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gnōthi seauton

Cultural anthropology is to humanity what theology is to God.

And if we are truly "made in the image and likeness of God," then the only way to learn anything about God, is by first becoming a cultural anthropologist.

In this sense, the best and perhaps only true understanding of God can only be glimpsed by us, not by focusing on the "perfect" ideal version we have in our head about that God (that theology only ever strives to defend and advance), but by first striving to see ourselves as merely a stitch in the shared fabric of humanity, stretched out across time and space, from the molecular to the mind.

Those who see differences see the devil in every nook and cranny, and those who see our shared commonalities see the face of God.

The serpent told Adam & Eve  that by eating the forbidden fruit they would "become like God," because the serpent knew that by "believing" they had become like God, they would forgo trying to to first gnōthi seauton, which is the admonishment by philosophers and God alike, to "know thyself"

For as it says in the Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus said: “If those who lead you say to you, ‘See, the kingdom is in
the sky,’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, ‘It
is in the sea,’ then the fish will precede you. Rather the kingdom is inside
of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then
you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the
sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves you will
dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty.”

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