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Please Sir make a video about the cult leader Laitman from the perspective of real historical truth. Apparently Laitman is huge in Israel and there is a common characteristic among his followers, pretty easily recognized, they all look and sound brainwashed, yet consider themselves ubermenschen vastly superior...
Nobody is willing to talk openly about the intention and real meaning behind Christianity, not even on this channel--which is awesome anyway. People get caught up in symbols and texts and recounting history but not the principles and universal wisdom Jesus sought to reveal to the world. Powerful people like to keep knowledge of the mysteries to themselves. Jesus sought to tell the world about them. Remember, the library of Alexandria had the emerald tablets on display and anyone in the library could put a papyrus over it and rub it with coal or the likes to make a copy. Its akin to having information and files free on the internet that you can use in a 3-D printer to make a free electric energy device vs. Having that knowledge locked in a vault in an underground government bunker. After reading vast libraries of Christian books and texts and mankind spending thousands of years contemplating, rehashing over and fighting over it. Christianity boils down to something deceptively simple. "Christ Consciousness".
As an undergrad I was taught by Alastair Logan for this topic, a world expert on Valentinian gnosticism... so while I should be very keyed up on this, I was usually hungover at that time of day when I was 19 so this is all new learning. Thanks, Dr Sledge!
Intense! I wish more attention was focused on the Christianities in history. Western history addresses the Constantine conversion and sometimes the Council of Nicaea, but mostly that's it. Gnosticism in too much detail is a raging headache (for me at least), but if Christianity, and it's more practical father, Judaism, has come to form so much of our modern reality, historical curriculum should at least be taught in a historical context, emphasizing the influence passed along to our modern society. Esoterica has been a real joy. There is so much wisdom in the ancient voices presented here. They are very accessible and more understandable than they'd ever be without the wonderful work done here. Thank you for your research, time, effort and extensive knowledge!
Yeah, it's a real ball of wax! Gnosticism can be damn complicated but I hope this content is making it a bit more accessible without diluting it down to me. Striking that balance is a real challenge. Thanks for much for your support and kind words. There is so much more content to unpack and explore and I'm looking forward to the future of the channel!
@@TheEsotericaChannel Very excited to see what's in store! Genuinely, the content is VERY solid, to a point of watching, rewatching, looking up information and trying to piece together the greater esoteric puzzle. It is never dull, always educational, but also inspirational- as a testament to the excellent work done here that this journey is even possible (at least for me, but for sure others as well). Thank you
@@darkartsbyadrienne Thanks! I also try to pack as much information as I can so it's worth people's time. I see a lot of channel where most a video is just people editorializing or shooting from the hip (which is fine in livestreams, etc.) but I really want these episodes to be engaging, welcoming but also challenging. Again, I'm still learning to strike all those balances and I'm very appreciate of the audience's patience as I learn to do that better and better.
@@TheEsotericaChannel You're doing a wonderful job! And the Absinthe experiment sounds awesome, btw. And the Emerald Tablet! Consider us spoiled! Especially because you have the knowledge to truly know what you're discussing. There is a lot of partial information out there, which is fine. But knowing and understanding are two completely different animals. I know some things about the Kabbalah and Hermeticism, but I don't understand it. Maybe these things are meant to be experienced spiritually on many levels, but it should at least be understandable as far as why people invested time and energy into these beliefs. Motivation. Historical context. Why were these beliefs important? Esoterica makes motivation and historical context more comprehensive and therefore more relatable to our modern inclinations, which is very much appreciated! Thank you again for the truly revelatory and fascinating work that you do.
Finally,someone who understands that a commercial every five min. or less while im trying to sleep and learn will get them not listend to ,i love it commercials are meant to keep us in rage not receptive to learning so yt will make you pay for it ,thank you for your work and time
I studied for a spell at the Jung Institute in San Francisco at the time when the Gnostic material was becoming more and more prominent. I took seminars with Elaine Pagels and with Gilles Quispel, who, brokered the deal to acquire the Nag Hamadi texts from some pretty shady characters. Both of them emphasized the concept that the creation was a tragedy -- meaning a cosmic play -- and that the apple had to be eaten, and that Judas was operating on instructions, not out of any monetary motive. This was decades before the Gospel of Judas thing.
The best interpretation I've read of Judas' actions that assume his independent agency is that he was acting as an accelerationist. That is, he was hoping that by causing Jesus' arrest it would provoke Him to start an insurrection against the Romans, Pharisees, and Sadducees.
You know, if you ever want to make a video exploring the platonic influence on the creation of the inner and outer planes in dungeons & dragons I'd be here for it.
...loving the last comment on the slide at 13.03, totally agree! Btw, I love your non confirmation bias presentation - documenting facts and possibilities with no conclusions. Great work. I hope I can keep watching and learning such amazing scholarship from your channel. Toda raba!
Dr. Sledge, thank you for this summary of Valentinian Christian history and thought. The symbolic and philosophical history of the Christianities have been a lifelong interest of mine. I will take a pass on diving into this rabbit hole, but I am glad you have pointed out the entrance. Perhaps I will need to locate it in the future. Cheers, BR
Been getting channeled more and more into Gnosticism in the last year through your content and others. Got “the gnostic jung” this last week and just learned about Valentinian. Then you release this. And this is far from the first time this has happened in the process of turning gnostic for me. Not saying I’m buying into synchronicity yet. But my weird coincidences are stacking up to absurd levels at this point.
