Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Clivedurdle · 12-15-2005, 02:15 AM

Out of interest, who has read this here?

Jesus and the Lost Goddess : The Secret Teachings of the Original Christians - added by mod

I would put this forward as a base position for the mythical camp. Mythicism has to be based on gnostic ideas, so doesn't the problem become which came first gnosticism or the historical Jesus?

Quote:

For the original Christians, the Jesus story was a myth used to introduce beginners to the spiritual path. for those wishing to go deeper than the "Outer Mysteries" which were only for the masses there were secret teachings......They were told another myth that few Christians today have even heard of - the story of Jesus' lover, the lost and redeeemed Daughter of the Goddess

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F& G refer to 1 Corinthians 2 v 6, 7 - my kjv has the wisdom of God in a mystery.

I wonder if Pagels might be a very important person in this discussion. I see a major problem that everyone assumes a historical Jesus and the discussion flows from that. Experts in gnosticism could be very valuable.

The former Bishop of Durham got into terrible trouble by questioning the virgin birth. My feelings are that there are more than enough senior theologians around who would be willing to try out a thought experiment - what if xianity is a gnostic religion, with Jesus as a central character (as in a play) that later got turned historical?

As I commented earlier - and as F & G argue - xianity retuning to gnosticism may be it returning to its true roots!

Clivedurdle · 12-15-2005, 02:30 AM

Quote:

I checked this book out the library. It is nothing more than an awful attempt to thwart all Christian beliefs. Maybe those with no faith found this entertainig. I think it was a lod of mush. This book should be banned from the public. The only thing it does, is discredit beliefs, miracles, and the TRUTH!!! Don't read it!!!!

Must have something to it with reviews like that!

robto · 12-15-2005, 04:30 AM

The origin of Xianity in a "gnostic redeemer myth" was a popular scholarly hypothesis for several decades. It has now been largely abandoned (tho Walter Schmithals still holds on to the idea, for one) for lack of evidence of any developed gnostic system that existed before Xianity.

I haven't read "Goddess" but I read Freke and Gandy's earlier book, "The Jesus Mysteries". I was unimpressed. They are trying to return to a "history of religions school" approach that is about a hundred years out of date, and have basically ignored the last century of scholarship.

Clivedurdle · 12-15-2005, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robto

The origin of Xianity in a "gnostic redeemer myth" was a popular scholarly hypothesis for several decades. It has now been largely abandoned (tho Walter Schmithals still holds on to the idea, for one) for lack of evidence of any developed gnostic system that existed before Xianity.

I haven't read "Goddess" but I read Freke and Gandy's earlier book, "The Jesus Mysteries". I was unimpressed. They are trying to return to a "history of religions school" approach that is about a hundred years out of date, and have basically ignored the last century of scholarship.

Does this need mentioning on the Wiki jesus Myth article?

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12-15-2005, 04:30 AM	#3
robto Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Maryland Posts: 701	The origin of Xianity in a "gnostic redeemer myth" was a popular scholarly hypothesis for several decades. It has now been largely abandoned (tho Walter Schmithals still holds on to the idea, for one) for lack of evidence of any developed gnostic system that existed before Xianity. I haven't read "Goddess" but I read Freke and Gandy's earlier book, "The Jesus Mysteries". I was unimpressed. They are trying to return to a "history of religions school" approach that is about a hundred years out of date, and have basically ignored the last century of scholarship.

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