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The history of the world religions has always been a fascinating subject for me, since I loved playing the role of the Devil’s Advocate and always took a strange, self-righteous pleasure in questioning many of the tenets and events in those scriptures.
When I picked up ‘The Gnostic Gospels’, I was of the opinion that this is to be another book in the lines of a ‘Jesus Lived in India’ or a ‘Holy Blood and Holy Grail’, woven around facts and what-could-have-been-the-facts. I am disappointed on the positive side with my expectation, because this book is of the genuine genre and does leave you in no doubt over the events or incidents, since the author does not, in any place, ‘assume’ as to what could have happened!
This is a book of sheer historical nature and a true one at that. The author views the origin of the Orthodox Church as we know it today, in light of the discovery of the ancient scrolls in the Nag Hammadi caves. In 1945, an Egyptian shepherd, Muhammad Ali, identified some earthen jars that contained scrolls of vellum and papyrus carrying the wisdom that has come to be known as the forbidden gospels of the Gnostics. These contained the gospels attributed to some of the most unlikely disciples and followers of Jesus Christ, like Mary Magdalene, Thomas and Philip. The author discusses and analyses the reason as to why the words of some disciples have been banned as heresy, while some others have been accepted partially, while some others have gone on to form the bedrock of Christian principles as we know them today. And, she does it not just from a religious perspective, but rather from a political and social angle.
Starting at the historical circumstances that led to the discovery, analysis and publicizing the scrolls of the Nag Hammadi caves, the author presents the different views of the Gnostics and the Orthodox share with regard to the Crucifixion and the subsequent Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the need for Monotheism and unified authority of the one church under one bishop, the gender interpretation of the Creator, the presence of the Demiurge (the probable Rex Mundi of the Cathars) and the persecution and Passion of the Christ. She finally presents arguments from both sides as to whose church is the true church – Gnostics or Orthodox. She suggests as to what made Orthodox Church an all-hugging, omnipresent institution, while Gnosticism remained in seclusion for the selected few, at least in the early days.
If you are looking for the controversial flavor of the ‘Holy Blood and Holy Grail’ or the fictional or probably elements of a ‘Jesus Lived in India’, please don’t pick this up. This is a well-researched and well-documented book of intensity that presents arguments from both the sides and quotes abundantly from both Gnosticism as well as Orthodoxy. Though the author herself confesses at the end that she prefers Orthodoxy instead of Gnosticism, nowhere in the book can you feel such partiality. She has stood the middle-ground while writing the book and you can feel it when you get to read valid and genuine arguments from both the sides over each and every topic.
One thing that I don’t understand is, Jesus lived in this world and delivered some worthy messages for us, all humans, to follow. Why should it matter, whether he got married, ate or slept like ordinary mortals, whether he really suffered at the cross or not, whether he really came back from the dead in physical form or not or whether he really visited India or not?! He has given us some absolute words of wisdom. Rather than following the map, why are we sitting at the roadside and discussing the colors of the lines used?!
Overall, this is a great book to pick, if you are a fan of religious histories and ancient wisdom.
Ashok Krishna
When I picked up ‘The Gnostic Gospels’, I was of the opinion that this is to be another book in the lines of a ‘Jesus Lived in India’ or a ‘Holy Blood and Holy Grail’, woven around facts and what-could-have-been-the-facts. I am disappointed on the positive side with my expectation, because this book is of the genuine genre and does leave you in no doubt over the events or incidents, since the author does not, in any place, ‘assume’ as to what could have happened!
This is a book of sheer historical nature and a true one at that. The author views the origin of the Orthodox Church as we know it today, in light of the discovery of the ancient scrolls in the Nag Hammadi caves. In 1945, an Egyptian shepherd, Muhammad Ali, identified some earthen jars that contained scrolls of vellum and papyrus carrying the wisdom that has come to be known as the forbidden gospels of the Gnostics. These contained the gospels attributed to some of the most unlikely disciples and followers of Jesus Christ, like Mary Magdalene, Thomas and Philip. The author discusses and analyses the reason as to why the words of some disciples have been banned as heresy, while some others have been accepted partially, while some others have gone on to form the bedrock of Christian principles as we know them today. And, she does it not just from a religious perspective, but rather from a political and social angle.
Starting at the historical circumstances that led to the discovery, analysis and publicizing the scrolls of the Nag Hammadi caves, the author presents the different views of the Gnostics and the Orthodox share with regard to the Crucifixion and the subsequent Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the need for Monotheism and unified authority of the one church under one bishop, the gender interpretation of the Creator, the presence of the Demiurge (the probable Rex Mundi of the Cathars) and the persecution and Passion of the Christ. She finally presents arguments from both sides as to whose church is the true church – Gnostics or Orthodox. She suggests as to what made Orthodox Church an all-hugging, omnipresent institution, while Gnosticism remained in seclusion for the selected few, at least in the early days.
If you are looking for the controversial flavor of the ‘Holy Blood and Holy Grail’ or the fictional or probably elements of a ‘Jesus Lived in India’, please don’t pick this up. This is a well-researched and well-documented book of intensity that presents arguments from both the sides and quotes abundantly from both Gnosticism as well as Orthodoxy. Though the author herself confesses at the end that she prefers Orthodoxy instead of Gnosticism, nowhere in the book can you feel such partiality. She has stood the middle-ground while writing the book and you can feel it when you get to read valid and genuine arguments from both the sides over each and every topic.
One thing that I don’t understand is, Jesus lived in this world and delivered some worthy messages for us, all humans, to follow. Why should it matter, whether he got married, ate or slept like ordinary mortals, whether he really suffered at the cross or not, whether he really came back from the dead in physical form or not or whether he really visited India or not?! He has given us some absolute words of wisdom. Rather than following the map, why are we sitting at the roadside and discussing the colors of the lines used?!
Overall, this is a great book to pick, if you are a fan of religious histories and ancient wisdom.
Ashok Krishna
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