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The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel?annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations)

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The Secret Book, or Apocryphon, of John is perhaps the most important text of classic Gnosticism. It is also one of the most complex, difficult to follow in the standard translations, its meaning more or less impenetrable without a commentary. In The Secret Book of John: Annotated and Explained, Gospel of Thomas expert Stevan Davies provides a clear and accessible introduction to this important text. Step by step Davies steers the reader through the different layers of the text, outlining the structure of its thought and even providing diagrams. The translation is straightforward and formatted in such a way that the reader cannot get lost in the maze of terminology and ideas. What is more, the introduction is the best short explanation of Gnosticism that I have ever read. Davies sketches out the fundamentals of Gnosticism clearly, appealing to contemporary spiritality without compromising historically accuracy. Anyone genuinely interested in understanding ancient Gnosticism should start here.

The Secret Book of John was a difficult read,at first. More so, possibly because I had originally read it in James M. Robinson's Nag Hammadi Library collection. I appreciate the classic value of the Robinson edition, but since then other interpretors have better clarified the secret texts, in comprehensible and succinct language. Davies' book is one such basic read, although I still call Marvin Meyer's "The Gnostic Teachings of Jesus" my favorite. However, Davies' "Annotated & Explained" goes further than Myers, so now I have two on my shelves. The more interpretation samples we read, the better our understanding of such esoteric material. "John" is not at all like the Secret Gospel of Thomas, or the Gospel of Mary, which were short, and "sayings". This book is more like a "cosmology according to the Christ".

What throws so many people off from The Secret Book/Teaching/Apocryphon of John is that the story doesn't resemble anything else Jesus said in the New Testament. People also tend to condemn it because it stands rather disconnected from other gospel, apocrypha and epistles, and has a sense of fantasy about it. Jesus explains Sophia, the feminine wisdom who gave virgin birth to Yaldabaoth, the demiurge. It discusses the role of archons, even naming the Archons of Yaldabaoth. It is highly revelatory, but so are the writings of Swedenborg, J. Smith and John Ballou Newbrough, to name just a few latter day prophets. The Secret Book of John is a syncretism of Greek ideas and Judaic Genesis mythology. If you give it a chance, you can come away with meaningful and life changing knowledge. One thing it did for me was answer the eternal question of "why bad things happen to good people".

That question has never been answered satisfactorily by more traditional (note, I avoid the term "Orthodox", my bias--sorry) priests and pastors, because they don't teach that it was an imperfect demiurge that made an imperfect world. Once you accept that premise, everything else falls into place. For any reader serious about Gnosticism or Gnostic-curious, this is the book to start with.

I read this book years ago and didn't get nearly as much out of it as today. I doubt that first time readers are going to penetrate any book by John easily. The cosmology expressed needs commentary for modern man, or traditional Christians, who have been trained a different way.

What I like about this book is the way it explains the Godhead as male and female, the various layers of the universe, the various co-creators with God that hurt his creation, and the clear references to karma (called fate), and reincarnation, that were probably a part of the original teachings of Jesus. I also see possible references to Aliens and UFO's in this book, which were also a part of Gnostic teaching.

Some people might think that Jesus doesn't sound like "Jesus" in this book due to his longer discourses. If so, try reading "Love without End", "The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ", or other books in the Gnostic collection. I think that you will see that Jesus spoke at length about the subjects he loved, with higher initiates, every chance he got. He's just that kind of a person.

This is definitely a book more people should read, like everyone.
Clear, informative and worth a second read.

Reading this item is an excellent way to begin a study of the forty-eight gnostic tracts in the Nag Hammadi Library. However, a reader should know that Davies believes that the Gospels' bifurcated Jesus was a historical person, as do all other translators of the tracts in the Library. Their translations and commentary are tainted by this a priori belief. The historical evidence upon which they rely does not include relevant material, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls' Teacher of Righteousness and his ideological opposite, referred to only as The Liar, whose ideologies can be found in the words and deeds attributed to Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul. Also relevant are the Mandean scriptures which reveal that the relationship between Jesus and the Baptist was not as pictured in the Gospels. This accounts for the fact that the Nag Hammadi tracts, read as a whole, clearly show that some gnostics supported, while others rejected, two basic tenets of the Christian faith, namely, repentance and baptism. They also disagree on whether everyone will eventually return by way of reincarnation to whence they came or whether some will be eternally tormented. The Secret Book of John takes both positions. I discuss the source of disagreement in a manuscript presently being reviewed by historian David Blair and Watkins Publishing Company. There is much to be learned about gnosticism and the origin of Christianity, and Davies' work is a significant contribution.

I looked at much of the "secret" gospel of John. I can safely say that anything named "secret" is nothing at all. There is not one thing in this book that is beneficial to anyones spiritual growth, simply because it doesn't line up with the gospel of Christ, nor the story of creation in the Bible. This is coming from someone who isn't a total conservative style Christian, who is open to apocryphal writings. Gnosticism is a religion that twists the message of Christ and pollutes it! Quit complicating the faith of Christ by adding false things. This book is awful, don't bother opening it or falling into its snare.

Jw