Download or read book A Gnostic Book of Hours written by June Singer and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Nag Hammadi Library with the different times of day and days of the week. She reveals for us the macrocosm of human experience in the microcosm of the passing hours and days. Reverent introspection in the moment yields recognition of the sacredness and eternity of who we are and what our lives mean. Book jacket.
Download or read book The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagels and published by Random House. This book was released on 2004-06-29 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Gnostic Gospels is a landmark study of the long-buried roots of Christianity, a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence over the past two decades. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time. In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today. With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment—and access to God—within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary—or worthy—expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed—and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant, provocative, and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith.
Download or read book Knowledge of the Heart written by June Singer and published by Element Books, Limited. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is based on one of the great religious literary discoveries; the finding of the Gnostic Gospels in Upper Egypt in 1945. Following an introduction to the Gnostic tradition, June Singer chooses 56 excerpts from the gospels offering them as a focus for meditation or worship.
Download or read book Beyond Death The Gnostic Book of the Dead written by Samael Aun Weor and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2011-05-18 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leaving behind both fear and belief, Samael Aun Weor explains through vivid stories what happens when we die and how we can prepare ourselves now to take full advantage of the experience. Instructions to prepare the soul for the process of dying and the experiences of the afterlife are found within the scriptures of every mystical tradition, especially the Bible, The Theban Recension (Egyptian Book of the Dead), and the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book of the Dead), yet they are veiled in cryptic symbolism and are difficult for most people to understand. Now, for the first time, this book fearlessly approaches the topics of death, dying, and the afterlife for our day and age -- and for those who are tired of theories and are ready to know the truth through their own experience.
Download or read book What is Gnosticism written by Karen L. King and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of gnosticism examines the various ways early Christians strove to define themselves in a pluralistic Roman society, while questioning the traditional ideas of heresy and orthodoxy that have previously influenced historians.
Download or read book Jung and the Lost Gospels written by Stephan A. Hoeller and published by Quest Books. This book was released on 1989-10-01 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "Lost Gospels" refer to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library, both discovered in the 1940s. The Nag Hammadi Library consists of writings found by two peasants who unearthed clay jars in 1945 in upper Egypt. These did not appear in English for 32 years, because the right to publish was contended by scholars, politicians, and antique dealers. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in clay jars in Palestine by a goatherder in 1947, weathered similar storms. The first team of analysts were mostly Christian clergy, who weren't anxious to share material that frightened church leaders. As Dr. Hoeller shows, they rightly feared the documents would reveal information that might detract from unique claims of Christianity. Indeed, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Library both contradict and complement accepted tenets of the Old and New Testaments.
Download or read book The Nag Hammadi Library in English written by James McConkey Robinson and published by Brill Archive. This book was released on 1984 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gnosticism written by Stephan A Hoeller and published by Quest Books. This book was released on 2012-12-13 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnosticism developed alongside Judeo-Christianity over two thousand years ago, but with an important difference: It emphasizes, not faith, but direct perception of God--Gnosticism being derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Given the controversial premise that one can know God directly, the history of Gnosticism is an unfolding drama of passion, political intrigue, martyrdom, and mystery. Dr. Hoeller traces this fascinating story throughout time and shows how Gnosticism has inspired such great thinkers as Voltaire, Blake, Yeats, Hesse, Melville, and Jung.
Download or read book Omens of Millennium written by Harold Bloom and published by Riverhead Books. This book was released on 1997-10 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an acclaimed work, one of America's foremost literary and cultural critics examines some of society's "New Age" obsessions. "An awesomely learned and, at times, touchingly personal discussion of the ancient origins of such New Age marvels as angels, prophetic dreams and near-death experiences". "Newsday".
Download or read book The Secret Book of John written by and published by SkyLight Paths Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel - Annotated & Explained decodes the principal themes, historical foundation, and spiritual contexts of this challenging yet fundamental Gnostic teaching. Drawing connections to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, kabbalistic Judaism, and Sufism, Davies focuses on the mythology and psychology of the Gnostic religious quest. He illuminates the Gnostics' ardent call for self-awareness and introspection, and the empowering message that divine wholeness will be restored not by worshiping false gods in an illusory material world but by our recognition of the inherent divinity within ourselves."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The Gnostic Gospels of Philip Mary Magdalene and Thomas written by Joseph Lumpkin and published by Fifth Estate Incorporated. This book was released on 2006 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: And the companion (Consort) was Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdalene). The Lord loved Mary more than all the other disciples and he kissed her often on her mouth (the text is missing here and the word mouth is assumed). The others saw his love for Mary and asked him: - Why do you love her more than all of us? The Savior replied, - Why do I not love you in the same way I love her? - (The Gospel of Philip) - Peter said to Mary; -Sister we know that the Savior loved you more than all other women. Tell us the words of the Savior that you remember and know, but we have not heard and do not know. Mary answered him and said; -I will tell you what He hid from you. - (The Gospel of Mary Magdalene) - Seizing on the texts above, writers of both fiction and non-fiction allowed their pens to run freely amidst conjecture and postulation of marriage and children between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The writers of The Da Vinci Code and Holy Blood, Holy Grail took these passages and expanded them into storylines that have held readers captive with anticipation. Did Jesus take Mary to be his wife? Could the couple have produced children? Gnostic theology leaves open the possibility.
