Gospel of Truth pictures the holy spirit as God's breath

Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas

"This gospel takes its name from the opening line: "The gospel of truth is joy, to those who receive from the Father the grace of knowing him," [26] for it transforms our understanding of God and ourselves. Those who receive this gospel no longer "think of [God] as petty, nor harsh, nor wrathful"—not, that is, as some biblical stories portray him—"but as a being without evil," loving, full of tranquility, gracious, and all-knowing. [27] The Gospel of Truth pictures the holy spirit as God's breath, and envisions the Father first breathing forth the entire universe of living beings ("his children are his fragrant breath"), then drawing all beings back into the embrace of their divine source. [28] Meanwhile, he urges those who "discover God in themselves, and themselves in God" to transform 'gnosis' into action" "

"Valentinus, a poet himself, loved the power of biblical images, especially John's. Though orthodox Christians later sought to destroy his teachings, the surviving fragments show that he took the story of the cleansing of the Temple, for example, as a parable showing how, when God shines into our hearts, he shatters and transforms what he finds there to make us fit dwellings for the holy spirit. [15] Another fragment suggests that Valentinus's own spiritual awakening occurred when he received a revelatory dream in which a newborn child appeared and said to him, "I am the 'logos'" [16]—in John's language, the divine 'word' revealed in human form.

Let us look at several examples of what Irenaeus calls "evil exegesis," and then consider what he finds objectionable. Irenaeus identifies Valentinus as the author of what he calls the Gospel of Truth, and if this is the same one discovered at Nag Hammadi, we now can see, for the first time, how Valentinus praised the "hidden mystery, Jesus the Christ." [17] Whether written by Valentinus or, more likely, by one of his followers, the Gospel of Truth depicts a world devoid of God as a nightmare, a world like the one Matthew Arnold described nearly two thousand years later:

...the world, which seems
to lie before us like a land of dreams,
so various, so beautiful, so new,
hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
and we are here as on a darkling plain
swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight
where ignorant armies clash by night. [18]

The Gospel of Truth, too, pictures human existence, apart from God, as a nightmare, in which people feel as if...they were fleeing, or, without strength they come from having chased after others; or they are...striking blows, or...receiving blows themselves; or they have fallen from high places, or they take off into the air, though they do not even have wings;...or as if people were murdering them, though there is no one pursuing them, or they themselves are killing their neighbors, for they have been stained with their blood. [19]

But 'unlike' Arnold, the author of this gospel believes that we can awaken from horror to discover God's presence here and now; and when we wake up, the terror recedes, for the divine breath—the spirit—runs after us," and, having extended a hand, lift[s] [us] up to stand on [our] feet." [20] Thus, the Gospel of Truth continues, echoing John's prologue, the "'word' of the Father,...Jesus of the infinite sweetness...goes forth into all things, supporting all things," and finally restores all things to God, "bringing them back into the Father, and into the Mother." [21]

The Gospel of Truth also says that what we see in Jesus—or God—depends on what we need to see, and what we are capable of seeing. For although the divine is "ineffable [not describable], unimaginable," our understanding is bound by words and images, which can either limit or extend what we perceive. (P.121) So, although God is, of course, neither masculine or feminine, when invoking the image of God the Father, this author also speaks of God the Mother. Moreover, while drawing upon images of Jesus familiar from the gospels of Matthew and Luke (the "good shepherd") [22] and from Paul, who speaks of wisdom's "hidden mystery," [23] as well as from John ("the word of the Father"), this author offers other visions of Jesus as well. Acknowledging that believers commonly see Jesus "nailed to the cross" as an image recalling sacrificial death, this author suggests seeing him instead as "fruit on a tree"—none other than the "tree of knowledge" in Paradise. [24] But instead of destroying those who eat the fruit, as Adam was destroyed, 'this' fruit, "Jesus the Christ," conveys 'genuine' knowledge—not intellectual knowledge but the knowing of mutual recognition (a word related to the Greek term 'gnosis')—to those whom God "discovers...in himself, and they discover him in themselves." [25]

This gospel takes its name from the opening line: "The gospel of truth is joy, to those who receive from the Father the grace of knowing him," [26] for it transforms our understanding of God and ourselves. Those who receive this gospel no longer "think of [God] as petty, nor harsh, nor wrathful"—not, that is, as some biblical stories portray him—"but as a being without evil," loving, full of tranquility, gracious, and all-knowing. [27] The Gospel of Truth pictures the holy spirit as God's breath, and envisions the Father first breathing forth the entire universe of living beings ("his children are his fragrant breath"), then drawing all beings back into the embrace of their divine source. [28] Meanwhile, he urges those who "discover God in themselves, and themselves in God" to transform 'gnosis' into action:

Speak the truth to those who seek it,
And speak of understanding to those who have committed sin through error;
Strengthen the feet of those who have stumbled;
Extend your hands to those who are sick;
Feed those who are hungry;
Give rest to those who are weary;
And raise up those who wish to rise. [29]

Those who care for others and do good "do the will of the Father."

