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Originally Posted by DontRunMeOver
Ooooh, that sounds like it could become a bit anti-semitic...
EDIT: Was that some tumbleweed that just rolled by?
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Gnostic 4th-century codices discovered in Egypt in the 1940s include the Gospel of St Thomas (unconnected with the disciple) and the Gospel of Mary, probably originating about AD 135. Gnosticism envisaged the world as a series of emanations from the highest of several gods. The lowest emanation was an evil god (the demiurge) who created the material world as a prison for the divine sparks that dwell in human bodies. The Gnostics identified this evil creator with the God of the Old Testament, and saw the Adam and Eve story and the ministry of Jesus as attempts to liberate humanity from his dominion, by imparting divine secret wisdom.