Gnostic Doctrine

Wednesday 30 October 2019

Evil exists because of free will


19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Galatians 5

Evil exists because of free will.

Free will is Wisdom who gives understanding.

Jesus

Tuesday 22 October 2019

possessions the gospel of philip


 the gospel of philip possessions

The lord said to the students,
“From every house you are in, take out possessions,
but take things into the father’s house
and do not steal what is inside and run off.”

The Lord said to the disciples, "[...] from every house [individual soul]. Bring into the house of the Father [unite all into the Christ Consciousness  - this also may be referring to silver and gold vessels as found in 2 Chronicles 15??]. But do not take [for yourself] (anything) in the house of the Father nor carry it off [this appears to be directed at those who once knowing the truth turn away and go back the beggarly elements of the world and/or use it for “unjust gain”?]." (Philip 13)

What does 666 represent? Revelation 13

What does 666 represent?




"Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six." (666)
Is the number ‘666’ mentioned somewhere else in the Old Testament?
Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4-7). His height is six cubits. He had six pieces of armor. His spear head weighed 600 shekels of iron (iron, the metal of Rome, Dan. 2). Goliath's brothers had 6 fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot (2 Sam. 21:20).

It should be noted that the only place the number ‘666’ appears in the Old Testament is with King Solomon when he met the Queen of Sheba after building a house for Yahweh. The number refers to the weight of gold talents that the kings and queens gave him as gifts in one year. "Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold (2 Chr 9:13, I Kings 10:14);"

Although the number is hidden in a mystery, it appears again in the Bible in the dimensions of the golden image built by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and the number of musicians who played at the celebration. The image was 6 cubits wide and 60 cubits in height. There were also 6 musicians present which gives the number 666 (Dn. 3:1-7). At the time that the musicians played, everyone was required to bow to this golden image. If they did not, the king ordered them to be thrown into the fiery furnace. Three Israelites Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego refused and they were thrown into the furnace (Dn. 3:14-20). For their obedience to the Law of Moses, Elohim delivered them, miraculously saving them unsinged (Dan. 3rd Chapter).
What does the number 6 represent?
In Hebrew theology, the number ‘6’ has special meaning. It represents the number of a man who was created on the 6th day of Moses’ vision. Now ‘6’ is one short of the number ‘7’ which in Hebrew theology represents perfection. Elohim worked 7 days to complete or perfect creation. The three ‘6s’ represent man being incomplete state. The number ‘6’ symbolically represents man in an undeveloped spiritual state which Paul called being carnal minded (Rom. 8:6). 

The number of “the wild beast” is 666 and is called “a man’s number,” indicating that it has to do with imperfect, fallen man, and it seems to symbolize the imperfection of that which is represented by “the wild beast.” The number six being emphasized to a third degree (the six appearing in the position of units, tens, and hundreds) therefore highlights the imperfection and deficiency of that which the beast represents, or pictures
The Beast:
Ec 3:18  I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts.
Ec 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.

Psalem 49:20  Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, Is like the beasts that perish.

Mankind has observed the characteristics and habits of animals and has applied them in a figurative or symbolic sense to persons, peoples, governments, and organizations. Thus the beast is a symbol of human consciousness organised collectively in opposition to God and his kingdom

—The Barbarian nations are figuratively described as "evil beasts" (Tit. 1:12).

Usually the number 666 is understood has a numerical equivalent of a word or name, both Hebrew or Greek, use the letters of their alphabets as numbers.

"for the number is that of a man":

Mankind was made on the 6th day therefore the number 6 is a man's number

Six is the number of Sin

Sin is symbolized by the number 666. Six is twelve divided. Twelve is the number symbolizing GOVERNMENTAL PERFECTION. (As contrasted to the number seven, which symbolizes SPIRITUAL PERFECTION.) Six--half of twelve. Six--half whole, not whole, un-whole, unholy.

All sin, error, evil, and negativity are the result of lack of true understanding, with or without the accompaniment of malice or violence. Sin and evil are words which refer to ANY HUMAN ATTEMPT TO nullify the DIVINE teachings.

Six, repeated three times, could symbolize repeated attempts to nullify the meaning of 144,000 the number symbolizing spiritual wholeness or rightness and perfect completion

And so the number of the man of sin -- 666 -- will give way to the number of the man of righteousness -- the 144,000 on Mount Zion, who have the name of the Lamb and of his Father (in contrast to the name of the Beast: Rev 13:17) written on their foreheads (Rev 14:1)!

Here is the simplest "explanation" of the 666: there are six Roman numerals that, taken in various combinations, account for all the smaller numbers. They are I (= 1), V (= 5), X (= 10), L (= 50), C (= 100), and D (= 500), Thus the SIX common Roman numerals have a total value of 600 (500 + 100), 60 (50 + 10), and 6 (5 + 1). These are all the numerals involved in the Roman system, at the lower level, until the number 1,000 is reached (which is denoted by "M" -- for "mille", or thousand). This is itself is significant: the lesser numbers, in all their possible combinations, represent all men, or all mankind (Roman, at least!) -- until we come to the "M" (the SEVENTH numeral) -- which, obviously, represents the Millennium! When the Millennium begins, all the numbers of "man" (totaling 666) will cease!
The Papacy
Revelation 13:18. Here is wisdom. He who has understanding must calculate the number of the beast, [the papacy]: for it is the number [standing or value] of a man. The Man of Sin, the Papacy. — Rev. 19:20; 2 Thes. 2:3.; and his number is 666.