Beyond Belief (The Secret Gospel of Thomas), Chapter 4, p.119-122
Elaine Pagels
Vintage Books, New York, U.S.A
ISBN: 0-375-70316-0

Notes:
For fuller and more technical discussions of the research summarized in this chapter, see Elaine Pagels, "Irenaeus, the 'Canon of Truth' and the Gospel of John: 'Making a Difference' Through Hermeneutics and Ritual," in 'Vigiliae Christianae' 56.4 (2002), 339-371; also Pagels, "Ritual in the Gospel of Phillip," in Turner and McGuire, 'Nag Hammadi Library After Fifty Years', 280-294; "The Mystery of Marriage in the Gospel of Phillip," in Pearson, 'Future of Early Christianity', 442-452; and 'Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis'.
[15] Valentinus 2, in Clement of Alexandria, 'Stromateis' 2.14.3-6 (for discussion, see Markschies, 'Valentinus Gnosticus?' 54ff).
[16] Valentinus 7, in Hippolytus, 'Refutation of All Heresies' 6.42.2.
[17] Gospel of Truth 29.9-25, in NHL 43.
[18] Opening lines of "Dover Beach."
[19] Gospel of Truth 29.9-25, in NHL 43.
[20] Ibid., 30.16-21, in NHL 43.
[21] Ibid., 24:5-9, in NHL 41.
[22] Matthew 18:2-4; Luke 15:3-7.
[23] 1 Corinthians 2:7.
[24] Gospel of Truth 18:24-29, in NHL 38.
[25] Ibid., 18.29-34, in NHL 38.
[26] Ibid., 16.31-33, in NHL 37.
[27] Ibid., 42.1-10, in NHL 48.
[28] Ibid., 33.35-34.35, in NHL 44.
[29] Ibid., 32.35-33.30.

Term "Spirit" translates the Hebrew word ruah

"The term "Spirit" translates the Hebrew word ruah, which, in its primary sense, means breath, air, wind. Jesus indeed uses the sensory image of the wind to suggest to Nicodemus the transcendent newness of him who is personally God's breath, the divine Spirit." - Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Catechism of the Catholic Church, U.S.C.C. Inc., Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994, p. 182

THE JEWISH ROOTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Lea Sestieri

“The "Guide for a correct presentation of Jews and the Jewish religion in the Preaching and Catechesis of the Catholic Church" (1985), encourages Christians to acquire a more respectful and adequate knowledge of the common heritage of Christians and Jews because this knowledge "can help them better understand certain aspects of the life of the Church" (1,3). This knowledge also includes the mystery of the Holy Spirit whom the New Testament and above all Christian tradition profess to be the third Person of the Holy Trinity, proceeding from the Father and the Son and who "with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified» (Nicean-Constantinople Creed).

Although in Jewish scripture the Holy Spirit is never presented as a person but rather as a divine power capable of transforming the human being and the world, the fact remains that Christian pneumatological terminology is rooted in that of the Jewish religion. In preaching and Catechesis therefore it will be necessary to point out this connection, underlining the main aspects.

1. The term: "Spirit" translates the Hebrew word "Ruah" which in its primary sense means breath, air, wind. "Jesus indeed uses the sensory image of the wind to suggest to Nicodemus the transcendent newness of him who is personally God's breath the divine Spirit" (Catechism of the Catholic Church 691). The spirit as irruption and as transcendence: working in history but other than history, who cannot be reduced to history's logic but who installs another logic, that of responsibility and love for others;

2. Ordering power: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep and God's spirit hovered over the water» (Gn 1,1). God's spirit came down on the formless world and this descent produced the miracle of creation: the transformation of chaos into cosmos, of disorder into order;

3. Vivifying power: "The Lord God fashioned man out of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and thus man became a living being» (Gn 2, 7). The spirit of God is breathed onto the human being of dust and, because of this breath, the human being is transformed into a living being: no longer an animal being but a partner with whom and to whom God speaks and entrusts responsibility for the world;

4. Guiding power: "On him the spirit of the Lord rests, a spirit of wisdom and insight, a spirit of counsel and power, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord" (Is 11,2). The Spirit of the Lord takes hold of certain persons (patriarchs, matriarchs, judges, kings, prophets, wise men etc.,) and by bestowing on them special powers, enables them to act as guides and master interpreters in the world, of the will of God;

5. Healing power: "I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you… I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances." (Ez 36,27). Entering into the human being, the spirit recreates and heals him, overcoming his sin and making him once more a partner of God in the covenant and in the observance of the Torah.

