The Hidden Gospel Of Thomas

In Beyond Belief, renowned religion scholar Elaine Pagels continues her groundbreaking examination of the earliest Christian texts, arguing for an ongoing assessment of faith and a questioning of religious orthodoxy. Spurred on by personal tragedy and new scholarship from an international group of researchers, Pagels returns to her investigation of the “secret” Gospel of Thomas, and breathes new life into writings once thought heretical. As she arrives at an ever-deeper conviction in her own faith, Pagels reveals how faith allows for a diversity of interpretations, and that the “rogue” voices of Christianity encourage and sustain “the recognition of the light within us all.”

A lost gospel is found and everything changes.

Narrative gospels -- Sayings gospels -- Infancy gospels -- Fragmentary gospels -- Jewish Christian gospels -- Orphan sayings and other stories.

"I suspect you will find this book quite exciting, comforting, and also challenging! The Gospel of Thomas, so new on the scene yet perhaps the oldest of all, is waiting for just such insight and commentary as this. This is a new opening for all believers to unitive and non-dual consciousness." Fr. Richard Rohr, O.F.M. Center for Action and Contemplation Albuquerque, New Mexico. Previously published as "Yeshua's Yoga", the Hidden Message of the Lost Gospel of Thomas unearths the central teaching of this ancient text. The Gospel of Thomas, re-discovered in Nag Hammadi Egypt in 1945, remains one of the most exciting archaeological finds of recent centuries. But how prepared are we to approach this text on its own terms? How accurately are we able to discover what it is saying, immersed as we are in 2000 years of Platonic and dualistic Christian orthodoxy? Thanks to the influx of Eastern knowledge and the new crop of Western teachers willing to re-approach their Christian tradition as the Eastern wisdom teacher that Jesus was, we may finally be able to see the meaning and philosophical structure of this once-beloved and truly remarkable Christian text. The Gospel of Thomas delineates the Way of Yeshua, a spiritual path that guides us through six clear movements of searching, finding, trouble, wonder, reigning, and rest. The resonance with classic Yogic paths makes this document the bridge many searchers need to reconcile and fully embrace the wisdom of both the East and the West. "Kim is a consummate teacher, so who better to advance the Gospel of Thomas as the stunning teaching tool it is? Using poetry, reason, sacred insight, and spiritual practice, Kim provides a pragmatic and engaging pathway into this Gospel. Every passage is infused with her passion for direct knowing. Don't miss it!" Rev. Dr. Thomas Thresher, Commonhouse Founder, WA

This incisive critique thoroughly and convincingly debunks the claims that recently discovered texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and even the Dead Sea Scrolls undermine the historical validity of the New Testament. Jenkins places the recent controversies surrounding the hidden gospels in a broad historical context and argues that, far from being revolutionary, such attempts to find an alternative Christianity date back at least to the Enlightenment. By employing the appropriate scholarly and historical methodologies, he demonstrates that the texts purported to represent pristine Christianity were in fact composed long after the canonical gospels found in the Bible. Produced by obscure heretical movements, these texts have attracted much media attention chiefly because they seem to support radical, feminist, and post-modern positions in the modern church. Indeed, Jenkins shows how best-selling books on the "hidden gospels" have been taken up by an uncritical, drama-hungry media as the basis for a social movement that could have powerful effects on the faith and practice of contemporary Christianity.

Marvin Meyer is one of the leading experts on the secret gospels-Gospel of Thomas, Secret Gospel of Mark, and others-who has changed forever how we read the canonical gospels and understand early Christianity. In this new collection of his work, Meyer looks at these revolutionary texts in original and illuminating ways. He writes, for example, about the naked youths in the villa of the Mysteries. On the walls of a villa in Pompeii, a famous mural depicts a naked male reading from a scroll, a look of wonder on his face. A naked youth again appears in the Gospel of Mark, abandoning his garment and fleeing naked when apprehended during Jesus' arrest. A similar youth appears in the Secret Gospel of Mark. These youths, Meyer proposes, serve as an image of religious initiation, candidates for the mysteries of Dionysus or of Christ. This is one of the many aspects of the secret gospels that Meyer examines with expert insight and creativity. Topics range from gender and infancy stories to discipleship and the relationship of the Gospel of Thomas to Islamic literature. Meyer's spellbinding readings of these materials offer fresh understandings of the canonical gospels. Marvin Meyer is Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies, and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Chapman University, Orange, California. He is author of The Secret Teachings of Jesus: Four Gnostic Gospels and The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, and co-editor of Jesus Then and Now (Trinity Press International).