The Gnostic Gospels

The Gnostic Gospels

Author: Elaine Pagels

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2004-06-29

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1588364178

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Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence over the past two decades. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time. In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today. With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment—and access to God—within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary—or worthy—expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed—and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.


The Gnostic Gospels

The Gnostic Gospels

Author: Alan Jacobs

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2016-11-15

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1780289707

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This eye-opening collection of texts sheds light on the esoteric knowledge of Gnosticism, revealing intimate conversations between Jesus and his Disciples In 1945, several gospels, hidden since the first century, were found in the Egyptian Desert at Nag Hammadi. This discovery caused a sensation as the scrolls revealed the mysteries of the Gnostics—a movement which emerged during the formative period of Christianity. ‘Gnosis’, from the Greek, broadly meaning ‘hidden spiritual knowledge’, was associated with renouncing the material world, and focusing on attaining the life of the Holy Spirit. Many Christian sects are derived from the esoteric knowledge of Gnosticism. The gospels selected here by Alan Jacobs reveal intimate conversations between Jesus and his Disciples. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene sheds new light on his relationship with his favorite follower, while the Gospel of Thomas consists of mini-parables of deep inward and symbolic meaning—many of which are not found in the New Testament. The wisdom in this inspiring collection of texts is wholly relevant to our lives today, addressing the questions of good and evil, sin and suffering, and the path to salvation.


The Gnostic Bible

The Gnostic Bible

Author: Willis Barnstone

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 874

ISBN-13: 1590301994

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The most comprehensive collection of gnostic literature ever published, this volume is the result of a unique collaboration between a renowned poet-translator and a leading scholar of early Christian texts.


St. Mary Magdalene

St. Mary Magdalene

Author: Tau Malachi

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 073870783X

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The first written account of a Sophian Gospel of Mary Magadelene offers a groundbreaking portrayal of the Saint, depicting her as a powerful woman, the innermost disciple and beloved wife of Jesus, and a woman who is coequal with Jesus in the Christ revelation. Original.


Essential Gnostic Scriptures

Essential Gnostic Scriptures

Author: Marvin Meyer

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 2011-11-22

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1590309251

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The people we’ve come to call gnostics were passionate advocates of the view that salvation comes through knowledge and personal experience, and their passion shines through in the remarkable body of writings they produced over a period of more than a millennium and a half. Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer have created a translation that brings the gnostic voices to us from across the centuries with remarkable power and beauty—beginning with texts from the earliest years of Christianity—including material from the Nag Hammadi library—and continuing all the way up to expressions of gnostic wisdom found within Islam and in the Cathar movement of the Middle Ages. The twenty-one texts included here serve as a compact introduction to Gnosticism and its principal ideas—and they also provide an entrée to the pleasures of gnostic literature in general, representing, as they do, the greatest masterpieces of that tradition.


The Secret Book of John

The Secret Book of John

Author:

Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 1594730822

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"The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel - Annotated & Explained decodes the principal themes, historical foundation, and spiritual contexts of this challenging yet fundamental Gnostic teaching. Drawing connections to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, kabbalistic Judaism, and Sufism, Davies focuses on the mythology and psychology of the Gnostic religious quest. He illuminates the Gnostics' ardent call for self-awareness and introspection, and the empowering message that divine wholeness will be restored not by worshiping false gods in an illusory material world but by our recognition of the inherent divinity within ourselves."--BOOK JACKET.


Gnostics

Gnostics

Author: Sean Martin

Publisher: Oldacastle Books

Published: 2010-08-01

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1842436945

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Gnosticism is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ, nearly becoming the dominant form of Christianity, but was eventually branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. The long and diverse history of Gnosticism is recounted here, as well as reasons for its continued relevance today. Although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity, others examined here include that the world is imperfect because it was created by an evil god who was constantly at war with the true, good God; that Christ and Satan were brothers; that reincarnation exists; and that women are the equal of men. Also covered is the influence Gnostics had on the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, psychologist Carl Jung, the Existentialists, the New Age movement, and writers as diverse as William Blake, W. B. Yeats, Albert Camus, and Philip K. Dick.


What Are the Gospels?

What Are the Gospels?

Author: Richard A. Burridge

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1995-05-11

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9780521483636

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Compares the work of the evangelists to the development of biography in the Graeco-Roman world


Gnostic Secrets of the Naassenes

Gnostic Secrets of the Naassenes

Author: Mark H. Gaffney

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2004-04-19

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1594776156

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Reveals the hidden meaning of the Grail and a secret Christian doctrine for achieving higher consciousness • Shows that Gnosticism is not a derivative of Christianity but the revelation of the true message of Jesus • Describes the ancient relationship between water and spirit • Explains the doctrine of immanence taught by Jesus at the Last Supper • Features the translated source text from The Refutation of All Heresies by Bishop Hippolytus, the only existing record of the Naassene Sermon In the third century C.E., the Catholic Bishop Hippolytus composed A Refutation of All Heresies in which his chief target was the Gnostic sect the Naassenes, whose writings included a recounting of Jesus’ actual teachings at the Last Supper. Contrary to Church attacks, the Naassenes were not a heretical derivative of Christianity but the authentic foundation and purveyor of Christ’s message. In fact, much of what passes as Christianity has nothing to do with the original teachings of its founder. The message recorded in the Naassene Sermon was intended for an inner circle of disciples who were prepared for advanced initiation into Jesus’ wisdom teachings. The Grail discussed therein was not an actual chalice but a symbol of the indwelling of the divine. The teachings involved the awakening of spirit and included practices aimed at restoring the soul’s lost connection with God. Immanence, in the true sense intended by Jesus, thus allows for spiritual attainment in this life by ordinary individuals without the intermediary of Church or priest. This was the real meaning of the Last Supper and why the Naassenes believed that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the Mystery traditions.