From the second century A.D. onwards, the interpretation "LATEINOS" has been given, because the numerical values of the letters add to 666. This identification was given by Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp (born A.D. 70) who was contemporary with the apostle John

The official name or title of the popes is "Vicar of the Son of God" -- 'Vicarius Filii Dei'
V
I
C
A
R
I
U
S
F
I
L
I
I
D
E
I
5
1
100
0
0
1
5
0
0
1
50
1
1
500
0
1
=
666

 

The Hebrew word for this power is 'ROMIITH' -- the Hebrew value being:
R
O
M
I
I
TH
  
200
6
40
10
10
400
=
666

 

The official signature of the Pope is "DUX CLERI" which means "High" or "Chief Priest." Being Latin this adds to:
D
U
X
C
L
E
R
I
  
500
5
10
100
50
0
0
1
=
666


[666—is the total value of the pope’s crown inscribed with this title translated means Vicar of the Son of God and by accepting such a one as an earthly head, it would constitute one as a part of the anti-Christ].

The mark of the best is the number of a man that is the man of sin so who is the man of sin?

The distinctive marks of the man of sin, identified in 2 Thessalonians  2:
The Apostasy
abandonment of truth.2:3
The Man Of Sin an individual apostate.2:3
The Man Of Sin a religious organisation continuing from Paul’s time to Christ’s return.2:3 to 2:8
Exalts Self Above All That Is Called Godclaim to be vicar and vice-regent of both God and Christ.2:4
Coming After The Working of Satan disguising Apostacy under forms of Christian religion.2:9
With All Power, Signs and Lying wondersclaiming power of priesthood, mediatorship, secular and spiritual government, and miraculous signs and healings.2:9
Have PleasureIn Unrighteousness - profligate, licentious and immoral.2:12
  • Antichrist is the Greek word “antichristos” transferred directly, and untranslated, into English.
  • Antichrist has a meaning, translatable into English, which is “One instead of Christ”
  • Antichrist is therefore someone who claims to be in Christ’s place.
  • Antichrist is identical in meaning to the Latin term: “Vicarius Christi “Vicar of Christ
  • Vicar of Christ is one of many evidences which identify the papacy and Roman Catholicism with Antichrist.
  • At the close of the council of Rome in AD 495, the assembled bishops shouted in honour of the pope “We see thou art the Vicar of Christ”!
  • In assuming the title Vicar of Christ the papacy has identified itself as the Antichrist.

Thus, every time the Pope of Rome officially signs a document, he writes the Latin equivalent of the number 666.

The number 666 has been attributed to many different persons at different times, since John was given the Revelation. Many believe it was a warning from John. The number 666 has most often been attributed to the Emperor Nero--who was the first to persecute Christians.

The number 6 in scripture represents Mankind (created on the 6th day); as such, it does not refer to any one person or thing.

[The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin languages use letters to represent a numerical value. Over the past few years, with the advent of computers, many scholars are attempting to decipher "The Bible Code." ed.]


Gospel of Thomas saying 32

 Jesus says: "A city built on a high mountain, and which is strong, it is not possible that it should fall, and it cannot be hidden!"

This saying is about preaching or missionary work, the disciples are compared to a city the heavenly Jerusalem “being built on a high mountain” cp. Rev 21:10. The city is Yahweh’s house and is made up of all true believers (Jer 31:38; Rev 21:9-22). The high mountain is mount Zion the place where Yahweh elected he shall dwell among his people (Deut 12:11 Ps 132:14) and therefore symbolises the ecclesia (2Cor 6;16) Zion is a symbol of permanency (Ps 125:1). A true believer is a citizen of Zion (Ps 87:1-5) Ezekiel saw the literal mountain Ezek 40:2 as it will be after the earthquake shall have elevated Zion (zech 14:4,10)

The city cannot be hidden that is all nations shall flow to it and say teach us your ways for the law shall go out of Zion the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem. (Jer 3:17)
“that cannot be sieged.” or “Fortified“, that is fortified with the truth, the word of God, and the full amour of God which I have spoken about before in saying 21. When we put on the full amour of God Yahweh becomes our fortress 2sam 22:2 Ps 31:2

32)# Jesus said, "A city [new Jerusalem] being built on a high mountain [God's Kingdom] and fortified [faith being strengthened through tribulation (refining fire)] cannot fall ["the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"], nor can it be hidden [the whole world will eventually see it]." 

Gospel of Thomas Saying 31

 Jesus says: "A prophet is not accepted in his <own> city, and a doctor does not heal those who know him."

Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own country; no physician heals those who know him.

 The saying about the physician resembles 'Physician, heal yourself', a proverb quoted in Luke 4.23

Here Jesus is speaking about himself and his followers as rejected prophets like the prophets of old who were rejected and killed. This is a warning that his followers can expect to be treated as he was.

31) Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own village [the Jews rejected Him just as Israel rejected the prophets before Him and still do to this day]; no physician [true disciple who has the life in him] heals those who know him [the Christo-pagans believe in Him but have no faith ("let it be according to your faith") as these would rather enjoy the fruits and wine of the world than turn around and be healed - "their faith is counted as unfaithfulness"]." 

Returning to the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas saying 49

49 Jesus said: Blessed are the solitary and the elect, for you will find the kingdom, for you came forth from it, (and) you will return to it again. 50 Jesus said, "If they say to you (plur.), 'Where are you from?' say to them, 'It is from light that we have come - from the place where light, of its own accord alone, came into existence and [stood at rest]. And it has been shown forth in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say 'We are its offspring, and we are the chosen of the living father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father within you?' say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'"

 for you will find the kingdom, for you came forth from it, (and) you will return to it again.

Where you are from and where you are going are the same place

This saying should by read with saying 50. For when you are sent forth from Jesus, if they say to you where did you come from? Say to them we came from the light, the place where the light came into being on its own accord and established itself and become manifest in our image if they say to you who are you Tell them we are his children we are the elect of the living father.

"Find the Kingdom" the solitary and the elect ones are always seeking the Kingdom

“And you will return to it” on the day on which the true believers receive the promises and being made perfect heb 11:1,13,39,49. This is the a new creation in Christ to be born again 

(John 1:13) and they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.

(2 Corinthians 5:17) Consequently if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away, look! new things have come into existence.

(Galatians 6:15) For neither is circumcision anything nor is uncircumcision, but a new creation [is something].

(1 Peter 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

(1 Peter 1:23) For YOU have been given a new birth, not by corruptible, but by incorruptible [reproductive] seed, through the word of [the] living and enduring God.


(1 John 3:9) Everyone who has been born from God does not carry on sin, because His [reproductive] seed remains in such one, and he cannot practice sin, because he has been born from God.

49) Jesus said, "Blessed are the solitary and elect [those who are set-apart from the world and religion], for you will find the Kingdom [because these never stop seeking for it]. For you are from it [were created in the image of God before being re-created in the image of man], and to it you will return [after you have been refined and purified by "Christ (the Word) in you, the hope of glory"]." 

Preaching Gospel of Thomas saying 50

49 Jesus said: Blessed are the solitary and the elect, for you will find the kingdom, for you came forth from it, (and) you will return to it again. 50 Jesus said, "If they say to you (plur.), 'Where are you from?' say to them, 'It is from light that we have come - from the place where light, of its own accord alone, came into existence and [stood at rest]. And it has been shown forth in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say 'We are its offspring, and we are the chosen of the living father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father within you?' say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'"

This saying should by read with saying 49

Here Jesus is teaching his disciples about what to say if they are ask questions on missionary work. 

But Who are “they”? they are people outside of the community who are asking the missionaries who they are, so Jesus is telling them how to answer their questions. Or they could be the Pharisees or leaders of synagogues in Gaille or Juedea. 

“say to them, we came from the light” This part of the saying continues the thought of Saying 24. The subject-matter of this saying is much the same as that of Saying 49; for the place of light cf. Sayings 24, 77. Jesus is speaking about himself here as the light of the world and The disciples are the light of the world (Matthew 7:14) because Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). 

They are from above, from the place where the light shines in the darkness (John 1:5). They are sons of the light (saying 24), and the elect. If men ask for a sign, as they asked Jesus (Mark 8:11-12; Matthew 16:1-4; Luke 11:16, 29-30), no startling miracle can be shown them, but only 'a movement and a rest.' The 'rest' must be the rest characteristic of the kingdom (Sayings 1 [Greek], 52, 90); the 'movement' is
for the place of light cf. Sayings 24, 77. 

God is light and he is the pre-existent one for there was never a time when God did not exist and Theos was the logos that is deity was the plan and in this plan was life and the life was the light of men. that is spiritual life, which is produced by the light of God's word -- not natural life! And thereby setting the parameters of "beginning" and "creation": the "beginning" of God's revelation of His Son to the world, and the new, spiritual "creation" of believers in him. The word (plan) became flesh at Jesus’ baptism and the text of the Diatessaron confirms this see section III. 46: 

This man came to bear witness, that he might bear witness to the light, that every man might believe through his mediation. He was not the light, bat that he might bear witness to the light, which was the light of truth, that giveth light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. And those who received him, to them gave he the power that they might be sons of God,--those which believe in his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. And the Word became flesh, and took up his abode among us; and we saw his glory as the glory of the only Son from the Father, which is full of grace and equity. John bare witness of him, and cried, and said, This is he that I said cometh after me and was before me, because he was before me. And of his fullness received we all grace for grace. For the law was given through the mediation of Moses, but truth and grace were through Jesus Christ. (Matthew 3:16 

