Naasene Sermon "The Goatherd"

Strange word, goatherd. Replace it with shepherd and it makes a bit more sense. In any case, the following is a section of a Naasene sermon which is part of the Gnostic Bible collection.

A few weeks ago I was given a koan by Pleroma which I figured out after a few moments of careful consideration but the significance of it has stayed with me since.

The koan was, "Who is at the right hand of god?" Hint: God isn't square. Or even three dimensional with the types of edges and corners you'd expect.

The Greek translated words are in parenthesis.

The Phrygians also call him goatherd(aipolos), not because he feeds goats, as the psychical people call them, but because he is ever turning(aeipolos) and circulating and impressing the whole universe with turning motion. For to turn(polein) is to circulate and alter matters. That is why the two centers of the heaven are called poles. And the poet also said,

"An old man, wave dwelling, frequently comes around here, deathless Proteus, the Egyptian."(Homer, Odyssey 4.384-85. The Greek for "comes" is poleitai.)

Poleitai does not mean that he is sold but that he turns about and goes around. Furthermore, cities(poleis) in which we live are so called because we turn and circulate(poloumen) in them. So the Phrygians call aipolos the one who always turns things in every direction and transfers them to his own domain.

I believe this piece of literature tries to frame in a more visual means what the Book of Thomas declared; that Jesus did not come to placate or soothe but to stir up, agitate, and set fire to the world. The Valentinian "Round Dance of the Cross" is another perfect example of this concept.