Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
Gospels discovered in the the 1940s reveal a pre-Christian Judaism of Gnostic character. The Dead Sea Scrolls essentially are mystical documents. It appears the Scrolls' Essene authors of 130 B.C- 70 A.D., like the Nag Hammadi Gnostic authors of the Apostolic Age, experienced visions of an esoteric nature, and that the Scrolls possess an inner, hidden meaning.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (247-254) and index.
Table of Contents
Prologue: how the West was lost: loss and recovery of psychological spirituality -- Part I: The other tradition. A tale of two heresies: Nag Hammadi and Qumran. Saintly rebels: The people of the scrolls. Essene Messiah and Gnostic Christ: from prototype to archtype. The feminine wisdom and the coming of the knowing ones. The odyssey of Gnosis -- Part II: The other reality. Errant wisdom: the myth of Sophia. The dancing savior: the gnostic christ. The princes of the world: the myth of the tyrant angels. A traveler form Heaven: the myth of the "Song of Pearl". And the myth goes on: some modern Gnostic myths -- Part III: The Other gospels. The secret sayings of Jesus: the gospel of Thomas. Means of transformation: the gospel of Philip. Redemption and ecstasy: the gospel of truth and the gospel of the Egyptians -- Epilogue: from Hiroshima to the secret gospels: the alternative future of human history.