15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he allowed him. 
16 When Jesus was immersed a bright light played upon the water, so that all who had come there were afraid. After his immersion, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon him. 
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." In Luke 3:22 Instead of “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight,” one Greek ms and several Latin mss and church fathers (D it Ju [Cl] Meth Hil Aug) quote Ps 2:7 outright with “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” 

here than the place where the light came into being was at Jesus’ baptism when the word was made flesh although the became flesh at his birth however at his baptism the word truly became flesh when Jesus was anointed with the holy spirit he became the Messiah the promised seed of the woman and son of God and after his resurrection Jesus was born once more 
Rom 1:4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: so Jesus was born 3 times the 1st by the holy spirit and Mary and this made him son of man and son of God and the second at his baptism and the 3rd after his resurrection so we have light at his baptism and at the transfiguring and after his resurrection from the dead he became light and this is the place where light came into being by its self in the Lord Jesus 
Mt 4:16 Mt 17:2Lu 1:79Lu 11:35 Lu 11:36 Lu 16:8 Ac 9:3 Ac 12:7 Ac 22:6 Ac 22:9Ac 22:11 Ac 26:13 Ac 26:18 Eph 5:8 Col 1:12 1Th 5:5 1Ti 6:16 1Jo 1:5 1Jo 1:7 1Jo 1Jo 2:9 1Jo 2:10 Re 21:11 Re 21:23 Re 21:24 Re 22:5 

The relationship to the living Father has been mentioned in Saying 3 (cf. Saying 37). 
For the 'image' the light dwells in our image the image is a reference to being the twin bother of Jesus for our image should be the same as the son of God and being the same as the Son of God we are sons of God see Saying 83. 

The 'rest' must be the rest characteristic of the kingdom (Sayings 1 [Greek], 52, 90);
The 'movement' may 

50) Jesus said, "If they [religious leaders] say to you [the Elect], 'Where did you come from?', say to them, 'We came from the light [we were born of holy spirit], the place where the light came into being on its own accord ["the holy spirit blows where it will and we do not know it" - i.e. we have no part in the calling that takes place among the Elect] and established [itself] and became manifest through their image [their forms of worship, in their ordinances, traditions and festivals etc.. all lower/outward {fleshly} forms and rituals) which were designed to point them to the advent of Messiah].' If they say to you, 'Is it [the light] you?', say, 'We are its children [born again in spirit], we are the elect [sons] of the Living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father in you [how can we believe you? Show us proof]?', say to them, 'It is movement [being drawn out of the world and into the Kingdom - i.e. from darkness to light, from the letter to the spirit, from unrighteousness to righteousness, etc..] and repose [true rest in Him knowing He is working a work in you - i..e you "cease from your own works].'" (Mt 7:14; Jn 8:12; Jn 1:5; Mk 8:11-12; Mt 16:1-4; Lk 11:16, 29-30; compare Sayings 84; 83; 24; 77; 3; 37; 51; 52; 53)

Christadelphian Connection to Gnosticism

Christadelphian Connection to Gnosticism
or 
Christadelphian Connection to Valentinianism





You may say that this is a strange topic, or this is a contradiction if ever I've heard one. Christadelphian Connection to Gnosticism That's like saying "I'm a Muslim Catholic" or "I'm a Buddhist Mormon".


Well it is something we are going to explore in this study 



Knowledge

If anyone has spoken to a Christadelphian they will see that they know there Bible very well and studies are deep on intellectual knowledge

Robert Roberts writes in Christendm Astray: 


Knowledge must always precede belief; for a man cannot believe that of which he has not previously been informed.


Dr John Thomas Clerical Theology Unscriptural....we are saved by “the renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Tit. iii. 5).


It also says, we are renewed by knowledge” (Col. iii. 10). In this, however, it does not contradict its self, but rather makes the one phrase explanatory of the other; as if he had said, “we are renewed by the Holy Spirit through knowledge.” The Holy Spirit renews or regenerates man intellectually and morally by the truth believed. “Sanctify them by thy truth,” says Jesus; “thy word, O Father, is truth” (John xvii. 17). “Ye are clean,” said he to his apostles, “through the word which I have spoken to you” (John xv. 3). God’s power is manifested through means. His Spirit is His power by which He effects intellectual, moral, and physical results. When He wills to produce intellectual and moral effects, it is by knowledge revealed by His Spirit through the prophets and apostles. This knowledge becomes power when received into “good and honest hearts”; and because God is the author of it, it is styled “the Knowledge of God” (2 Pet. i. 2), or “the word of truth” (James i. 18),


notes the emphasis on knowledge Dr. Thomas calls this in his writings precise and correct knowledge (epignosis)


The Gnostic understanding of knowledge is also regarded as way to salvation but this is a different type of knowledge called gnosis


Gnosis is a mystical knowledge


So both the Gnostics and the Christadelphians believe salvation comes by knowledge. This alone would make the 
Christadelphians Gnostic.