I have had a very similar experience. I was raised a Catholic and stumbled on the Gospel of Judas by accident only to fall down a Gnostic rabbit-hole and have found more meaning and answers in a couple of weeks than years and years of Catholic teaching. I consider myself Atheist/Apatheist but the idea of internal divinity has really resonated with me. I just finished Elaine Pagels' 'Gnostic Gospels' this evening and honestly it's the closest thing I've had to a religious awakening. I look forward to further readings and study into the topic
If you like this I recommend Bill Donahue for deep thoughts and knowledge and Jordan Maxwells astrotheology for the meanings of words and symbols with religious zeal. Greetings from Keiss 🧡 be blessed
@@archaicsage4803 looking backwards it’s baffling to acknowledge how long I have been on the ladder Yet now that I see the ladder? Where did the ground go
I am an orthodox Catholic, but I have to say that when I was in graduate school with the Dominican Friars, I was assigned a Valentinian commentary on the Gospel of John from a collection, and I went in without reading the introduction to get my first impression, and...it took me a while to notice that it was a non-standard Christianity. Valentinianism is pretty high on the orthodox-O-meter compared to some "Gnoatic" schools of thought.
"Totality of the Fatherly Abyss" is an amazing band name, but I find it really shines as a pet name. Imagine hearing that in a dog park. Or betting on that name at horse races.
Thank you so much for your work! The sense of "joy" you share in these videos, primarily via hilarious sarcastic asides, helps propel the material. Please keep it up. For me, your treatment of esoterica accomplishes something like Jung, demystifying and reinvigorating simultaneously. I keep making associative leaps between mystical thought, as conveyed by people like yourself, and emergent theoretical physics / mathematics ( Penrose, Cohl Furey ).
Dr. Justine, for this video alone I will send you a donation because this video is the most complete and orderly intro to Gnosticism and early Christianity that I found on youtube for the past 3 years. And your sence of humor mixed with constant references to the sources makes it so much easier to proccess it and research it farther. 👍
i stumbled across valentinian and sethianist faiths in a crusader kings mod, and my friend who im playing with send me this channel. i think i devoured all your videos on gnosticism and some more over the course of the last 3 days. i'm really about to dive in the rabbit hole like you said. i like your commentary, thank you so much for your work.
Thank you. As a note, I see similar patterns, outside of Christianity, in Asia. More specifically in advaita vaishnavism, or dual systems. I've noticed that both Krishna and Jesus are similar. Both are the love avatars of the Godhead, both approach salvation through a bhakti system, salvation through the love of God. Thank you. You've helped me sort this out.
@@stellarray8596 bitter? It’s the truth. all religions have the same “savior” in their teachings. Religions need to stop fighting against another because all their theologies lead to the same thing! Just different characters. They need to form a 1 religion world wide and teach correctly on the human soul because they know!
@@DownTheHoleConspiracy all religions leading to the same thing is true: they all lead to cultural fragmentation, blind faith and irrational behaviors.
I'm sorry but I feel that's a really saddening view of religion. We have all these sifferent traditions, each with their own viewpoints and ideas, each offering something of value. I don't want to see them destroyed for a bland synthesis based on random similarities ...
I was a long time Athiest, after i got sober i started to delve into Christianity and found myself in Gnosticism. I found a home in the Valentinian school, and then i was having a conversation with a catholic and it was the first time i was called a heretic, so thats kinda cool.
I went through an almost identical process. Atheist Junkie to Christian Gnostic. My prequel is I was raised in a Pentacostal Church which looking back I enjoyed the excitement in Pentacostalism.
Raised Mormon, while going to a Private Assembly of God private schools. Left Mormonism with hubby and Three sons, found Ancient Aliens then to Joyce Meyer. Finally everything else, now Rosicrucianism and Gnosticism. Frankly, it seems to make the most sense to me.
Its really good to find content to learn about this not so well-known side of Christianity and Western esotericism in a comprehensive yet easy to understand format...But let me be the dumbest one and the room and say the Wardruna reference was what took the cake for me. Thank you Dr. Sledge!
I just have to compliment the rhetorical interplay connecting the Dead Sea Scroll discovery to the debates over the Incarnation in the intro. Masterfully written.
And what a rabbit hole ✨ Hey Justin, to chime in from an experiential angle, just discovered that the bridal chamber sacrament (nymphōn sacrament) is a spiritual initiation that can very much still be received (ask your guardian angel, or god, or your higher self to facilitate your reception of it) - and does indeed bring about a very tangible unification with one’s guardian angel. No need for fanciful Abramelin stuff with this treasure that the Gnostics had. This is direct fusion. What a tragedy that Christianity lost sight of this vertical “marriage” with the guardian angel as its central mystery! But one that’s evidently still very much accessible to anyone who asks. Definitely worthy of orienting a whole religious tradition around. What a pity Valentinus didn’t become Bishop.
First, thank you for doing this channel. It is profoundly refreshing to watch sophisticated academia personified Covering “esoteric” topics. I like your teaching style. Please keep up your topical variety. I have a little to no subject knowledge on these things. Second, I particularly enjoyed this session/topic. You looked as if you were having fun doing it. Of course the material was, as always, very interesting but on this one I really appreciated the presentation as well. As a fellow college professor, different discipline, It is easy to see the work you put into this and it is appreciated. Well done. Be safe be well. -KevinJ
You’re the bomb dude. I’ve enjoyed your rendition and exploration of literally everything you’ve put out. Particularly the Gnostic perspectives. Thank you for your service 🫡
Great video, Id love to hear a video about the modern pop culture strains regarding Valentian Christianity; Philip K Dick, Matrix, etc. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Wow to look back on this older video (even though only two years) and compare it to your new videos! You were already a fantastic speaker but you have now honed these skills to perfection!
Thanks, that was a very informing lecture. I was trying to understand in simple terms what the Gnostic belief was. I have ordered the book you recommended Gnostic Religion in Antiquity. The reason I am interested in this is because I came to understand that Hegelianism and Marxism are build on Gnostic ideas.
The Joy Division reference gave me a much needed chuckle.Have you ever read any of Nick Cave's writing that explores spirtuality and faith? His performances are really moving for me.
