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Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism by [Richard Smoley]

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Richard Smoley

Forbidden Faith: The Secret History of Gnosticism Kindle Edition

by Richard Smoley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity – truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia.

In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries A.D., but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.

Print length

258 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperOne
Publication date

October 29, 2009
File size

610 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“If you are interested in the appeal of these popular manifestations of Gnosticism, Smoley is certainly your best guide.”

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Tackling the perplexing, if not esoteric, topic of Gnosticism has proved a daunting challenge for most who have tried to introduce it to the general reading public. Not so for Smoley, former editor of the journal Gnosis. This clear, concise (albeit cursory in spots) primer traces the Gnostic threads of philosophy, religion, science and popular culture from their biblical references through to their 21st-century appearances in novels and film. Moving easily from one century to the next while at the same time connecting them to each other, Smoley is at once thoughtful and thought-provoking, suggesting that if the history of the Gnostic legacy were a drama, he'd script it in two acts, divided between the "rise and fall of the great dualist heresy... [and]... the entrance of Kabbalah" into Western heritage. Beside the usual examples of the Gospel of Thomas, the Cathars, Rosicrucians and Masons, he resuscitates Manichaeism and Hesychasm. He highlights not only William Blake and Carl Jung, but Theosophy maven Helena Blavatsky, German philosopher Eric Voegelin and, surprisingly, literary critic Harold Bloom. Throughout, Smoley reinforces that Gnosticism is, and always has been, here to stay. He paves a wide, clear path to understanding it, accessible even to the weekend seeker. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN : B002URBQFO
Publisher : HarperOne (October 29, 2009)
Publication date : October 29, 2009
Language : English
File size : 610 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 258 pages
Lending : Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #669,504 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #27 in Zoroastrianism (Kindle Store)
- #74 in Zoroastrianism (Books)
- #102 in Gnosticism (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
56 ratings

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Frank Castle

Fascinating and Well-Written

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book is packed with knowledge! Smoley is an excellent writer. He manages to present the history of Gnosticism completely and concisely. Replete with interesting twists, persons, beliefs, connections, doctrinal transmutations, Smoley's history is entertaining and enlightening. He explains everything clearly, and makes no overt judgments. You WILL understand the perspectives of everyone involved through the unbiased lens of a skilled history writer.

No wasted pages here. No scholarly tangents. No boring side-notes or ramblings. Just a fresh writing style that whisks you through the fascinating history of Gnosticism. Everything known about Gnosticism awaits in this excellent work. Only pertinent belief systems and historical personages are delved into, all in the process of explaining and elucidating Gnosticism throughout the ages.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Excellent style and scholarship combine to give you a worthwhile read.

BUY IT.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

The Peripatetic Reader

A History in the Eternal Conflict

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2011

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This is a worthwhile book, a good introduction to Gnosticism, a good introduction on the history of hermetic traditions after the Gnostics. Smoley attempts to discuss how the inner traditions generated from the Gnostic tradition. In this I would give him four out of five stars. He endeavors to show how inner traditions originate from Gnostic philosophy and doctrine. While discussing the traditions after the Gnostics, however, it was not altogether clear how some of these traditions started with the Gnostics. What SMoley perhaps inadvertently succeeded in doing was to show the much clearer conflict between the esoteric and external traditions in religion. In this regard Smoley quotes from Guenon, a noted French metaphysician, that Western Christianity succeeded in the Middle Ages in gutting the mystical, inner, tradition, while in the Eastern Church the mystical nature of religion was much more accepted. This, then, is the real, eternal conflict, that of a tradition emphasizing a mystical union with God, the Godhead, and a relgious tradition mired in ritual devoid of meaning. It seemed to me that this tie-in with Gnosticism and Godhead could have been more fully discussed.

Further, when explaining the modern traditions of Gnosticism, Smoley fails to mention a book which played a large role in reviving interest in Gnosticism. That book is The Gnostics and their Remains, by Charles William King, written in the late 1800's. This book is readily available, even on this website, and follows, curiously, the same format as Smoley's book. There are differences between the two books, but that difference is superficial. King was a gemologist, and many of the references in his book deal with those found on gems or stones. However, as I indicated,King covers the same subject areas and doctines as does Smoley. Manichism, Eqyptian religion, the Rosicrusions, the Masons and others are all discussed in Kng's book. It is amazing that Smoley does not mention this book.

7 people found this helpful

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Mr Cliff in the Fog

Pretty good

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2017

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The book is well written and does a good job tying Gnostic thoughts to other historical spiritual movements and individuals. I held back from a five star rating only because I would have enjoyed more in-depth writing on the actual so-called gnostics themselves, perhaps more on the different gnostic writings like the Nag Hammadi library. I think the author, after publishing and reading so many books wrote this to "add to the pile" of existing literature. However, this may not line up with his audience (but maybe I'm a less familiar exception here). All in all, the author covers the scope of his purpose very well in a way that is accessible, fluid, and directional in what seems like a challenging and nebulous topic.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Covers a Lot of Ground Extremely Well

Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2010

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If you have an interest in the development of Christianity, the Western Mystery Tradition or heresiology, this book by Richard Smoley proves to be an interesting read.

The book itself is written at a level where only a basic knowledge of Christian history and theology is required to get a grasp of the thesis of the book. Smoley takes the reader through nearly 2200 years of Gnostic thought and history, starting with Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism and running through modern times, including the popular perceived offshoots such as the Albigensian Cathars, the Rosicrucians, the Freemasons, the Knights Templar all the way to Jung, Blavatsky, the DaVinci Code and the Matrix.

While he tries to cover a lot of ground in a relatively short book, you get the flavor of Gnostic themes as an ever evolving, ever present element interweaving itself through Christian history. Smoley discusses not only the history, but the theology and the psychology of the various Gnostic themes, explores and discusses common information like the Nag Hammadi library and the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as reviews basic mainstream Christian theology in a compare and contrast exercise including a look at "mainstream" Christian (both Western and Orthodox) mysticism and prayer practices.

If you have an interest in this topic, this is a good read.

9 people found this helpful

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Dr. C. H. Roberts

All the best in one volume.

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2006

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This book is easily the most comprehensive, easy to read, well researched book on esoteric spirituality. All of this in the space of 256 pages! The index is thorough (have you noticed that more and more non-fiction books are being published without indices?! Not this one, I am happy to report!)and the chapters are well organized. The book serves well either as an introduction to esoteric/gnostic spiritualities, as a historical survey of the history of those spiritualities, or as an up-to-date series on recent developments in this area of knowledge. Richard Smoley is an authority on these matters and has done a marvelous job with this book. I was especially interested in and appreciative of the section of the book that discusses A Course in Miracles. This one is a "must have" book! Highly recommended.

66 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Valerie

Was not for me

Reviewed in Australia on September 13, 2018

Verified Purchase

The book is wordy and has a lot of information about nothing of importance. It mentions the demiurge and then goes on to explain old religions without order or what i would consider structure. I liked the sample, but the rest of the book did not interest me.

Rick Weiler

Calling for Gnostic Mediators

Reviewed in Canada on March 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

As always with Richard Smoley, a very enjoyable text. Here he summarizes the development of various strains of Gnosticism and concludes with a powerful and compelling vision of the future of the Gnostic tradition. Thought provoking, illuminating and experientially satisfying I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in "knowing" more.

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