Cosmology

The founders of the Christadelphian faith had an interesting cosmology of creation something rejected by modern Christadelphians

The Ways of Providence by Robert Roberts chapter 2:


Furthermore, the form of the glorious Creator, shadowed to us in various places, completes the chain of ascending clues by which we are enabled to lay hold of that conception of the Father which is exactly suited to our spiritual requirements—the idea of a glorious corporate intelligence located in the heart of the universe upholding all things by the word of His power. Man is stated by James to be “made after the similitude of God,” even the Father—see context (James 3:9). Paul also says he is “the image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). Christ, formed in fashion as a man, is said to be “the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15); and “the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3); which gives force to Jehovah’s description of him as “the man that is my fellow” (Zech. 13:7). From this results the conviction that the Father is not only glorious substance, even spirit substance, but that this substance has the human form in its perfection. The Father’s person is, in fact, the prototype of all intelligent being. Of Moses, it was said, as indicative of the privilege which he alone enjoyed in his day, “the similitude of the Lord shall he behold” (Num. 12:8); and, further, that “there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deut. 34:10), “as a man speaketh to his friend” (Ex. 33:11). That this referred to the angelic manifestation of Jehovah is unquestionable; but still the fact remains that the similitude he beheld was the similitude of Jehovah. Thus the angels are in Jehovah’s image, and we in the image of the angels, and therefore Jehovah’s.

Dr. Thomas, in a scrap written just before his death, and found among his papers afterwards, thus defines the foregoing scripturally-revealed conception of the Father, of whom are all things: “Absolute power, from whose incorruptible substance or hypostasis free spirit radiates, is before all existing things. This self-existing incorruptible substance is essentially spirit—spirit substance—a concentration and condensation into ONE BODY of all the attributes, intellectual, moral and physical, of omnipotence—all things are out of Deity (1 Cor. 8:6). All things being out of Deity, they were not made out of nothing. The sun, moon and stars, together with all things pertaining to each, were made out of something, and that something was the radiant effluence of His substance, or free spirit, which pervades unbounded space. By free spirit, all created things are connected with the centre of the universe, which is light that no man can approach unto, so that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father, who is not far from every one of us. The formation of the first man of the earth was the expression by spirit of the peculiar divine idea or mental image. The spirit-developed form, styled man, was the result of power divinely exercised upon the dust of the ground. Electricity, divinely manipulated and incorporated with the dust (itself an electrical product) assumed the form of the divine image and likeness and stood erect, a living, natural body, or man.”


Here in the Ways of Providence both Robert Roberts and Dr. john Thomas are teaching a doctrine of emanations. They believe that God is corporeal and from his incorruptible substance emanates his holy spirit which is compared with Electricity or we may say today atoms protons and neutrons which is the substance of matter so the creation came out of God himself

In Phanerosis (1869) Dr. Thomas writes about the emanation of the Deity: 


Phanerosis pages 18 to 20

The archetype is the hypostasis, so that hypostasis is the basis or foundation of character; wherefore the same apostle in Col. 1:15, styles the character engraved the "Image" of Theos the Invisible (eikon tou Theou tou aoratou).


Seth was the image of Adam, and Adam, the image of Elohim (Gen. 1:26; 5:3). Like Seth, Jesus was an image of Adam, but only in relation to flesh. Adam the First was the image of Elohim, and this was in relation to bodily form. Body and form were the hypostasis of Adam and Seth; that is, they were the basis or foundation of the images so named. Where body and form do not exist, there can be no image; therefore, where image is predicated of hypostasis, that hypostasis must have both body and form. The Father-Spirit, unveiled, is, then, a bodily form; and as all things are "out of Him," He is the focal centre of the universe, from which irradiates whatever exists.


The Father-Spirit is embodied power. Paternal power implies offspring or children, children or SONS OF POWER. Son-power is also embodied power. It is power emanating from the Father, corporealized in one or a multitude, but never separated or detached from the focal centre. The Son-power is, therefore, the Father-power, multitudinously expressed, manifested through many bodies. This is illustrated in the science of arithmetic. Arithmetic is the scence of numbers. The hypostasis or basis of this science is the multitudinous expression of one, a multiplication of number one. Let there be no numerical power called one, and there could be no five, fifty, or any other combination of one. One is the great power of the arithmetical universe; and all the other powers resulting from the multiplication of one combined, cannot exclude one therefrom, without annihilating themselves, and expunging the system. This is true of Son-power, individually or multitudinously expressed, in relation to the One Father-power. Hence Jesus was led to remark, "The Son can do nothing of himself," and again, "I can of mine own self do nothing" (John 5:19,30). "The flesh," said he, "profits nothing." As son of Mary, he pretended to no power, wisdom or superiority. Mary's son was "the Vail of the Covering" to be rent. The Vail in which the Father-power was veiled, the Flesh-medium of Power-manifestation.



"He only hath deathlessness." Life radiating from His hypostasis or substance, is spirit-life Eloahh ruach, power of spirit. Formative of a creature, and sustaining it in life, it is power of spirit, or spirit-power for that creature. Twelve such Eloahh ruach become Elohim ruchoth, spirit-powers of the twelve. Hence, these Elohim are son-powers, or emanations from Ail (EL), the great "paternal power." He is therefore the Ail of all flesh, as well as Elohim for all flesh. "The ruach or spirit of Ail (EL) has made me, and the nishmath or breath of the Shaddai, or Mighty Ones, hath given me life" (Job. 33:4). Here is the Spirit of Ail through the breath of Shaddai that gives life to men. This withdrawn and they die. Hence it is written: "If He gather unto himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn unto dust" (34:14).