Very interesting! This is my new favorite channel. I’m halfway through reading an old book called The Gospel In The Stars and it interprets the 12 zodiac signs with all their decans or side-piece constellations as being symbolic of the Godspell (gospel). This is very interesting to an occult nerd like me. It hasn’t mentioned Enoch or Zoroaster or Hermes Trismegistus at all yet but I recently came to the conclusion that they’re all the same dude and there are sources to support my claim even though there can never be any concrete consensus among scholars about these 3 mysterious ancients
Another awesome video! I just can’t get over how much I like your sense of humor, especially after you eloquently deliver the information on each topic. I’m not sure what it is ,but I feel like I just connected with your words and your online persona. In my opinion you give off “ have a beer with guy vibes” so to speak. Even though I don’t really drink. Lol. Thanks again for the work you. I appreciate it. My apologies if I was a little to bombastic in this comment
This is excellent! This channel is currently my escape from my thesis work. I'd love to see you tackle the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, and the mangled Germanized-then-Anglicized Hebrew, its claims to connection to rabbinic input, and various other weirdness. I'm oddly fascinated with texts like it (also, the Hygromanteia, Petit Albert, Grimoire of Armadel, the Arbatel, etc.). So, I look forward to seeing what unfolds on your channel. Sidenote: Shown your channel to a few of my friends and they wondered how you were not an alternate-reality version of me, or at least already a part of their tabletop gaming group. Lol
Thank you for translating/ explaining all these concepts and showing how complex Christianity really is. So many think that Christians are just what the evangelists tell us to believe. I actually have felt that I was more "Gnostic" than the American Baptist I was raised as. Even bought a "Gnostic Bible" 40 years ago but couldn't understand any of it. A couple years ago, I found a book explaining the metaphors in the Book of Thomas. More recently, I am seeing videos presenting more of the books that the "Church" calls heretical. I didn't even know what Hermeticism was until a couple months ago. All point to concepts that Dolores Cannon and quantum physics describe. This all must be what some refer to as "the thinning of the veil." It's good to see how complex even the Gnostic beliefs were, and how they argued about fine points that nobody will ever be able to "prove". The arguments themselves are worth thinking about. As I get older, I learn that certain things resonate in my heart and these are what I need to embrace. You're doing a great job of presenting such deep information that people like me would never know existed. Keep up the wonderful work!
What an accurate, learned, and fair overview of Valentinus. If someone, today, would perform in-depth interviews of the followers of ANY religion, they would discover that no two people have EXACTLY the same religious beliefs. Despite all the labels we put on people, they stubbornly remain individuals and their beliefs will differ in some way. 7.5 billion people means 7.5 billion different conceptions of reality. That's why I truly respect the Jewish tradition of "let's talk" in these matters. That is, "we seem to disagree in this particular matter. Let's discuss why that is by exploring each other's conceptions of human life, the Creation and the Creator, and how those conceptions have led us to come to different positions regarding this particular situation. Just so we know." Instead of the, unfortunately, more popular approach of "we disagree on this particular matter so you must be stupid or evil and I don't want to talk with you."
“Matter..😝🤢” you’re so funny. I love your work, insight, momentum and specially timing for little humorous clever parentheses. I’ve learnt so much with you!!
Oh Meye, Mahalo Nui Loa, synchronicity and sacred Intuition is everything, we are each the deciphered of code, it is our birthright! Ty for this on this day scholar
Always the trusted source as usual. There's hundreds of videos falsely describing Gnosticism. "Gnosticism is ...." My first comment is always to ask which one...
You have beaten me to many subjects I wanted to make videos about :) I was particularly interested in making a video about the Valentinian exegesis of scriptures since I dealth with that in "The Gospel of Lie"
Understanding that christ is a theological idea with multiple philosophies, with no one set dogma until historical distortions, has been a big step in healing from religious trauma and becoming more comfortable with the idea of christ. It is a personal journey within yourself to uncover christ within you. What christ and his disciples taught is very different from what the romans and council of nicea taught or is taught today. Becoming more educated and watching your channel has not only been fun and educational, but somewhat healing. I also like the chosen TV show, as it is funny and non dogmatic. Maybe one day I will let my walls down and start exploring christ, but in the meantime I'm just a nerd lol.
Mysticalmatteroffactism, I love it! Sign me up. Ascension 101, I'm in, you? I love your work Doctor Sledge, thank you once again for another great tutorial.
Flipping through wiki article after wiki article about greek gnostic terms and valentinian stuff and suddenly go "damn I wonder if I could find a video about this" instant sub
@@TheEsotericaChannel I read The Gospel of Truth from time to time. It is stunning in its beauty and profundity. In fact I get tearful nearly every time. I,m an ex-evangelical who parted ways with christianity years ago.....and yet, the myth of Christ keeps pulling me back. And in the mystical and the gnostic I find meaning. My view of christianity is not diminished by these "heretical" texts ( fundamentalists do that all on their own!) but greatly enriched! I would have loved to meet Valentinus.
I'm around the 18 minute mark and by the time you mentioned Sophia creating Chaos, all I could think of was Paradise Lost with the creation of Sin and Death.
As a physical scientist and an atheist, I really have no skin in the game. So I'm hard pressed to explain why religion, especially early Christianity, is so damned fascinating to me. But it is. Maybe it's because religion says more about us humans than it does about God.
@@innocencesgone Ha! Even that small I recognized it! I'm a fan - Me and Zelda Fitzgerald share in common that we taught ourselves French to read Rimbaud.
I really enjoyed that too! Thank you. My one gripe with Gnosticism (and transcendentalist religions in general) is their core characterization of Creation being flawed and therefore inherently evil rather than flawed but inherently good. I want to _like_ the world around me, not disown and discard it for its failures. Like, I’m not into materialism, but matter is super cool! Did you know you could make ice-cream out of matter? It’s true!
I read something interesting recently where a person explaining the Vedas connected the concept of the AUM with the idea of the Logos. And is that section of scripture " he was the word or the word was with him" (don't have a bible within arm's reach) a surviving thread of Gnostic teaching?