6. Universal dimension: "I will pour out my Spirit on all mankind. Their sons and daughters shall prophesy Even on my slaves men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit» (Jl 3f 1-2). There will come a day when every human being will be possessed by the spirit and this day will coincide with the day of the messiah." ”

THE JEWISH ROOTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
www.vatican.va/jubilee_2000/magazine/documents/

“The Meaning of the Word "Spirit"

In English copies of the Bible, the word "spirit" occurs about 823 times. It’s first occurrence is Genesis 1:2. "Spirit" occurs most often in the Old Testament book Isaiah and the New Testament book Acts. The Hebrew word translated "spirit" or "breath" is ruach. The Greek word is pneuma.

Regarding the English word "spirit" THE ROOTS OF ENGLISH, page 229 says: "[Latin SPIRARE, to breathe." Thus it equals both the Hebrew (RUACH) and Greek (PNEUMA) for "breath." The phrase "spirit of God" is reasonably rendered "Breath of God" or "Wind of God." The word "spirit" has taken on a corporeal tone like the word "ghost." Likely, if the word PNEUMA had been rendered "breath" or "wind" in English the Holy Spirit would not have developed so strongly in English as a Person part of the Trinitarian Godhead. Some translators actually do render RUACH as "wind" in Genesis 1:2. (NJB: a divine wind)”

http://www.nazarene-friends.org/articles/

“There are several female Deities that can lay claim to the title Christian goddess. Mary, the Mother of Jesus/Yeshua, first comes to mind. There is Mary Magdalene the "Goddess in the Gospels" the Church refused to acknowledge as the wife of Yeshua and probably co-Messiah. "Mary" is a Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew name Miriam or Miriamne. There are many theories about this name, such as Mary might not even be a name, but a title meaning Priestess of Goddess.

Many theologians and scholars believe the Holy Spirit written as, Pneuma in Greek everytime it appears in the New Testament, is a feminine being. Note that Pneuma is a neuter word in Greek, but in Hebrew the word Ruah (Spirit) and in Aramaic the word Shekinah (Presence) are feminine words and imply a feminine divine presence. The Holy Spirit is possibly a Christian Goddess, not a mysterious invisible member of an all-male Trinity "club." Or more provocatively, maybe there is a Feminine Trinity of God-the-Mother (Sophia and Mary?), God-the-Daughter (Mary Magdalene) and Goddess-the-Spirit-Presence (Shekinah, Ruah). The Holy Spirit appears at Yeshua's baptism in the form of a dove. The dove has long been a symbol of the Goddess in the Ancient Near East, and was never used to symbolize any male Being or God.

We must also look in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, and consider the Goddess Sophia. Her name means "Wisdom." She is the Goddess of Wisdom referred to repeatedly in scripture as the wife of God-the-Father. See Proverbs, Song of Songs, (also called Song of Solomon) in the Hebrew Bible, and see the Book of Sirach and the Book of Wisdom in the Apocrypha found in the center of any Catholic Bible.

Here is an excerpt from The Decline of the Feminine and the Cult of Mary In Greco-Roman Christianity, probably because of the dangers of Gnosticism, the biblical images of God as female were soon suppressed within the doctrine of God. God as Wisdom, Hokmah in Hebrew, or Sophia in Greek, a feminine form, was translated by Christianity into the Logos concept of Philo, which is masculine and was defined as the Son of God. The Shekinah, the theology of God’s mediating presence as female, was de-emphasized; and God’s Spirit Ruah, a feminine noun in Hebrew, took on a neuter form when translated into Greek as Pneuma. The Vulgate translated Ruah into Latin as masculine, Spiritus. God’s Spirit, Ruah, which at the beginning of creation brings forth abundant life in the waters, makes the womb of Mary fruitful. In spite of the reality of the caring, consoling, healing aspects of divine activity, the dominant patriarchal tradition has prevailed, resulting in seeing the female as the passive recipient of God’s creation; and the female is expressed in nature, church, soul, and finally Mary as the prototype of redeemed humanity. Because God as father has become an over literalized metaphor, the symbol of God as mother is eclipsed. The problem lies not in the fact that male metaphors are used for God, but that they are used exclusively and literally. Because images of God as female have been suppressed in official formulations and teaching, they came to be embodied in the figure of Mary who functioned to reveal the unfailing love of God.”

The Christian Goddess
http://northernway.org/goddess.html

NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:

www.adishakti.org/
www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/  — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/  — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/  — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/  — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)

"Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture - has to be there." Shri Mataji, Radio Interview 1983 Oct 01, Santa Cruz, USA