. Jessica lives in the realm of Possibility and that is why God touched my heart to follow her account. She really is a gift.
Thank you.
and, I would add, pray for discernment. . . the magic described in the bible enabling one to consider multiple truths and find the road through them.
No. There's only one truth. And that's God's. You can either try to align with it, or right reality.
Come on man! So, do I need to scrutinize every word for you?!
how about if I say "enabling one to consider multiple apparent truthful concepts and . . ."
Happy now?
Is that Jim Dandy for you?
I think this incident speaks more to the poor selection of McElroy as Bishop of Washington than anything else. If one believes the sayings of Jesus Christ, he spoke openly of his father and the spirit, ie the holy Trinity. If Jesus, the son, became a man on earth, what does this say to the possible existence of intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos? If it exists, it would be secondary to mankind no? Jesus also spoke of and battled numerous times with Satan and demons. For believers of Jesus, it is much less of a stretch for Rossetti to say UFOs and aliens are demons than to state they potentially are intelligent life from planet X.
When I want knowledge about these kinds of things, I go to the indigenous folk that the church and their overlords tried to completely exterminate.
The Dogon in Mail, Africa, where they are still trying to exterminate them, have talked about the Nommo (amphibious, hermaphroditic beings from the Sirius star system who arrived on Earth in an ark-like vessel, bringing knowledge of astronomy and agricultural cycles).
The Peruvian shamans that I am acquainted with can tell chapter and verse about star relatives. And it isn’t that they’re bad!
Renowned Indian sage Paramhansa Yogananada spoke of different planets occupied by different beings , reminding me of Jesus’ saying that my father has a house with many rooms.
My own experience with star beings leaves no doubt. The only negative things that happened to me was integrating their knowledge.
However, demons (wicked interdimensional forces or a collection of spirits that form a kind of oversoul demon, do exist. The problem with humans is they have a problem with two things being true at the same time. Demons exists. Star beings exist.
But let’s be real: what do you call beings who are now actively exterminating people to acquire vast swathes of land? Performing mass rituals involving women and children? demons! And they are right here!
There is only one God and Demons are fallen Angels.
Indeed.
Please see my extensive and multi-linked comment with the Great Buddha of Kamakura avatar.
interesting post.
OK, so who are you implicating. . . mass rituals, vast swathes of land, involving women and children. . . ?!
Yes, and genociding people to acquire swathes of land……and build resorts and casinos….and torturing people with dogs! Like the ancestors of those clans which the real Israelites were told to exterminate before they were allowed to colonize them..
First, I commend your exploration of Jesus, the early Church writings, and the inherent meanings and contradictions of body and soul. To most Catholics, the integrity of Christ's mission and love is embodied by the Sacraments. Use and belief in them really represents the dividing line between the True Church (including the Easter Orthodox members) and the churches devoted to the teachings of Christ. If and when you cross that path in to evaluating the significance and meaning of the Sacraments, I recommend reading a relatively recent book published by a Cardiologist (strict scientist): 'A Cardiologist Examines Jesus, The Stunning Science behind Eucharistic Miracles,' by Dr. Franco Serafini. It doesn't address aliens, but does apply the scientific process into evaluating the existence of Christ in the Eucharist.
Cheers and thank you again so much for your years of contributions in rescuing society from evil.
Thanks! Sounds interesting.
Thank you, Jessica. I love everything you write about, even the really technical stuff about COVID vaccines, which I mostly can't understand, but I always manage to find the underlying message you're saying: " Don't ever think of taking the jab", you were a beacon of light which really helped me through the dark days of the pandemic. love your departure into the spiritual end of things, and I will definitely read everything you put out about your understanding of all things spiritual, as I find myself drifting in that direction, and I have huge curiosity about Jesus and the gospel of Thomas and Gnostic teachings. I think you are like the ultimate cool gal, rebellious and virtuous and with a poetic sense of humour.
Great article! I totally agree we should approach these issues very scientifically.
The early church was actually very scientific and rigorous in a logical way in their determination of which documents were genuine and which ones were spurious: to be considered historical and true they had to have "apostolic authority". This was not some power trip -- the early church was the complete opposite of that! In the first couple of centuries, they were throwing themselves into martyrdom, they were loving their enemies with abandon, and they clearly really believed that Jesus was resurrected and that no one could really do anything to hurt them. (This lack of regard for martyrdom and the love for enemies is what no natural explanation can explain about the early church.)
An apostle had to have been an eyewitness of Jesus' resurrection, that was it, someone who had seen him alive three days and more after he died on the cross. Read Acts I, they chose another apostle to replace Judas, and this was the qualification he had to have: that he had seen the resurrected Jesus. So, a document, to be considered genuine, had to have a line of transmission attested to by an apostle, or by someone who was a disciple of a particular apostle
I went through a stage of looking into all this myself, and have read all of the apocryphal documents, and the sayings in Thomas in particular show clear signs of derivation. The particular saying you quoted shows signs that is a mistranslation of Luke 17:20. In English it has often been translated the kingdom of God is in you, but we read it wrongly, because in Greek it is plural.
When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would be coming, Jesus replied:
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν. The kingdom of heaven is among plural-you.
The funny thing about Chaldean (same as Aramaic, Jesus' language, the lingua franca of the country areas) is that there is some of it in the Bible - the book of Daniel has some excerpts from court documents that are written in Chaldean.
The best book I ever read on the topic of New Testament Documents is by an understated Scotsman, F F Bruce, and it is called "The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?" On some levels it has been superceded by more recent scholarship which only supports the historicity of the NT even more, but F F Bruce's book is a great overview. I would highly recommend you read this, not so that you can join some holy club of evangelical Christians who all think the same (perish the thought! That was the problem with the church during Covid) but so that you can save yourself a lot of work in filtering through the historical sources of the first century. The other thing worth doing is reading the New Testament. The NET Bible, who had Daniel Wallace on their team, a world expert in NT documents, is pretty good mostly. I've translated a lot for musical use myself, and I can mostly recommend their choices.