Do I sense in all these Blake works an upcoming video on the poet? Just handed in my diss on his theory of time and eternity as represented through the interrelationship (or rivalry) between line, colour and word in The Book of Thel.
Nice - not at this point, I just think his artwork really fits well with this whole gnostic cosmology business. You know....considering he kinda made one.
@@TheEsotericaChannel Absolutely, incredible to think given what must have been the faint glimmer of gnosticism found in the alchemical texts he read (Paracelsus, Boehme, Vaughn). Blake is more akin to the gnostics than he his to the neoplatonism of Plotinus, being more sympathetic to emanationism - though he would have fumed at being branded a sectarian of any sort. You may have come across her already, but Kathleen Raine writes about all this very fluently, her chapter "Blake and Maya" in 'Golgonooza, City of Imagination' is very interesting indeed.
Dear Justin, I love your channel, I am currently a doctoral candidate working on the German philosopher F.W.J. Schelling, I would love to speak to you or maybe collaborate with you on the history of the occult and mystical traditions in German Idealism. Schelling's 1809 Freiheitsschrift was deeply inspired by both the Spiritual pietism of Oetinger, Hahn and Bengel; and also forms of Christian Kabbalah particularly Jakob Boehme. The Freedom essay is an eclectic text that contains a mythic and mystical exegesis of the creation of the world and the meaning behind the essence of Freedom. Schelling also employs Meister Eckhart's imagery of taming the eternal fire. The text is a masterpiece. Would you be doing any videos on Jakob Boehme in the near future? Best!
Good to see we have a Joy Division fan amongst the YT Religious Studies figureheads. Closer is probably the most gnostic album of the 20th century. It's pretty much Allogenes the Stranger if it was made by a post-punk band. Gary Numan's early work is pretty close too- he's basically Marcion with a synthesizer.
You know, I would say that Gnosticism, at least Valentinian Christianity is a Pauline Christianity, certainly the Valentinians thought it was, although an unusual one compared to the 'orthodoxy' that prevailed. What's interesting to me is just how much variety there was in Christian mythology in the 2nd century.
@@TheEsotericaChannel I find Paul to be a rather lousy choice of publicist on G-d's part, but what can you do. Certainly the earlier variety in Christianity is quite intriguing compared to what it has largely become, particularly in the mainstream US.
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Please Sir make a video about the cult leader Laitman from the perspective of real historical truth. Apparently Laitman is huge in Israel and there is a common characteristic among his followers, pretty easily recognized, they all look and sound brainwashed, yet consider themselves ubermenschen vastly superior...
Nobody is willing to talk openly about the intention and real meaning behind Christianity, not even on this channel--which is awesome anyway. People get caught up in symbols and texts and recounting history but not the principles and universal wisdom Jesus sought to reveal to the world. Powerful people like to keep knowledge of the mysteries to themselves. Jesus sought to tell the world about them. Remember, the library of Alexandria had the emerald tablets on display and anyone in the library could put a papyrus over it and rub it with coal or the likes to make a copy. Its akin to having information and files free on the internet that you can use in a 3-D printer to make a free electric energy device vs. Having that knowledge locked in a vault in an underground government bunker.
After reading vast libraries of Christian books and texts and mankind spending thousands of years contemplating, rehashing over and fighting over it. Christianity boils down to something deceptively simple. "Christ Consciousness".
can you tell me what texts refer to a complete spiritual redemption of all humanity?
I had to skip back to make sure I really HAD heard you say "Joy Division is gnostic scripture, sometimes."
I miss Ian
She's lost control again
Need this on a t-shirt 😩
Love will tear us apart, again.
Love will tear us apart in one way or another. Usually worth it though
As an undergrad I was taught by Alastair Logan for this topic, a world expert on Valentinian gnosticism... so while I should be very keyed up on this, I was usually hungover at that time of day when I was 19 so this is all new learning. Thanks, Dr Sledge!
One should never have Gnosticism before lunch...especially in college.
You’re not supposed to eat Gnosticism until 45 minutes after eating lunch
@@MelissaThompson432 k l
Intense! I wish more attention was focused on the Christianities in history. Western history addresses the Constantine conversion and sometimes the Council of Nicaea, but mostly that's it. Gnosticism in too much detail is a raging headache (for me at least), but if Christianity, and it's more practical father, Judaism, has come to form so much of our modern reality, historical curriculum should at least be taught in a historical context, emphasizing the influence passed along to our modern society.
Esoterica has been a real joy. There is so much wisdom in the ancient voices presented here. They are very accessible and more understandable than they'd ever be without the wonderful work done here. Thank you for your research, time, effort and extensive knowledge!
Yeah, it's a real ball of wax! Gnosticism can be damn complicated but I hope this content is making it a bit more accessible without diluting it down to me. Striking that balance is a real challenge. Thanks for much for your support and kind words. There is so much more content to unpack and explore and I'm looking forward to the future of the channel!
@@TheEsotericaChannel Very excited to see what's in store! Genuinely, the content is VERY solid, to a point of watching, rewatching, looking up information and trying to piece together the greater esoteric puzzle. It is never dull, always educational, but also inspirational- as a testament to the excellent work done here that this journey is even possible (at least for me, but for sure others as well). Thank you
@@darkartsbyadrienne Thanks! I also try to pack as much information as I can so it's worth people's time. I see a lot of channel where most a video is just people editorializing or shooting from the hip (which is fine in livestreams, etc.) but I really want these episodes to be engaging, welcoming but also challenging. Again, I'm still learning to strike all those balances and I'm very appreciate of the audience's patience as I learn to do that better and better.
