A Complete Introduction to Gnosticism Part 2

Today, Fr. Bryan speaks with Bishop Mani about the limitations of the human condition. How do these natural restrictions affect our spiritual development and is there a way to transcend such obstacles?

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The Historical Jesus with Fr. Bryan D. Ouellette, Ph.D.

The Historical Jesus with Fr. Bryan D. Ouellette, Ph.D. from Universal Church of Autogenes on Vimeo.

Fr. Bryan speaks about the significance of the Historical Jesus within the framework of religious practice and salvation. Was the historical Jesus important? Did his historical actions matter or is the Gospel message a function of archetypal reality?

The Order of Deaconess

It is important to announce that as Abbot of the Holy Monastic Order En Deus, I have decided to resurrect the ancient order of Deaconess. I have had to tread carefully in this regard because of the two worlds that our Monastic Order walks within. With one foot firmly planted in Sethianism, the idea of female ordinations to the Sacrament of Holy Orders is a given reality; however, with our other foot also firmly planted in Russian Orthodoxy, the tradition is less clear in this regard. Historically speaking, Eastern Orthodoxy has never had female priests or bishops, but it did hold the order of deaconess for several hundred years. There has even been recent dialog in conventional Eastern Orthodox systems to reestablish the order. There exists, of course, a strong biblical foundation for such an action. In Romans 16:1-2, Paul clearly expresses in what high regard he considers Phoebe, a deaconess of the Early Church. Also in Philippians 4:1-3, Paul speaks of Euodia and Syntyche, two women who were clearly important assistants in Paul's ministry. It is entirely probable that they too were deaconesses. With this in mind, it is clear that the order of Deaconess is a perfect compromise between the two systems, and so we shall utilize this point of history to our own advantage.

While at this time and because of its strong Eastern Orthodox foundation, the Holy Monastic Order En Deus is not prepared to take within its Orthodox framework female priests or bishops, it is, however, in the process, through the Order of Allogenes, of establishing an exclusively Gnostic Sethian arm within its wandering monk/nun tradition that will have the freedom to offer the priesthood to women. Naturally, the Universal Church of Autogenes ordains women to the order of Priestess, so there are viable options within the walls our Church while we work through these specifics.

Fr. Bryan