In this elaboration, then, we have Father-Power, Son-Power, or emanation, and Free Spirit. Moses and the prophets teach this, as we have seen. The Father-Power is One; the Son-Power is the One Father-Power in plural manifestation; and the manifestation is developed by Free Spirit emanation from the Father Power. This is not only Scriptural but reasonable; and right reason and Scripture always go together.


 The answer is, by the spirit, self-named Yahweh or Yah, whose sons, messengers, and servants they are. Spirit radiant from the eternal centre of light and power embodied itself in them ; and from them as secondary focal organizations, radiated into the substance of the earth and waters; by which radiation a collateral connection was established with " the free spirit" directly emanating from the Focal Centre of the Universe, permeating and pervading all atoms. Holding such a relation to all things, and energized by such a power, they could 


The word emanate with different suffixes occurs 10 times in Phanerosis

In Many Gnostic systems the emanations are called Aeons Dr. Thomas calls them Elohim or Powers



Creation

The Deity, according to Christadelphians, is not immediately the creator of our world, nor of our race. We owe what we are and have to the creative agency of numerous subordinate Powers (Elohim), or angels, so that creation is not the work of ONE GOD only, but of many Gods. Dr. Thomas in Elpis Israel wrote:-

"There will be found no good reason to question the conclusion that Elohim [translated God in Gen. 1:1] is a noun plural, and signifies Gods, and ought to be so rendered throughout the chapter."

"It pleased the King Eternal, nearly six thousand years ago, to add a new habitable province to His dominions, not by an original creation of a globe, but by the reconstruction of one already existing as one of the solar planets. He commanded His angels to go and execute the works, according to the order detailed by Moses. They harkened unto the voice of His word, and in six days finished all they were commanded to do."


"But the animals were still without a king; therefore, said the chief of the Elohim, 'Let us make man in our own image.' There was none like the Elohim of all the creatures they had made, therefore they determined to make an animal after their own form. They shaped him with head, limbs, and body, like their own, so that he stood before them the earthly image of the celestial Elohim. As much their image as Seth was the image of his father Adam."


"It is credible that they [the Elohim] were once animal men of other spheres; that in a former state they were made subject to vanity not willingly; that while in the flesh they believed and obeyed God; that they succumbed to death as mortal men; that they rose from the dead, and so attained to immortality as the Elohim of the Invisible God. ..."



"Mortal and corruptible beings like ourselves become Elohim, mighty in strength, and framers of new worlds." 


This understanding that the angels or Elohim made the physical creation is shared by many Gnostic groups and I believe many Christadelphians today still believe this whichi s a good thing 



Logos

Gnostic view the logos has the first thought of God not a separate person or being or second God

The Gnostic Bible page 811

Logos Word; the word of god, commonly personified, is comparable to the wisdom of god

in gnostic and other texts. In Judaism the divine logos is the creative word of Genesis,
and in Greco-Roman philosophy, including stoicism and forms of platonism, the divine
logos is the reason and rationality that permeate the cosmos. In the Johannine tradition
the logos is particularly prominent, and Jesus is said to be the manifestation or
incarnation of the divine word. In the Mother of Books Salman is called the word of

god. In the Second Treatise of the Great Seth the word translated as "treatise" is logos


Theodotus: Excerpta ex Theodoto 8 But we maintain that the essential Logos is God in God, who is also said to be “in the bosom of the Father,” continuous, undivided, one God.

Jesus: God the Son or Son of God? Does the Bible Teach the Trinity?Jesus: God the Son or Son of God? Does the Bible Teach the Trinity?:

Since logos was in current use in the Greek philosophy of his day, John needed to give it the true sense of the Biblical revelation. So logos, first a thought conceived in the mind, then demonstrated in action, stands for the wisdom of God expressed in His purpose. The Word represents therefore the mind of God. That is why "the Word was God", or as the New English Bible puts it: "what God was the Word was" -- the true significance of God is His mind and His will.

Terminology

Dr. Thomas writings have a lot in common with Gnostic terminology. In his writing Dr. Thomas has created his own terminology for God he uses Deity for the Greek word Theos and for the Hebrew word EL he uses  AIL or Ail. As well there is the term "the Uncreated and Eternal Spirit"
He does not translated the words Olam and Aeon into English but leaves them untranslated.   
The Angels are called Elohim they are sometimes translated by Dr. Thomas as Powers, Powerful Ones, Mighty Ones Dr. Thomas like to use the word Powers a lot in Phanerosis

Thus mystifying the oracles of God



The soul

Christadelphians reject the doctrine that the soul is immortal 

Birmingham Amended Statement of Faith (BASF):

4. That the first man was Adam, whom God created out of the dust of the ground as a living soul, or natural body of life, "very good" [Publisher's Note: Gen. 1:31] in kind and condition, and placed him under a law through which the continuance of life was contingent on obedience.
Gen. 2:7; 18:27; Job 4:19; 33:6; 1 Cor. 15:46-49; Gen. 2:17.



Doctrines to be Rejected 7. 
We reject the doctrine - that man has an immortal soul. [The soul of man defines his being, his life, his existence; and is related to his attitude and emotions. He is wholly mortal, and has no immortal essence hereditarily.] 