@@TheEsotericaChannel You're doing a wonderful job! And the Absinthe experiment sounds awesome, btw. And the Emerald Tablet! Consider us spoiled! Especially because you have the knowledge to truly know what you're discussing. There is a lot of partial information out there, which is fine. But knowing and understanding are two completely different animals. I know some things about the Kabbalah and Hermeticism, but I don't understand it. Maybe these things are meant to be experienced spiritually on many levels, but it should at least be understandable as far as why people invested time and energy into these beliefs. Motivation. Historical context. Why were these beliefs important? Esoterica makes motivation and historical context more comprehensive and therefore more relatable to our modern inclinations, which is very much appreciated! Thank you again for the truly revelatory and fascinating work that you do.
the west cares about the council of nicaea?! my churchy upbringing practically forbade me from bringing shit like that up.
Finally,someone who understands that a commercial every five min. or less while im trying to sleep and learn will get them not listend to ,i love it commercials are meant to keep us in rage not receptive to learning so yt will make you pay for it ,thank you for your work and time
If I can help it, I will never have mid-roll ads in my videos. But TH-cam is a powerful God and that may not be able to stop it forever.
@@TheEsotericaChannel i learn by videos,reading is hard for me and my tbi from military cant stand commercials lol and thank you again
Id pay for ad free but not the price utube want to charge
I studied for a spell at the Jung Institute in San Francisco at the time when the Gnostic material was becoming more and more prominent. I took seminars with Elaine Pagels and with Gilles Quispel, who, brokered the deal to acquire the Nag Hamadi texts from some pretty shady characters. Both of them emphasized the concept that the creation was a tragedy -- meaning a cosmic play -- and that the apple had to be eaten, and that Judas was operating on instructions, not out of any monetary motive. This was decades before the Gospel of Judas thing.
Wow.
That was very informative
I love this!!
The best interpretation I've read of Judas' actions that assume his independent agency is that he was acting as an accelerationist. That is, he was hoping that by causing Jesus' arrest it would provoke Him to start an insurrection against the Romans, Pharisees, and Sadducees.
Those Accelerationists!
You know, if you ever want to make a video exploring the platonic influence on the creation of the inner and outer planes in dungeons & dragons I'd be here for it.
What a dazzling Theological journey you took us on! TY
...loving the last comment on the slide at 13.03, totally agree! Btw, I love your non confirmation bias presentation - documenting facts and possibilities with no conclusions. Great work. I hope I can keep watching and learning such amazing scholarship from your channel. Toda raba!
You Sir, are a gentleman and a scholar. Thank you for delivering such wonderful content.
And you sir,are a liar and a bad judge of character.😉
@@rayramos8435 then why are you watching?
I second this motion by DrJones
Dr. Sledge, thank you for this summary of Valentinian Christian history and thought. The symbolic and philosophical history of the Christianities have been a lifelong interest of mine. I will take a pass on diving into this rabbit hole, but I am glad you have pointed out the entrance. Perhaps I will need to locate it in the future. Cheers, BR
If it has been a life long interest, why is it that now when you are pointed in the direction to "know" more (to gnosis) you'd take a pass?
Been getting channeled more and more into Gnosticism in the last year through your content and others. Got “the gnostic jung” this last week and just learned about Valentinian. Then you release this. And this is far from the first time this has happened in the process of turning gnostic for me. Not saying I’m buying into synchronicity yet. But my weird coincidences are stacking up to absurd levels at this point.
I have had a very similar experience. I was raised a Catholic and stumbled on the Gospel of Judas by accident only to fall down a Gnostic rabbit-hole and have found more meaning and answers in a couple of weeks than years and years of Catholic teaching. I consider myself Atheist/Apatheist but the idea of internal divinity has really resonated with me. I just finished Elaine Pagels' 'Gnostic Gospels' this evening and honestly it's the closest thing I've had to a religious awakening. I look forward to further readings and study into the topic
If you like this I recommend Bill Donahue for deep thoughts and knowledge and Jordan Maxwells astrotheology for the meanings of words and symbols with religious zeal. Greetings from Keiss 🧡 be blessed
@@caracopland710 Santos Bonacci is a great teacher of astrotheology as well. His channel is Mr. Astrotheology.
This same thing has happened to me. Makes me think I'm crazy but then I get reassurance that I'm not.
I wouldn't be a mystic if I didn't like being confused by divine mysteries :D Great episode!
I get confused by them and I'm just a civilian.
The trick is remaining grounded and in balance to cross over from madness and into mysticism. It took me a few years to achieve this.
@@archaicsage4803 Great comment! So true...absolutely agree...it's a process. Where the mad person sinks and drowns, the mystic floats and swims.
@@TheEsotericaChannel When a comment makes me laugh out loud I feel like it's good manner to remark on it. Consider me having done that.
@@archaicsage4803 looking backwards it’s baffling to acknowledge how long I have been on the ladder
Yet now that I see the ladder?
Where did the ground go
I am an orthodox Catholic, but I have to say that when I was in graduate school with the Dominican Friars, I was assigned a Valentinian commentary on the Gospel of John from a collection, and I went in without reading the introduction to get my first impression, and...it took me a while to notice that it was a non-standard Christianity. Valentinianism is pretty high on the orthodox-O-meter compared to some "Gnoatic" schools of thought.
"Totality of the Fatherly Abyss" is an amazing band name, but I find it really shines as a pet name. Imagine hearing that in a dog park.
Or betting on that name at horse races.
I love how precisely you have dialed in your format and your viewer reactions to it. Self-knowledge goes a long way in this business.
Thank you so much for your work! The sense of "joy" you share in these videos, primarily via hilarious sarcastic asides, helps propel the material. Please keep it up. For me, your treatment of esoterica accomplishes something like Jung, demystifying and reinvigorating simultaneously. I keep making associative leaps between mystical thought, as conveyed by people like yourself, and emergent theoretical physics / mathematics ( Penrose, Cohl Furey ).
I love re-listening to your podcasts Dr Sledge👍
Your channel is perhaps the happiest discovery I've made in the past year. Dare I say of 'great importance'?
