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The Thunder, Perfect Mind II

Vulnerable Divinity: An Innovative Approach to God in the 21st Century from an Early Christ Movement

The recently discovered The Thunder: Perfect Mind from the second or third century introduces a full-blown picture of a vulnerable God that for may help make sense of Divinity for 21^st century people seeking a new way of thinking about God.  Here is a key sentence from this recently discovered document: “I am she who exists in all fear and in trembling boldness.”

The following is the text we will be working with during the study.  It’s an excerpt from “The Thunder: Perfect Mind”

(Translation by Hal Taussig, Jared Calaway, Maia Kotrosits, Celene Lillie, and Justin Lasser)

I.

“I am the first and the last
I am she who is honored and she who is mocked
I am the whore and the holy woman
I am the wife and the virgin
I am the the mother and the daughter
I am the limbs of my mother
I am a sterile woman and she has many children
I am she whose wedding is extravagant and I didn’t have a husband….
I am the silence never found
And the idea infinitely recalled….
….I am a barbarian among barbarians….
I am a foreigner and a citizen of the city….
I am the one who prepares the bread and my mind within…”

II.

“I was sent out from power
I came to those pondering me….
Look at me…audience, hear me….
Don’t chase me from your sight….
Be careful.  Do not ignore me…”

“I am she who is honored and she who is mocked
I am the whore and the holy woman….
I am a barbarian among barbarians….
I am she whom you detested and yet you think about me….”

“I am the wife and the virgin….
I am she whose wedding is extravagant and I didn’t have a husband….
I am she who is disgraced and she who is important….
I am the deliberation of both the Greeks and barbarians….
I am a foreigner and a citizen of the city….”

III.

“I was found among those seeking me
Look at me, all you who contemplate me.…
Those expecting me, receive me
I am the first and the last….
I am the silence never found….
Do not be afraid of my power….
I am the one who prepares the bread and my mind within….
I am what everyone can hear and no one can say…”