Gnostic understanding of the soul

Some Christian Gnostics groups also reject the doctrine of the immortal soul

The first known Gospel commentary was a commentary on the Gospel of John written around 170 AD. It was authored by a prominent Gnostic Christian and disciple of Valentinus, Heracleon. Heracleon was one of the most important Biblical exegetes of his day. His writings were carefully read by orthodox theologians such as Origen and Clement of Alexandria.

Heracleon On the Soul


Fragment 40, on John 4:46-53 (In John 4:46, “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose child was ill.) The official was the Craftsman, for he himself ruled like a king over those under him. Because his domain is small and transitory, he was called an “official,” like a petty princeling who is set over a small kingdom by the universal king. The “child” “in Capernaun” is one who is in the lower part of the Middle (i.e. of animate substance), which lies near the sea, that is, which is linked with matter. The child’s proper person was sick, that is, in a condition not in accordance with the child’s proper nature, in ignorance and sins. (In John 4:47, “When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his child , for it was at the point of death.”) The words “from Judea to Galilee” mean ‘from the Judea above.’. . . By the words “it was at the point of death,” the teaching of those who claim that the soul is immortal is refuted. In agreement with this is the statement that “the body and soul are destoyed in Hell.” (Matthew 10:28) The soul is not immortal, but is possessed only of a disposition towards salvation, for it is the perishable which puts on imperishability and the mortal which puts on immortality when “its death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:54)

Heracleon did not believe the soul was immortal



The Apocryphon of James
“For he knows the desire, and also what it is that the flesh needs! - (Or do you think) that it is not this (flesh) that desires the soul? For without the soul, the body does not sin, just as the soul is not saved without the spirit. But if the soul is saved (when it is) without evil, and the spirit is also saved, then the body becomes free from sin. For it is the spirit that animates the soul, but the body that kills it; that is, it is the soul which kills itself. Verily, I say unto you, he will not forgive the soul the sin by any means, nor the flesh the guilt; for none of those who have worn the flesh will be saved. For do you think that many have found the kingdom of heaven? Blessed is he who has seen himself as a fourth one in heaven!`


Here the body and the soul are equivalent expressions
The Treatise of the Resurrection:

"From the savior we radiate beams, and we are held in his arms until our own sunset, our death in this life. We are drawn to heaven by him, like beams, by the sun, and nothing holds us down. This is the resurrection of the spirit, which swallows up the soul and the flesh."


Tripartite Tractate:

"They became flesh and soul, that is, eternally which (things) hold them and with corruptible things they die. "

The Gospel of Philip:

"Adam’s soul came from a breath. The soul’s companion is spirit, and the spirit given to him is his mother. His soul was [taken] from him and replaced with [spirit]. "

Apocalypse of Peter:

"For evil cannot produce good fruit. For the place from which each of them is produces that which is like itself; for not every soul is of the truth, nor of immortality"

I believe both canonical and gnostic text support that the soul is temporary.


The nature of Jesus


Christadelphians believe that Jesus had our sinful nature

Gospel of Thomas saying 101

Those who do not hate their father and mother as I do cannot be my students,
and those who do not love their father and mother as I do cannot be my students. For my mother gave me death, (or falsehood) but my true mother gave me life.

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom-meyer.html

Here the Gospel of Thomas teaches that Jesus' mother could only give him death or falsehood.

Melchizedek:




Furthermore, they will say of him that he is unbegotten, though he has been begotten, (that) he does not eat, even though he eats, (that) he does not drink, even though he drinks, (that) he is uncircumcised, though he has been circumcised, (that) he is unfleshly, though he has come in the flesh, (that) he did not come to suffering, <though> he came to suffering, (that) he did not rise from the dead, <though> he arose from the dead. NHS p. 600

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/melchiz.html

this is a remarkable passage, which predicts the coming of the clean flesh heretics or docetic heretics those who will deny the physical reality of Jesus’ life death and resurrection.


The Gospel of Philip:

http://gospelofthomas.nazirene.org/philip.htm

78. The Lord was conceived (born again) from what is imperishable, from God. The [Lord arose] from among the dead. But [He did not come into being as he was. Rather [his body] was [completely] perfect. It was of flesh, and this [flesh is indeed] true flesh.¹ [Yet our flesh] is not true, but rather a mirror-image of the true [flesh]. (¹Jn 1:14, 20:27, II-Jn 7; NHS p. 174

This passage shows that a spiritual body is corporeal (tangible) and it has flesh and this flesh is true flesh, which is called a spiritual body, or spiritual flesh our flesh is only a shadow of the true like Adam who was only a type of him who was to come

88 Jesus appeared [...] Jordan - the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who was begotten before everything, was begotten anew. He who was once anointed, was anointed anew. He who was redeemed, in turn redeemed (others).

this shows or teaches that the savour himself was in need of redemption by coming in the flesh see above passage.

