Genesis
Now: |
This
paper proposes that the Bereshit mystical influences found in both
Thomas and John may be illuminated by the nature of the Semitic substructure
of the language and concepts in which this mysticism was originally
framed. The phenomenological difference between Greek and Hebrew thought
has been explored by Boman (1960), Lee (1988) and others. Aramaic and
Hebrew, being synchronic languages, lend themselves to a different view
of time than that of Greek language. In addition, they presume a different
way of encountering the world somatically, one that emphasizes a continuum
of "inner" and "outer" states, rather than a radical separation. In
addition, the distinctions between "eschatological" and "primordial"
(or between "ascent" and "descent") are not as clear as Western historical-critical
models would have them. |