Dr. Justine, for this video alone I will send you a donation because this video is the most complete and orderly intro to Gnosticism and early Christianity that I found on youtube for the past 3 years. And your sence of humor mixed with constant references to the sources makes it so much easier to proccess it and research it farther. 👍
i stumbled across valentinian and sethianist faiths in a crusader kings mod, and my friend who im playing with send me this channel. i think i devoured all your videos on gnosticism and some more over the course of the last 3 days. i'm really about to dive in the rabbit hole like you said. i like your commentary, thank you so much for your work.
Thank you again Dr. Sledge. Beautiful work.
Thank you. As a note, I see similar patterns, outside of Christianity, in Asia. More specifically in advaita vaishnavism, or dual systems.
I've noticed that both Krishna and Jesus are similar. Both are the love avatars of the Godhead, both approach salvation through a bhakti system, salvation through the love of God.
Thank you. You've helped me sort this out.
Glad you're having this revelation. This is such an important parallel which Christians will, without a doubt, vehemently deny.
@@GingaAlchemist gross generalization. Why so bitter?
@@stellarray8596 bitter? It’s the truth. all religions have the same “savior” in their teachings. Religions need to stop fighting against another because all their theologies lead to the same thing! Just different characters. They need to form a 1 religion world wide and teach correctly on the human soul because they know!
@@DownTheHoleConspiracy all religions leading to the same thing is true: they all lead to cultural fragmentation, blind faith and irrational behaviors.
I'm sorry but I feel that's a really saddening view of religion. We have all these sifferent traditions, each with their own viewpoints and ideas, each offering something of value. I don't want to see them destroyed for a bland synthesis based on random similarities ...
I was a long time Athiest, after i got sober i started to delve into Christianity and found myself in Gnosticism. I found a home in the Valentinian school, and then i was having a conversation with a catholic and it was the first time i was called a heretic, so thats kinda cool.
I went through an almost identical process. Atheist Junkie to Christian Gnostic. My prequel is I was raised in a Pentacostal Church which looking back I enjoyed the excitement in Pentacostalism.
Raised Mormon, while going to a Private Assembly of God private schools. Left Mormonism with hubby and Three sons, found Ancient Aliens then to Joyce Meyer. Finally everything else, now Rosicrucianism and Gnosticism. Frankly, it seems to make the most sense to me.
I have had indepth spiritual experiences that very much mirror these teachings.
...the living truth and glory crushing religion.
Its really good to find content to learn about this not so well-known side of Christianity and Western esotericism in a comprehensive yet easy to understand format...But let me be the dumbest one and the room and say the Wardruna reference was what took the cake for me. Thank you Dr. Sledge!
I love you so much! Thank you for everything you do; absolutely beautiful work!
I just have to compliment the rhetorical interplay connecting the Dead Sea Scroll discovery to the debates over the Incarnation in the intro. Masterfully written.
I love this channel. I will return to many of these episodes...so much information to absorb and grow into. Thank you.
This pleases my Valentinian heart.
I usually will not accept anyone's proposal to be my Valentine but once they bring out the Gnostic wisdom of the ancients shit gets real
You're not a Valentinian.
@@Sageman101 Excuse me?
?
My Christian heart*
And what a rabbit hole ✨ Hey Justin, to chime in from an experiential angle, just discovered that the bridal chamber sacrament (nymphōn sacrament) is a spiritual initiation that can very much still be received (ask your guardian angel, or god, or your higher self to facilitate your reception of it) - and does indeed bring about a very tangible unification with one’s guardian angel. No need for fanciful Abramelin stuff with this treasure that the Gnostics had. This is direct fusion. What a tragedy that Christianity lost sight of this vertical “marriage” with the guardian angel as its central mystery! But one that’s evidently still very much accessible to anyone who asks. Definitely worthy of orienting a whole religious tradition around. What a pity Valentinus didn’t become Bishop.
First, thank you for doing this channel. It is profoundly refreshing to watch sophisticated academia personified Covering “esoteric” topics. I like your teaching style. Please keep up your topical variety. I have a little to no subject knowledge on these things.
Second, I particularly enjoyed this session/topic. You looked as if you were having fun doing it. Of course the material was, as always, very interesting but on this one I really appreciated the presentation as well.
As a fellow college professor, different discipline, It is easy to see the work you put into this and it is appreciated. Well done. Be safe be well. -KevinJ
You’re the bomb dude. I’ve enjoyed your rendition and exploration of literally everything you’ve put out. Particularly the Gnostic perspectives. Thank you for your service 🫡
Great video, Id love to hear a video about the modern pop culture strains regarding Valentian Christianity; Philip K Dick, Matrix, etc. Thanks and keep up the great work!
This is the best channel ive ever come across. Amazing. Thank you very much.
Wow to look back on this older video (even though only two years) and compare it to your new videos! You were already a fantastic speaker but you have now honed these skills to perfection!
This is a great video - really clear information providing context for key developments.
Nice little reference to Wardruna there at the end...
Dr.Sledge , you hammered this topic down to something ican understand !
Thanks, that was a very informing lecture. I was trying to understand in simple terms what the Gnostic belief was. I have ordered the book you recommended Gnostic Religion in Antiquity. The reason I am interested in this is because I came to understand that Hegelianism and Marxism are build on Gnostic ideas.
thank you so much for your dulcet tones as i get home from my big union first year anniversary. been looking forward to this tiouc
The Joy Division reference gave me a much needed chuckle.Have you ever read any of Nick Cave's writing that explores spirtuality and faith? His performances are really moving for me.
Excellent.... so glad this popped up on my Recommended. Thank you, Dr. S.
