108 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It identifies "common themes" in early Gnostic Christianity., February 25, 2002
By A Customer
This is an excellent book with much original research. Out of the three schools of thought in early Christianity: (1) Literalist (Pistis); (2) Joint Literalist-Gnostic; (3) Gnostic, Freke and Gandy are strong supporters of number (3), the Gnostic Christians.
Freke and Gandy attack literalist Christianity with venom, who they accuse of hijacking early Christianity which was eclectic and tolerant, turning it into the most totalitarian nightmare the world has ever seen. This included systematic destruction of the Gnostic Christian and Gnostic Pagan intelligentsia of their day and all their powerful knowledge they had gathered (with the destruction of the ancient, Great Alexandrian Library). Replacing it with mass ignorance and complete nonsense that was the beginning of the dark ages in the west.
The books great strength is that is "unifies" early Christian Gnostic thought, by identifying "common themes" that existed in all denominations of the Christian Gnostics, despite their "individual" differences. Describing the processes of hylic, psychic, pneumatic initiates and gnosis as the final prize for the initiate, in original Christianity.
The one big criticism of the book is Freke and Gandy's denial of the historical Jesus. Just because the independent evidence is weak for the existence of an historical Jesus, it doesn't mean he didn't exist as a person.
The totalitarian literalist Christians who seized power in the 4th century AD, may well have destroyed independent evidence of an historical Jesus fearing it would do damage to their ignorant vision, particularly if Jesus was a maverick style, radical individualist and a Jewish Gnostic, such as an Essene or a Therapeutae initiate and not the totalitarian figure the new powerful Christian church wanted to falsely portray. Freke and Gandy don't address this argument.
Also another criticism is that the Literalist Christians may not have always been this total monster that Freke and Gandy portray. Because the Literalists offered a sense of community, self-belief and faith, that gave its followers (in face of persecution), an intuitive sense of strength in unity before the 4th century AD. Literalist Christians were a "solid movement", while the Gnostics Christians were no match, being only a "loose network".
Only after the 4th century AD and the seizure of power and triumph of the totalitarian literalist Christians, one could argue, the "democratic" literalist vision was hijacked and twisted by these new, sinister, "totalitarian" literalists who seized power for their ignorant uses and plunged the west into darkness for 1000 years. Only with the "Reformation" in the 16th century some sanity has been restored, with the triumph of the "individual" in the west laying down the magnificent democratic principles of modern, western society.
I am sure Clement of Alexandria and his pupil Origen would have agreed with much of the above four paragraphs and that is why both these early Church Fathers were supporters of the joint Literalist-Gnostic school of thought. This expressed "both" the literalist exoteric outer mysterious (historical, the community and faith emphasis) and Gnostic esoteric inner mysterious (mythological, the individual and self knowledge emphasis), which the writer believes was the framework of original Christians, before the church split in two, with the literalist (Roman Christianity) and Gnostic (Alexandrian Christianity) factions disastrously going their separate ways in the 2nd century AD.
Despite these criticisms get a copy of this book now. This is an important book in the "Jesus Debate". It shows how easily a "philosophical" religion of inclusive, democratic freethinkers with "unity in variety" and a "freedom to question" as their message can be hijacked and turned into the "control" religion of the exclusive, authoritarian personality (see your psychology books), with "them and us" and a "duty to believe" as their message. That is what happened to Christianity and many of today's Christian denominations are a misguided product of this.
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151 of 175 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Here is Wisdom...., November 4, 2001
_As much as I valued the authors' first book on the subject, I must say that I value this effort even more. This work goes beyond presenting the history of gnosticism, to setting forth the actual gnostic teachings in absolute crystal clarity. When you think about it, giving such clarity and accessibility to gnostic thought is a phenomenal achievement in and of its self. Unlike more academic studies, or outright translations, where you sense that the author or translator doesn't comprehend gnosis at all, here you have a definate feeling that you are getting teachings from true initiates. The analogy of the circle of the self with the One Consciousness of God at the center, radiating all of our individual psyches into the many seemingly separate bodies and egos of the physical world at the circumference is extremely well expounded. Yes, you find the same teaching in Plotinus, but only after wading through hundreds of pages of deliberately obscure prose.
_Oh yes, the connection of the gnostic teachings to the gospels is the best I've seen. The meaning of formerly difficult passages veritably leaps out at you.
_The authors mention in passing that when a student starts on the gnostic Way, meaningful coincidences often occur. This book was released on the date of my own birthday. I could not think of a finer or more appropriate gift. Thank you.
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44 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gnosticism for the masses, May 27, 2002
For those who read Freke's and Gandy's earlier book, The Jesus Mysteries, this work is the perfect companion piece. Whereas The Jesus Mysteries made a good case for the pagan origins of the Christian mythology and the Gnostic origins of the early church, Jesus and the Lost Goddess goes one step beyond in explaining-in considerable detail-the nuts and bolts of how Gnosticism works. In effect, Freke and Gandy have done nothing less than reintroduce the ancient religion to a broader audience in an attractive package that is sure to reach even into the dusty pews of the established churches. Whether this will prove to be a good or bad thing is yet to be determined.
In any case, Jesus and the Lost Goddess does a good job explaining precisely how Gnosticism works and how the Jesus story might be interpreted in the light of Gnostic mythology. In this, it presents a thought-provoking and fascinating look at a movement who's time has come and gone and, perhaps, come again. And, it manages to do this in a considerably more user friendly manner than most books on the subject, including Elaine Pagel's excellent work The Gnostics (which, while it does an admirable job explaining the history of the movement, does not do as well explaining it) and herein lies its greatest strength: it manages to bring the very complex and often confusing concepts within Gnosticism down to a laymen's level. While it can be on occasion a tedious read (Freke and Gandy sometimes slip in a few $25 words) and a bit obtuse at points, anyone who makes it all the way through should have a pretty good working knowledge of this ancient belief system that manages to seem both ancient and modern at the same time. I also found many parallels between the Gnostic's theology and that expressed in Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations With God trilogy, making me wonder if the three men ever read each other's work.
There are a few negatives however. First, the buyer should be aware that fully half of this book is composed of endnotes, making it a less substantial read than it might first appear. I also found the first appendix to be an unnecessary (and less concise) reiteration of information contained earlier in the book, and the second appendix on Islamic Gnosticism to be misplaced and not particularly useful (I also question their premise that Mohammed was a mystic. Historically speaking, he appears much more a conquering warrior/king than a closet Gnostic, but-oh well.)
But for anyone who is looking for an all encompassing and intellectually satisfying belief system that can stand up to the scientific and philosophical scrutiny of the twenty-first century and beyond, Jesus and the Lost Goddess is a good place to start. It sure beats anything else I've come across recently.
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