{"id":10792,"date":"2026-07-02T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10792"},"modified":"2025-12-15T13:18:04","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T13:18:04","slug":"looking-at-peter-burfeinds-book-2014-gnostic-america-part-25-of-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10792","title":{"rendered":"Looking at Peter Burfeind’s Book (2014) “Gnostic America” (Part 25 of 26)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

0448 At this point, I completed the task of exploring the meaning, presence and message underlying the word \u201cGnosticism\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 4 concerns the neo-evangelical response<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The student should read chapters 11-17 of Burfeind\u2019s text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0449 The meaning underlying the word<\/em> is a social construction that conjoins a cosmic and a personal origin story. The category-based nested form<\/em> models social construction<\/em>. The model<\/em> matches the origin story related by Burfeind<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0450 The Gnostic origin myth is an ancient civilized fairy tale, just like the stories of Adam and Eve.  They point to the origin and development of our current Lebenswelt<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gnostic origin story is a fairy tale about something Real. The first singularity explains why our current Lebenswelt<\/em>is not the same as the Lebenswelt that we evolved in<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gnostic origin myth is an expression of Original Sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0451 From one vantage point, the Gnostic origin story describes the pleroma as the eternal cycles of the Lebenswelt that we evolved in<\/em> and Sophia and Yaltabaoth as the start of our current Lebenswelt<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From another vantage point, the fairy tale describes a pleroma within our current Lebenswelt<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ages of each civilization<\/em> appear as emanations of male and female pairs<\/em>. The fairy tale describes our current age as Sophia emanating without a male cohort<\/em>, becoming pregnant by her Self, then hiding the male child in a cloud. Unawares, Yaltabaoth creates the universe of this particular age<\/em>, thereby generating the foundation for an ego that does not love its Self<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0452 The pleroma may be seen as a repetition of the drama of Sophia giving birth to her aborted Yaltabaoth<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yaltabaoth, as lion, builds his world in a cloud.  Then, Yaltabaoth, as snake, exploits the egos that it created.  Finally, the age passes with Yaltabaoth\u2019s dissolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0453 So the pair is both female and male<\/em> as well as Self and ego<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Monad contains the Zeitgeists past, the current Zeitgeist and the Zeitgeists to come<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0454 The presence underlying the word \u201cGnosticism\u201d<\/em> describes two types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In type 1 Gnosticism, the evil and material Yaltabaoth is sovereign power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In type 2 Gnosticism, the evil and material Yaltabaoth is market exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One is escapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other is interventionist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0455 Gnosticism is opportunistic. It is a religion of politics<\/em>, drawing believers to either escape or intervene.  Escape hastens social collapse.  Intervention produces totalitarian states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0456 Finally, the message underlying the word \u201cGnosticism\u201d<\/em> views the person as a single actuality composed of two contradicting actualities, the ego and the Self<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0457 These actualities were first separated in the distorting field of immaterial-material<\/em>. The contiguity was significant. The ego is responsible for the Self. The ego is free to act in the Name of the Self<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

0458 Then, the two actualities were placed into conflict with the introduction secret knowledge<\/em>.  The person<\/em> is a single actuality composed of two conflicting actualities<\/em>, ego and Self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0459 In Late Modernism, the person in internal conflict<\/em> supports diverse industries of Self-development, including state-supported educational organizations<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secret knowledge<\/em> encourages and legitimates idfantasy<\/sup><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0460 In light of this definition of the word \u201cGnosticism\u201d, the Neo-Evangelical approach may not seem that deranged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0461 Burfeind has a point. The sacraments are key to defusing the foundational presumption behind the contradiction between the ego and the Self<\/em>: The ego does not love the Self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This contradiction should not occur in sacramental Christian religions. The sacraments are material and ritualistic (ego-driven), point to the immaterial (Self-experiencing) and encourage love (Spirit-enveloping). Grace inflows both ego and Self.  The ego grows in maturity. The Self grows in belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The superego is the trellis. The ego is the vine. The Self is the grape, delicious and wholesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0462 Pietistic traditions do not have the sacraments available to them, so they must find different pathways to express the healing message that the ego should love the Self<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Self will always be irresponsible.  The Self will always be a slave to \u201cI like this\u201d and \u201cI don\u2019t like that\u201d.  The Self should never be truly free to act.  But, the Self is also who I am<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pietistic tradition may say, \u201cLove your Self.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, with that saying, comes an added message, \u201cIn order to love your Self, you must have an ego to be responsible for your Self<\/em>. God calls you by Name. God expects your ego<\/em> to act in the Name of your Self.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0463 So where do I get this ego?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read and listen to the word of God<\/em>.  I learn to obey His commandments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0464 If I fail to establish my ego in Christian truth, then I return to the beginning of the Gnostic origin myth.  My ego and my Self fall into conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gnosticism is a religion of the repetition disorder<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

0448 At this point, I completed the task of exploring the meaning, presence and message underlying the word \u201cGnosticism\u201d. Part 4 concerns the neo-evangelical response. The student should read chapters 11-17 of Burfeind\u2019s text. 0449 The meaning underlying the word is a social construction that conjoins a cosmic and a personal origin story. The category-based nested form models social construction. The model matches the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[417],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking at Peter Burfeind's Book (2014) "Gnostic America" (Part 25 of 26) - An Archaeology of the Fall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10792\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Looking at Peter Burfeind's Book (2014) "Gnostic America" (Part 25 of 26) - An Archaeology of the Fall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"0448 At this point, I completed the task of exploring the meaning, presence and message underlying the word \u201cGnosticism\u201d. 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