As a Christian that practices kabbalah going on 20 years I respect this Doctor because he doesn't put down christianity even though he's Jewish
Very interesting! This is my new favorite channel. I’m halfway through reading an old book called The Gospel In The Stars and it interprets the 12 zodiac signs with all their decans or side-piece constellations as being symbolic of the Godspell (gospel). This is very interesting to an occult nerd like me. It hasn’t mentioned Enoch or Zoroaster or Hermes Trismegistus at all yet but I recently came to the conclusion that they’re all the same dude and there are sources to support my claim even though there can never be any concrete consensus among scholars about these 3 mysterious ancients
Ur Preamble vis a vis discoveries is captivating brilliant! Thankyou!
I think l'm going to have
"Succumbed to his own Inherent Finitude" written on my gravestone.
Another awesome video! I just can’t get over how much I like your sense of humor, especially after you eloquently deliver the information on each topic. I’m not sure what it is ,but I feel like I just connected with your words and your online persona. In my opinion you give off “ have a beer with guy vibes” so to speak. Even though I don’t really drink. Lol. Thanks again for the work you. I appreciate it. My apologies if I was a little to bombastic in this comment
This is excellent!
This channel is currently my escape from my thesis work.
I'd love to see you tackle the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, and the mangled Germanized-then-Anglicized Hebrew, its claims to connection to rabbinic input, and various other weirdness.
I'm oddly fascinated with texts like it (also, the Hygromanteia, Petit Albert, Grimoire of Armadel, the Arbatel, etc.). So, I look forward to seeing what unfolds on your channel.
Sidenote: Shown your channel to a few of my friends and they wondered how you were not an alternate-reality version of me, or at least already a part of their tabletop gaming group. Lol
Yep, planning to get to those texts as well. I may be alternate-reality version of me, I mean you.
@@TheEsotericaChannel patiently waiting!
Thank you for translating/ explaining all these concepts and showing how complex Christianity really is. So many think that Christians are just what the evangelists tell us to believe. I actually have felt that I was more "Gnostic" than the American Baptist I was raised as. Even bought a "Gnostic Bible" 40 years ago but couldn't understand any of it. A couple years ago, I found a book explaining the metaphors in the Book of Thomas. More recently, I am seeing videos presenting more of the books that the "Church" calls heretical. I didn't even know what Hermeticism was until a couple months ago. All point to concepts that Dolores Cannon and quantum physics describe. This all must be what some refer to as "the thinning of the veil."
It's good to see how complex even the Gnostic beliefs were, and how they argued about fine points that nobody will ever be able to "prove". The arguments themselves are worth thinking about. As I get older, I learn that certain things resonate in my heart and these are what I need to embrace. You're doing a great job of presenting such deep information that people like me would never know existed. Keep up the wonderful work!
This is a great channel
Once again, impeccable. Thankyou.
I love the idea of Sledge accidentally having summoned demons and weird entities with his replicas behind him and he just doesn't notice or care 😂
Valentinian Gnosticism is a new one for me. Great job. TY.
What an accurate, learned, and fair overview of Valentinus. If someone, today, would perform in-depth interviews of the followers of ANY religion, they would discover that no two people have EXACTLY the same religious beliefs. Despite all the labels we put on people, they stubbornly remain individuals and their beliefs will differ in some way. 7.5 billion people means 7.5 billion different conceptions of reality. That's why I truly respect the Jewish tradition of "let's talk" in these matters. That is, "we seem to disagree in this particular matter. Let's discuss why that is by exploring each other's conceptions of human life, the Creation and the Creator, and how those conceptions have led us to come to different positions regarding this particular situation. Just so we know." Instead of the, unfortunately, more popular approach of "we disagree on this particular matter so you must be stupid or evil and I don't want to talk with you."
You had me at the Joy Division reference.
he had me way before that but the reference did help.
“Matter..😝🤢” you’re so funny. I love your work, insight, momentum and specially timing for little humorous clever parentheses. I’ve learnt so much with you!!
Oh Meye, Mahalo Nui Loa, synchronicity and sacred Intuition is everything, we are each the deciphered of code, it is our birthright!
Ty for this on this day scholar
A Joy Division reference in a video about Gnosticism. Yes!
Always the trusted source as usual.
There's hundreds of videos falsely describing Gnosticism.
"Gnosticism is ...."
My first comment is always to ask which one...
I greatly enjoy your use of William Blake's artwork in videos. Blake is my favorite poet and his artwork is really good too.
I never knew there were so many Gnostic sects. I love it!
These subjects are some of the most interesting and intriguing things I have ever seen, thanks
Literally my favourite channel
Another fantastic, informative video.
Thanks for doing all this work for us. We enjoy it!
You have beaten me to many subjects I wanted to make videos about :)
I was particularly interested in making a video about the Valentinian exegesis of scriptures since I dealth with that in "The Gospel of Lie"
Thank you so much for the Examples in Scholarly-ship Valentinus summary of the Pleroma and the Gospel of Truth Dr Sledge!
It would be really cool if you could do a video on Fr. Richard Rohr and the Franciscan "Alternate Orthodoxy"'s roots
A very well done explanation of an obscure and impenetrable subject!
Ah yes, getting brill books... "ILL"
Yeah, I've heard you can summon them from the Pleroma with some finesse ;)
Luckily I have a subscription with my university account 🙏
lmao your comments made this video so much better. Awesome and informative! subscribed
As always, your alembic still is gorgeous! (Also your insight and analysis)
Scholarly of high quality, and needed knowledge.
This is super helpful/informative, thank you. Discovered the channel recently and been working my way through the back log. :) Fascinating stuff.
Understanding that christ is a theological idea with multiple philosophies, with no one set dogma until historical distortions, has been a big step in healing from religious trauma and becoming more comfortable with the idea of christ. It is a personal journey within yourself to uncover christ within you. What christ and his disciples taught is very different from what the romans and council of nicea taught or is taught today. Becoming more educated and watching your channel has not only been fun and educational, but somewhat healing. I also like the chosen TV show, as it is funny and non dogmatic. Maybe one day I will let my walls down and start exploring christ, but in the meantime I'm just a nerd lol.