Download or read book The Secret Teachings of Jesus written by and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-09-28 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In December 1945, two Egyptian fellahin, digging for natural fertilizer in the Nile River valley unearthed a sealed storage jar. The jar proved to hold treasure of an unexpected sort: a collection of some fifty-two ancient manuscripts, most of which reflect the teachings of a mystical religious movement we call Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis, "knowledge"). The texts are also, with few exceptions, Christian documents, and thus they provide us with valuable new information about the character of the early church, and about the Gnostic Christians within the church. In this volume, Marvin W. Meyer has produced a new English translation for general readers of four of the most important and revealing of these early Christian texts -- the Secret Book of James, the Gospel of Thomas, the Book of Thomas, and the Secret Book of John.
Download or read book Revelations written by Elaine Pagels and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A startling exploration of the history of the most controversial book of the Bible, by the bestselling author of Beyond Belief. Through the bestselling books of Elaine Pagels, thousands of readers have come to know and treasure the suppressed biblical texts known as the Gnostic Gospels. As one of the world's foremost religion scholars, she has been a pioneer in interpreting these books and illuminating their place in the early history of Christianity. Her new book, however, tackles a text that is firmly, dramatically within the New Testament canon: The Book of Revelation, the surreal apocalyptic vision of the end of the world . . . or is it? In this startling and timely book, Pagels returns The Book of Revelation to its historical origin, written as its author John of Patmos took aim at the Roman Empire after what is now known as "the Jewish War," in 66 CE. Militant Jews in Jerusalem, fired with religious fervor, waged an all-out war against Rome's occupation of Judea and their defeat resulted in the desecration of Jerusalem and its Great Temple. Pagels persuasively interprets Revelation as a scathing attack on the decadence of Rome. Soon after, however, a new sect known as "Christians" seized on John's text as a weapon against heresy and infidels of all kinds-Jews, even Christians who dissented from their increasingly rigid doctrines and hierarchies. In a time when global religious violence surges, Revelations explores how often those in power throughout history have sought to force "God's enemies" to submit or be killed. It is sure to appeal to Pagels's committed readers and bring her a whole new audience who want to understand the roots of dissent, violence, and division in the world's religions, and to appreciate the lasting appeal of this extraordinary text.
Download or read book The Gnostic Celtic Church written by John Michael Greer and published by . This book was released on 2013-04 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The GCC has chosen to establish what was once called a regular clergy, as distinct from a secular clergy-that is to say, something much closer to monks than to ministers. This was the core model for clergy in the old Celtic Church in Ireland, Wales, Brittany, and other Celtic nations, in the days before the Roman papacy imposed its rule on the lands of Europe's far west. Members of the Celtic clergy were monks first and foremost, living lives focused on service to the Divine rather than the needs of a congregation, and those who functioned as priests for local communities did so as a small portion of a monastic lifestyle that embraced many other dimensions. In all Gnostic traditions, personal religious experience is the goal that is set before each aspirant and the sole basis on which questions of a religious nature can be answered-certain teachings have been embraced as the core values from which the Gnostic Celtic Church as an organization derives its broad approach to spiritual issues. Those core teachings may be summarized in the words "Gnostic, Universalist, and Pelagian" which are described in this book.
Download or read book The Tree of Gnosis written by Ioan P. Culianu and published by Harper San Francisco. This book was released on 1992 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This pioneering study interprets the mythology of dualism from Gnosticism to the medieval Cathars to modern nihilism. Couliano shows that, far from being "historically" transmitted, the underlying connection between all dualistic worldviews is a perennial and immensely appealing mindset.
Download or read book Gnostic America written by Peter M. Burfeind and published by . This book was released on 2014-08-29 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnostic America is a reading of current American culture, politics, and religious life according to the ancient movement known as Gnosticism. In it, Peter M Burfeind builds off the foundations of Hans Jonas, Denis de Rougement, Norman Cohn, William Voegelin, Carl Jung, and Harold Bloom, each of whom saw the effects of Gnosticism in contemporary American (and Western) life. He explores the spiritual mechanisms going on behind everything from transgenderism to so-called "contemporary worship," from the deconstructionist movement to the role pop music and media have in our culture, from progressive politics to the Emergent Church. Particularly challenging is Burfeind's claim that both progressivism and Neo-evangelicalism -- seemingly at odds in the "culture wars" -- actually share the same Gnostic roots. Burfeind's book is a tour de force through contemporary rock, pop, movies, television, politics, and religion showing how many of the values driving these cultural elements are informed by the ancient esoteric teachings of Gnosticism. Burfeind marshals a ton of surprising evidence to make his case, taking us through ancient and Medieval history, through the Enlightenment and Romantic periods, to today. Those willing to grapple with the philosophical and spiritual positions of the fathers of contemporary American life will be rewarded. Gnostic America is a must read for those who sense a new "spiritual but not religious" religion has arisen in America, but who can't put their finger on what exactly this religion is. Burfeind commits the sacrilege of defining a religion that claims to be "beyond" definition. More importantly, he poses the question, if the spiritual trends of contemporary culture are indeed a religion, what First Amendment safeguards remain for those who haven't "evolved" with the emerging new consciousness, but choose to remain stuck in supposedly retrograde paradigms of thought?
Download or read book Prayers and Devotions from Pope John Paul II written by Pope John Paul II and published by Viking Adult. This book was released on 1994 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 365 daily meditations from the Pope.
