RE: Sinning, as Jesus and the church say, is good. Turn or burn Christians.
September 23, 2020 at 6:05 pm
(This post was last modified: September 23, 2020 at 6:06 pm by Belacqua.)
(September 23, 2020 at 5:35 pm)Greatest I am Wrote: We are universalists and do not discriminate against gays and women without a just cause the way Christians do.
When you say "we," are you referring only to your current group of gnostics? Or is this true of gnostics in general, all the time?
One thing that seems safe to say about gnostics: there was a wide variety. Differences of opinion among gnostics were even wider than among the early Christians, at least at first. I don't know, maybe you guys have reached consensus by this time.
Christians haven't yet reached an overall consensus regarding gay people. More and more Christians say they're fine. My niece's church says on its home page that they're happy to do gay weddings.
In general, gnostics hold that matter is evil and spirit is good. In many cases this has led to skepticism concerning bodily pleasures. Asceticism, including a rejection of both gay and straight sex, was not unusual.
Can you point to any early gnostic texts (say, first or second century) that address homosexuality? Scholarly secondary sources would also be interesting.