I love when i go to subscribe and i already did great work thanks for your time
Mysticalmatteroffactism, I love it! Sign me up. Ascension 101, I'm in, you? I love your work Doctor Sledge, thank you once again for another great tutorial.
I still just want to hang out sometime and listen to you talk. lol
Flipping through wiki article after wiki article about greek gnostic terms and valentinian stuff and suddenly go "damn I wonder if I could find a video about this" instant sub
Thanks for this. You are the Dr. Dee of the internet xx
Hermetic compliment is best compliment :)
@@TheEsotericaChannel I read The Gospel of Truth from time to time. It is stunning in its beauty and profundity. In fact I get tearful nearly every time. I,m an ex-evangelical who parted ways with christianity years ago.....and yet, the myth of Christ keeps pulling me back. And in the mystical and the gnostic I find meaning. My view of christianity is not diminished by these "heretical" texts ( fundamentalists do that all on their own!) but greatly enriched! I would have loved to meet Valentinus.
I'm around the 18 minute mark and by the time you mentioned Sophia creating Chaos, all I could think of was Paradise Lost with the creation of Sin and Death.
You channel is one of if not my favorite channels
Also a random thing about Pazuzu I found out
Pazuzu is his rapper name
His real name is George
Thanks! and I heard his friends just call him Paz
@@TheEsotericaChannel cause George is a common name not fitting for the gangsta of the Mesopotamian demonic circle
Will you do something on Meister Eckhart ? Greetings from Serbia 🇷🇸
As a physical scientist and an atheist, I really have no skin in the game. So I'm hard pressed to explain why religion, especially early Christianity, is so damned fascinating to me. But it is. Maybe it's because religion says more about us humans than it does about God.
Same and probably.
Great work again.
As someone who used to identify as a modern-day Valentinian Gnostic, I find this endlessly fascinating!Keep up the good work,Dr.!:)
The "matter, blergh, matter" 18:25 thing made me laugh so much thank u sir
That Rimbaud smoking a pipe in your pic?
@@TheEsotericaChannel Yes! Finally someone spotted it!
@@innocencesgone Ha! Even that small I recognized it! I'm a fan - Me and Zelda Fitzgerald share in common that we taught ourselves French to read Rimbaud.
I really enjoyed that too!
Thank you.
My one gripe with Gnosticism (and transcendentalist religions in general) is their core characterization of Creation being flawed and therefore inherently evil rather than flawed but inherently good. I want to _like_ the world around me, not disown and discard it for its failures.
Like, I’m not into materialism, but matter is super cool! Did you know you could make ice-cream out of matter? It’s true!
Dr Sledge, do you have any plans to cover the history of Samaritans and other “judaisms”?
Maybe!
thank you so much for your lecture
I read something interesting recently where a person explaining the Vedas connected the concept of the AUM with the idea of the Logos. And is that section of scripture " he was the word or the word was with him" (don't have a bible within arm's reach) a surviving thread of Gnostic teaching?
You may want to research the Light and Sound of God/Creation/the Divine.
Inherent Finitude would also make an excellent band name
y e p
Do I sense in all these Blake works an upcoming video on the poet? Just handed in my diss on his theory of time and eternity as represented through the interrelationship (or rivalry) between line, colour and word in The Book of Thel.
Nice - not at this point, I just think his artwork really fits well with this whole gnostic cosmology business. You know....considering he kinda made one.
@@TheEsotericaChannel Absolutely, incredible to think given what must have been the faint glimmer of gnosticism found in the alchemical texts he read (Paracelsus, Boehme, Vaughn). Blake is more akin to the gnostics than he his to the neoplatonism of Plotinus, being more sympathetic to emanationism - though he would have fumed at being branded a sectarian of any sort. You may have come across her already, but Kathleen Raine writes about all this very fluently, her chapter "Blake and Maya" in 'Golgonooza, City of Imagination' is very interesting indeed.
I rate your work ethic highly
Man, I was about to ask a bunch of armchair occultists for advice on this subject, but you knocked it out of the park.
Dear Justin, I love your channel, I am currently a doctoral candidate working on the German philosopher F.W.J. Schelling, I would love to speak to you or maybe collaborate with you on the history of the occult and mystical traditions in German Idealism. Schelling's 1809 Freiheitsschrift was deeply inspired by both the Spiritual pietism of Oetinger, Hahn and Bengel; and also forms of Christian Kabbalah particularly Jakob Boehme. The Freedom essay is an eclectic text that contains a mythic and mystical exegesis of the creation of the world and the meaning behind the essence of Freedom. Schelling also employs Meister Eckhart's imagery of taming the eternal fire. The text is a masterpiece. Would you be doing any videos on Jakob Boehme in the near future? Best!
Good to see we have a Joy Division fan amongst the YT Religious Studies figureheads.
Closer is probably the most gnostic album of the 20th century. It's pretty much Allogenes the Stranger if it was made by a post-punk band.
Gary Numan's early work is pretty close too- he's basically Marcion with a synthesizer.
Joy Division gnostic scripture…..bravo maestro! Bravo!
That piano intro is haunting man!
Such a shame that we wound up with Pauline Christianity. Gnostic heresy is so much more interesting.
You know, I would say that Gnosticism, at least Valentinian Christianity is a Pauline Christianity, certainly the Valentinians thought it was, although an unusual one compared to the 'orthodoxy' that prevailed. What's interesting to me is just how much variety there was in Christian mythology in the 2nd century.
@@TheEsotericaChannel I find Paul to be a rather lousy choice of publicist on G-d's part, but what can you do. Certainly the earlier variety in Christianity is quite intriguing compared to what it has largely become, particularly in the mainstream US.
👍 :) it is challenging, that s what makes it interesting. Thkx