Bart , I admire your work very much. I recently listened to your interview with Mark Goodacre.

You mentioned again that you do not feel you understand Logion 7 in the Gospel of Thomas. I realize the saying is notoriously difficult, but I wonder whether the image may be simpler than it first appears.

“The lion” may represent the compulsive passions or attachments that inhabit a person. If the man eats the lion, he masters those passions and subjugates them to his humanity. If the lion eats the man, the person becomes ruled by those passions, even while outwardly remaining human.

My own thought: When a child tries to distinguish between self & non-self, he chooses dichotomies that he hopes will help him to understand. It never helps, but he carries the dichotomies into adulthood, which become his passion. When he seeks gnosis, the attachment to these becomes an obstacle.

At any rate, I wanted to share the thought. Thank you again for all the work you do.