The Devil

Christadelphians reject the doctrine of a supernatural devil

Doctrines to be Rejected: 

11 We reject the doctrine - that the devil is a supernatural being.

Christadelphians believe that Satan The devil is a personification of human nature this is not an abstraction but that physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. It is that in the flesh "which has the power of death" and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh, was the result of transgression. Inasmuch as this evil principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled "sinful flesh," that is, "flesh full of sin"; so that sin, in the sacred style, came to stand for the substance called man. In human flesh "dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:17,18); and all the evil a man does is the result of this principle dwelling in him.

Gnostic teaching

Heracleon on the Devil

Heracleon, who here interprets the father of the devil as his essentially evil nature; to which Origen objects that if the devil be evil by the necessity of his nature, he ought rather to be pitied than blamed.


Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton University, is perhaps the highest profile writer and thinker to express agreement with our position about the devil. Her best selling book The Origin Of Satan is well worth a read if you're interested in this theme (4). She begins where we have done- that Christianity and Judaism taught only one God, and this left no place for a devil / satan in the orthodox sense. We have said time and again that one true doctrine leads to another, and Pagels grasps that clearly. One God means no devil. Simple as that. And so she comments: “Conversion from paganism to Judaism or Christianity, I realized, meant, above all, transforming one’s perception of the invisible world”. And this had a radically practical outworking- as does belief in any true Bible doctrine: “Becoming either a Jew or a Christian polarized a pagan’s view of the universe, and moralized it”. The pagan worldview would've felt that anything like a volcano or earthquake was a result of demonic activity. But instead, the Bible clearly describes the volcanoes that destroyed Sodom as coming from the one God, as judgment for their sins (Gen. 19:4). People were not just victims of huge cosmic forces; they had responsibility for their actions and met those consequences. We can easily miss the radical implications of the moral way the Bible describes such things which were otherwise attributed to demons /pagan gods. There was a huge political price attached to rejecting belief in ‘demons’. Rusticus, prefect of Rome, persecuted Christians because they refused “to obey the gods and submit to the rulers”. The Romans considered that their leaders were agents of the gods; and if the gods didn’t exist, then the Roman leadership lost its power and authority. For this reason, the Romans called the Christians ‘atheists’.



The following quotations from Pagels exactly reflect our own conclusions: “In the Hebrew Bible…Satan never appears as Western Christendom has come to know him, as the leader of an “evil empire”, an army of hostile spirits who make war on God…in the Hebrew Bible, Satan is not necessarily evil, much less opposed to God. On the contrary, he appears in the book of Numbers and in Job as one of God’s obedient servants- a messenger, or angel, a word that translates the Hebrew term for messenger (mal’ak) into Greek (angelos)… In biblical sources the Hebrew term the satan describes an adversarial role. It is not the name of a particular character… the root stn means “one who opposes, obstructs, or acts as an adversary”... But this messenger is not necessarily malevolent… John dismisses the device of the devil as an independent supernatural character… Paul holds a perception that Satan acts as God’s agent not to corrupt people but to test them” (pp. 111, 183)”.



But Elaine Pagels isn't just out there on her own. Neil Forsyth comments likewise: “In… the Old Testament, the word [satan] never appears as the name of the adversary… rather, when the satan appears in the Old Testament, he is a member of the heavenly court, albeit with unusual tasks”(5). Several respected commentators have pointed out the same, especially when commenting upon the ‘satan’ in the book of Job- concluding that the term there simply speaks of an obedient Divine Angel acting the role of an adversary, without being the evil spirit being accepted by many in Christendom (6). Commenting on the 'satan' of Job and Zechariah, the respected Anchor Bible notes: "Neither in Job nor in Zechariah is the Accuser an independent entity with real power, except that which Yahweh consents to give him" (7). A.L. Oppenheim carefully studied how the figure of a personal satan entered into Hebrew thought; he concludes that it was originally absent . He considers that their view of a Divine court, or council, such as is hinted at in the Hebrew Bible, was significant for them; but they noted that in some Mesopotamian bureaucracies there was a similar understanding, but always there was an "accuser" present, a 'satan' figure (8). And the Jews adopted this idea and thus came to believe in a personal satan.


Exorcism can be seen as a concentrated effort to purge the consciousness of false standards, not to extract demons. See Elaine Pagels, The Origin of Satin, Pgs. 34 and 38, Vantage Books.


(4) Elaine Pagels, The Origin Of Satan (Harmondsworth: Allen Lane / The Penguin Press, 1996)


(5) Neil Forsyth, The Old Enemy: Satan And The Combat Myth (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987) p. 107.


(6) See P. Day, An Adversary In Heaven: Satan In The Hebrew Bible (Atlanta, GA: Scholar’s Press, 1988) pp 69-106.


(7) C.L. Meyers and E.M. Meyers, The Anchor Bible: Haggai, Zechariah 1-8 (New York: Doubleday, 2004 ed.) p. 184.


(8) A.L. Oppenheim, "The eyes of the Lord", Journal of The American Oriental Society Vol. 88 (1968) pp. 173-180.


(9) In addition to Pagels op cit, see Knut Schaferdick, “Satan in the Post Apostolic Fathers” in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., Theological Dictionary Of The New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971) Vol. 7 pp. 163-165 and George F. Moore, Judaism In The First Centuries Of The Christian Era (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1927) Vol. 1.


(10) Elaine Pagels, op cit pp. 100,111.