Customer Reviews

Lost Christianity: A Journey of Rediscovery to the Center of Christian Experience (Element Classic)

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St. Benedict is to have said: "Always, we begin again". The older I get, the more I know this to be true..especially in light of the urgency I feel for that Truth within Christianity that I know to exist- but how often it eludes me! Prof. Needleman lead me through his own search for possibility. "Occult Christianity", "New Religions", the emptiness of philosophy without a change of Heart,..read and know you DON'T have to look to an Eastern religion for that Kingdom of Heaven within. (I also recommend Robin Amis' "A Different Christianity")

I must agree with a previous reviewer who claimed that this book challenges the reader to re-think almost everything they understand about "lost" Christianity. Needleman does not present another work on Gnosticism, Christian contemplation, esoteric teachings, or hidden gospels; instead he indicates that a change of heart (an almost ontological change, and not merely one in thought and emotion) is necessary for even the most rudimentary Christian teachings to take root and become REAL in a person's lived experience.

Professor Needleman's writing is superb, with insightful (DEEPLY insightful) comments abounding (in some places, I flagged one or two sentences per paragraph, which is rare). The only "drawback" is that it is up to the reader to find the spiritual guidance necessary to maintain the Question, to develop the unity of purpose needed to realize the Christian gospel (or any other wisdom teachings, for that matter). At least I have a clearer notion of what I am seeking and of what I need to make my Buddhist and Christian spiritual practices REAL.

I am definitely going to reread this book. Highly, highly recommended.

His main premise is that Christianity has lost any real means of spiritualy transforming people. That the methods that teach us the "how to" have been lost or replaced with emotional indulgance pretending to be spirituality. As Needleman says "all real religions produce results." The inability for mainstream Chrisitian chruches to do that and even keep members is a sobering reminder that something has gone wrong within western Christianity.

So professor Needleman turns to the more intact Eastern Orthodox Church and does this by using several contemporary Christian thinkers and some of the Orthodox Saints like St. Symeon the New Theologian and St. Gregory Palamas, Thomas Merton, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Gurdjieff, and Father Sylvan (it is debateble if Father Sylvan was real, but if he was, I sure hope Prof. Needleman publishes this man's manuscript, hint hint). To illustrate modern Christianity's plight.

Though I have a problem with his inclusion of Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff teachings were not necessarily Christian per se. Gurdjieff advocated the path of the householder not the monk nor the priest. Christianity has no path for the householder who wishes to pursue theosis.

He's right in my opinion, if you examine the Philokalia, though comments from St. Maximus the Confessor, or St. Symeon the New Theologian supports Needleman's assertion that methods once existed for transformation. Though not couched in our modern day verbage, but it's there if you can see. BTW Needlman illustrates this via St. Symeon's understanding on how to fulfill the Sermon on the Mount show just how far away we are from being Christians.

But as Needleman implies it is not a continuous or living tradition like Sufism or Buddhism where the teachings can be passed on from teacher to student. Instead it is lost and sometimes someone is able to reconstitute "lost Christianity" though it dies again with the teacher. This is still the crux of the matter.

He does'nt offer a solution to this though. He essentially puts the onus on the seeker.

This is no "new age" tract by any means nor a how-to book. It is more along the lines of a question and search. Prof. Needleman does a fine job footnoting, and referencing writings for his argument. Not to mention being a fine writer to boot. But this book is a slow read because he covers concepts that quite unfamiliar to most. If you want easy to read get Chopra.

I'd recommend this book to any Christian who's curious as to what happened to spiritual component in Christianity. He does not try to steer you to another religion as some suggested. But to re-examine it in a new light.

Sadly like so many books of this kind it is out of print and instead we get Chorpa, Redfield and the Prayer of Jabez (sigh).

I'd also recommend
Man and Nature by Hossein Nasr for overview of what's happened to the west and modern Christianity.
Waking Up by transpersonal psychologist Charles Tart on the pychology and mechanics of human perception, understanding, and waking up.

