[The Bishop]

Well, Stigmata is VERY VERY loosely based on the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. The passages briefly quoted are like the 70ish verse (going from memory, kinda foggy heh)...

As I'm at work (2:30 here in Phx) I can reply to this when I get home tonight. I have many good books, and even more actual research based on what documents are available for study.

I, too, was a devout Christian, but readily see how men truly are, and used logic and common sense to look paste that which was forced into my brain from a very early age... trust me, it is HARD to look past the dogma of what religion has made into 'historical fact' .... remember that what the bible says is NOT corraborated ANYWHERE else, save the old testiment and the Jewish documents... the dead sea scrolls, Pistus Sophia, Gnostic Gospels and Nag Hammadi do agree in many areas, but you can see where the bible has been edited/ changed/what-not and the originals have not, and they are almost pagan in thought in some places... pretty cool

having said all this, I still believe in The Creator, just not all nice or ruled-out like people would believe. I just don't buy the little intricacies that each branch of christianity would have you act out in order to make it to the top. And I think there is Karma, as set out by The Creator -- and it's nore immediate than "at the pearly gates" ...

-Bish