Regarding the claim by Monsignor Stephen Rosetti about aliens and demons, what he says is backed up by some astonishing evidence: people abducted by aliens, who pray the Lord's prayer, cry out to Jesus or who tell the aliens to go away in the name of Jesus are instantly released. This does not seem to me to be indicative of the behaviour of extra terrestrials....!
Again -- keep up the curiosity! That's what so many people are lacking today.
Jacques Vallée, probably the most rigorous researcher into UFO phenomena, agreed with Monsignor Stephen Rosetti's conclusions as well, in the end.
I first ‘met’ you Jessica through an interview you gave to Jan JeKielek.
You may well recall that interview
You discussed the management of the pandemic and the adverse events records that resulted
I was so impressed by your integrity, your hunger for the truth, your obvious willingness to forego ‘ success’ if the truth being pursued was at risk of compromise and your industriousness
My point is, all of those realities, truth, integrity, industry, are integral to good science but they are not data based, they are not quantifiable but they are real and essential.
Religion has at its core a pursuit of those spiritual goods/ virtues/ God
Why am I here, is there life after death, why is there good and evil and from whence does each arise?
Jesus, as Scripture and his body, the Church ,reminds us, is the Alpha and Omega, Emmanuel, God incarnate.
Just amazing
God who creates, God who loves us, God who forgives, God who conquers death by first submitting to it.
Keep up your great work, Jessica.
The substack "EKO Loves You" (Example: EKO <eko+nazarene@substack.com> ) has been writing quite a lot of the life of Jesus. I think you would enjoy his articles an I think he would like this one of yours, as well.
I am very happy you are exploring this whole topic and your efforts to learn Aramaic. We are all on a spiritual journey, and I am thankful that you are including us in your explorations. Thank you for also including the sources in this article.
Yes please! I was thinking the exact same thing. If Jessica and EKO collaborate we might just figure this whole thing out!
The Church™️ and The Science™️ aren’t going to like it.
Very much appreciate this substack article, thank you!
Yes.
You’re acceptable Jessica! And we agree with everything you and that real priest exorcist said…and the Bishop needs to pray more or read more or both!
Wow JR! Fascinating post touching so many subjects at once: spirituality, the nature of man, the nature of demons, the nature of ET’s, apocryphal writings, and science. I will not be so hubristic as to attempt to address all of this except to say that I am so glad you are investigating these subjects as a woman of science. As a woman of science, especially modern physics although that is not your speciality, consider the science which indicates all nature and human interactions with it and other “soulful” beings is somehow connected. Some label this as the holographic universe. Others as universal consciousness. The scriptural canon indicates we have both a soul and a spirit. John 4:24 states that God is spirit and those who worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. John 1:1 states “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If man’s spirit comes from God, it comes from the eternal. If it comes from the eternal, it is, or can be, free as it is not constrained in its choices by fate and chance, heredity and environment, and so we are truly free to choose as we will.
I wrote a SCI Fi novella which investigates, not scientifically but in a fictional thought piece, the possibility of AGI and consciousness. You might enjoy reading it. https://haroldgielow.substack.com/p/mavin
Artificial General Intelligence.
AGI
Adjusted Gross Income. . . ???huh?
Fellow science geek here. I highly recommend you read “New Proofs for the Existence of God” by Father Spitzer. You will love it.
Regarding the firing - Cardinal McElroy is not a pillar of discernment. Google his name and Cardinal McCarrick….but do so on an empty stomach, as it will make you sick. Msgr. Rosetti’s reply to his firing is worth reading. It is FULL of humility……this is important. God’s #1 tool is humility(the ability to conform yourself to the Truth), it is His signature Ninja move, as it can NOT be faked. It is the ultimate dying to self, the ultimate refusal to say “non serviam”……the litmus test. It is also anathema to demons, and to people who crave power/influence, consciously or subconsciously. The Apostles, and MANY after them over centuries, were willing to die for their beliefs and their beliefs have born fruit. This is different from those who are deceived and willing to die (like Jonestown) - one thing has flourished and grown, another has died on the vine. As scripture says, you will know them by their fruit. And yes, there will always be bad apples in this fallen world on both sides - Judas is Exhibit A.
Regarding the Gospel of Thomas - there are sayings in there that are beautiful, but it also teaches Duality - a separation of the soul and the body, whereas the Church teaches we are a body-soul composite. Our souls are imprinted into our body, and our body is imprinted on our soul. Science is proving this, from stories of transplant patients feeling totally new cravings to the fact that our cells have memory and transmit that memory to other cells and even on to the following generations. The difference between these 2 teachings is profound. Dualism allows you to separate the body from the soul and therefore do whatever you want to the body…it has no dignity. The other proves we must have as profound a respect for the body as we do the soul….so no, you can’t just maim the body and butcher it into the opposite sex, for example, without harming the soul. Never in the history of man has there ever been a soul without a body or a body without a soul……the 2 are what makes us human, they are our essence.
I hope in your search you give both sides a chance - meaning, you read some of the Catholic Churches teachings. That was the clincher for me. The Truth is so clear, so beautiful. And you, Jessica, are a Truth Seeker. What a wonderful journey you are on. I pray that Jesus, who is Truth, brings you His Peace and Joy…..there is nothing else like it.
I agree. All of Fr. Spitzer's work is brilliant and worth study
Well said Ringmaster.
Keep devouring the chocolate bar!
Interesting 👍