Could this be a reason why a school head-teacher refused to give permission for Genesis 1:27 to be quoted during a school assembly?

score:6

Accepted answer

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. - Ephesians 5:25-32

We live in a world which is at enmity with God's created order, His purposes, and God Himself. In his letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul states clearly that the two genders and the marriage covenant between them is a picture, a type, of a greater marriage, a greater, higher covenant between Christ and the Church.

It is a covenant entered into by Christ, according to the purposes of God, before the foundation of the world. It is a covenant which undoes all that wickedness would attain and it is hated with purity and singularity of purpose.

If the marriage union of a man and a woman is a picture of Christ and the Church and such marriage has already been almost fully secularized, marginalized, and re-defined in much of the "enlightened" world, what could be a potential death stroke to this Divine imagery meant to show forth the love of Christ? Could it be the dissolution of gender itself, rendering the image indecipherable?

Whether it is the Gospel of Thomas, the voice of social progression, or the onward march of intolerant "tolerance" the source is the same: We live in a world which is at enmity with God and that enmity has one sire:

Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. - John 8:42-44

It is little surprise to find filial sentiments expressed throughout the ages. What is currently occurring in Scotland is merely an example of the continuous pressure to destroy the image of God. The depraved mind of godless humanity conceives of itself as progressive and enlightened and does not reckon that it is a pawn in a larger game:

“The Scottish authorities are called upon by the Expert Group to use the full weight of the state’s coercive powers of expropriation, incarceration and humiliation… against individuals and associations in Scotland deemed guilty – even at an individual’s request, or with their consent – of performing, offering, promoting, authorizing, prescribing or arranging for any treatment, practice or effort that is deemed to be aimed at changing, suppressing and/or eliminating that person’s sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression.” - Scottish Legal

The proposed prohibition is broad enough to cover the activities of preachers and even parents: “Church workers, feminist activists, mums and dads – all sorts of innocent people could find themselves on the wrong end of a prosecution if this becomes law."

One wonders if the educational system will be exempted as it promotes gender fluidity and censors biblical exposition.

We do not battle against flesh and blood but we must pray for our children.

Upvote:2

I doubt it's anything to do with the Gospel of Thomas.

It's much more likely because the quote could be taken to imply that there are only two genders, male and female. This could be objectionable to those who believe that gender is more complex than that.

Upvote:3

The OP asks

"if [the quotation purportedly from the Gospel of Thomas] can be vouched for as authentic, and if there are any other similar ideas in The Gospel of Thomas?"

Yes, it's an authentic quote from the Gospel of Thomas, although the saying is 22, not 114. The full saying is

  1. "Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples, "These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's) kingdom." They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's) kingdom as babies?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter [the kingdom].""

This is the only place in the Gospel of Thomas where 'male' and 'female' are referenced, except for saying 114, which in full is

  1. "Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life." Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.""

Above saying 114, there is a note

"[Saying probably added to the original collection at a later date:]"

So whether 114 is authentic is apparently up for debate.

The OP also asks

"Could this [quotation from the Gospel of Thomas] be a reason why a school head-teacher refused to give permission for Genesis 1:27 to be quoted during a school assembly?"

I suppose it's possible that the school's head-teacher is a Christian Gnostic or influenced otherwise by the Gospel of Thomas, and so has a problem with Genesis 1:27, as the quotation is authentic.

My guess would be that the reason for resistance, however, has to do with broader trends in secular society - not Gnostic Christianity - and in particular the idea that has become fashionable in secular academic circles, especially in the humanities, that there aren't properly two 'genders' or sexes, but a myriad of them, and also that one can change one's 'gender' or sex.

Upvote:6

Since posting this question, the devolved government of the country I live in has taken a major step towards seeking to prevent people who believe in such Bible verses about God’s creation of male and female from voicing them in public. It could well be that the school head-teacher in this case prevented the reading of that one verse in school assembly, knowing what this government had in its legislative pipe-line.

This answer supplies back-ground information which shows why I asked this question. The best way to understand what is going on is to read this link, and to consider some professional, legal concerns at what has happened. https://www.scottishlegal.com/articles/kc-finds-scottish-governments-conversion-therapy-proposals-draconian

I now quote from the author of a blog-site, the author being a self-proclaimed “Calvinist [who] looks at the Church and the world and wonders how we managed to get ourselves into such a mess.” This shows the link between legal developments and how this impacts on Christians in this country.

“Women are being written out as a distinct part of humanity, and in anti-science progressivism being a woman has become a matter not of biology but of emotion. Anyone of either sex can be a woman if they claim to ‘feel’ like a woman. Any attempt even to define what a woman is, as opposed to being a man, will be met with howls of anguish and accusations of hate speech to such an extent that leading politicians refuse to attempt an answer. For the ordinary man or woman in the street to go further and attempt to clarify any distinction between womanhood and manhood and their distinct and complimentary roles is beyond the pale and is a cause for immediate cancellation and exclusion from the public square.” A Grain of Sand blog-spot https://possil.wordpress.com/2023/01/12/the-destruction-of-womanhood/#more-6676

However, if ‘double-silk’ Aidan O’Neill KC’s warning, that the proposals would be outside the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament, proves to be correct, we may yet find school head-teachers agreeable to having verses like Genesis 1:27 read out loud in their schools.

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