Jacob Needleman has had the courage to re-examine the most basic assumptions about what Jesus intended to communicate, and he does so by sharing the most deeply held thoughts of several extraordinary Christian thinkers today. "All real religion produces results," Needleman writes, and the inability of many of the modern organized Christian churches to do that -- to transform the thought and lives of believers as radically as primitive Christianity did -- reflects the spiritual atrophy that only a rigorous re-thinking of the original Christian ideas can correct. This book can spark your own part in that re-thinking...

I have to give some personal background to situate myself. I am a Hare Krishna devotee exploring Christianity again. This book was valuable because of its orientation. It is focused simultaneously on Needleman's personal journey to find the answers to some key questions about Christianity, and the development of a practical orientation which, I firmly believe, the reader will take away, never forget, and use. Among the fascinating people one meets are an Eastern Orthodox cleric, a mysterious Christian monk evidently from Egypt, and a Western Catholic priest - each of whom is onto something no one else seems to be. No superficial book this; for people who are serious and uncompromising in their quest for spiritual development on an ongoing basis. Practical, private, powerful; not doctrine. Engrossing. Turned it around and began it again; ordered several copies for friends.

Needleman's praiseworthy investigation is, in some ways a contemporizing of the language of Gurdjieff's writings and teachings from the 3rd and 4th decades of the last century. Needleman's search arose in the late 60s as the spiritual search of youth consciousness trended towards Eastern religious practices. He questioned what was failing with the Christian practices that the East promised to fill. His mouthpiece for bringing Gurdjieffan perceptions closer to our times is an English monk, Father Sylvan, steeped in theology from all walks and attuned to a kaleidiscope of practices for 'soul formation' alien to status quo religion. Needleman disclaims Sylvan as his literary invention. Whether he is or not, it's his questions that drive the book. The concluding chapter,'The Lost religion of Love' is a 'pearler', whether you are a Christian or not(I don't claim as much).J G Bennett, in his voluminous publications and study groups, also set about transmitting Gurdjief's perceptions about'inner Christianity' and his writings and exercises are more expansive about energies and the 'two steams' of attention and dispersal. It's curious, given the commonality of their aims and Bennett's prodigious efforts, that he goes unmentioned in this book. Commentary on the writings of the Desert Fathers, on The Cloud of Unknowing, Loyola, Eckhart, Thomas Merton and others are offered in this thought arousing survey whose message of neighbourly love has lost none of its essential poignancy.

I first read Jacob Needleman's Lost Christianity 24 years ago when I was an undergrad. Then I was captivated by the mersteriousness of Father Sylvan and the secret manuscript. I gave the book away in 1988 and as the years went by I forget the title, although I remembered that it had to do with esoteric Christianity. Recently I saw the name jacob Needleman in a search for a work on Gurdjieff and I found the lost book on Lost Christianity. I am now reading it again after 24 years and seeing the deep understanding in the book. Professor Needleman has written a very important work. It drives to the heart of prayer, self understanding, and why we need to get away from ego. Get this book and read it every 25 years.

This book along with Putting on the Mind of Christ (Marion) and the Magus of Strovolos (Markides) is a thorough beginning in esoteric Christianity. If by reading any one of these books you are not moved with an intesne longing and ache for true religion, then you have already found your truth. If not, plunge your life into the way and find yourself.

Prof. Needleman clearly outdid himself in this highly detailed account of the search for meaning and mystical experience in Christianity. Definitly a modern spiritual classic which is written with honesty and respect for the reader. A must read for anyone interested in spirituality!

Dr. Needleman presents ideas and truths for anyone who has given up on current, organized religion. His presentation is a compassionate view of the struggle of many to find the meaning for life that seems and is hidden in the story of Christ. Needleman presents from his experience and people he has known understandings for many "lost" truths which the searching person has had questions about.
Language and cultures change over time, so that the original truth becomes overlaid with rituals and practices without meaning. The churches are like all human organizations developed by human processes giving in to the politics of power and greed of leaders, those at the top and misguided persons who think they are doing God's work by gathering converts without having one thought of the necessity for change in themselves.
This is a very useful book for any person who wishes to become real and more than a victim of modern life.