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Modern Christianity has been subjected to many re-interpretations which seek to remove elements of mythology and to 'de-mystify' its traditions. But there is also a parallel development in which a strong curretn of renewal finds inspiration from the spirit and essential character of the early Churches.The texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi, and more recent reserach on ancient documents, have thrown an unexpected light on the roots and emerging faith of the first Christians. Fresh insights into these texts reveal that the early Christians drew inspiration from a number of sources, such as the Judaic mystery tradition, the Essenes and other gnostic sects.Andrew Welburn presents a selection of the most important early texts, together with an authoritative and fascinating commentary. He shows how the new insights gained into the writings of the early Christian reaffirm the fundamental mysteries at the heart of Christianity.
An exploration of the sexual practices and doctrinal secrets of Gnosticism • Reconstructs the lost world of Gnostic spiritual-erotic experience through examination of every surviving text written by heresiologists • Investigates the sexual gnosis practices of the Barbelo Gnostics of the 2nd century and their connections to the Gnostic Aeon Sophia, the Wild Lady of Wisdom • Explains the vital significance of “the seed” as a sacrament in Gnostic practice Examining every surviving text written by heresiologists, accounts often ignored in favor of the famous Nag Hammadi Library, Tobias Churton reveals the most secret inner teaching passed down by initiated societies: the tradition of sexual gnosis--higher union with God through the sacrament of sex. Discovering actual sex practices hidden within the writings of the Church’s authorities, he reconstructs the lost world of Gnostic spiritual-erotic experience as taught by initiated masters and mistresses and practiced by Christian couples seeking spiritual freedom from the world. Churton explores the practices of the “first Gnostic,” the historical Simon Magus, and explains the vital significance of “the seed” in Gnostic practice, showing it to be the sacramental substance par excellence. He illuminates the suppressed truth of why the name “Valentine” came to be associated with ennobling erotic love and reveals profound parallels between sexual gnosis and Tantra, suggesting that gnosis lies at the root of the tantric path. Solving a millennia-old riddle regarding the identity and secret symbol of Sophia, the mysterious Gnostic “Aeon,” Churton investigates Sophia’s connections to Barbelo, also known as Pruneikos, the Wild Lady of Wisdom, and the central focus of the Barbelo Gnostics of the 2nd century, whose religious sex practices so shocked orthodox Christian contemporaries that they were condemned, their cults of spiritual gnosis and “redemption by sin” driven underground. Churton exposes the mystery of Sophia in the philosophy of the medieval Troubadours and explores William Blake’s inheritance of secret Renaissance sexual mysticism through the revolutionary English poet Andrew Marvell. Showing how Blake’s sexual and spiritual revolution connects to modern sexual magic, Churton also examines the esoteric meaning of the free-love explosion of the 1960s, revealing how sex can be raised from the realm of guilt into the highest magical sacrament of spiritual transformation.
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Goes back to the initial teachings that were used in the creation of the Christian religion and demonstrates that they were actually derived from the Gnosis, or Ancient Wisdom. Gnosis is a Greek word meaning knowledge, or to know. In the early Church those who were mystics, or Gnostics, were rejected and considered heretics. What makes this book so important is that it identifies certain mystical teachings from early times as rightfully belonging in the Church. According to Kingsland, this is the real Christian message as originally understood by the Gospel writers.
This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition.
Originally presented as five lectures at Union Theological Seminary in New York, this volume by F. Crawford Burkitt considers the origins of Gnosticism within the context of early Christianity and apocalypticism. Burkitt thinks that Gnosticism was an expression of ordinary Christianity in terms and categories that suited the science and philosophy of the day. He holds that if we can make our way through the unfamiliar imagery to the ideas that they attempt to express, some of these forms will appear thoughtful to us and will show kinship with some modern philosophical and psychological conceptions. To him Gnosticism was a Christian product, albeit a heretical one. Nevertheless, he views Gnosticism as a serious attempt to fill the void left by the failure of apocalypticism and the eschatological hope
Pistis Sophia is a Gnostic text written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The existing manuscript, relates one Gnostic group's teachings of the transfigured (resurrected) Jesus to the assembled disciples, including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha. In this text, the risen Jesus had spent eleven years speaking with his disciples, teaching them only the lower mysteries. After eleven years, he receives his true garment and is able to reveal the higher mysteries revered by this group. Cosmology is a primary focus of the Pistis Sophia – learning the structure of the universe and how to traverse it is considered key in these texts, and the cosmology is one of the most complex from any Gnostic text remaining today. in Pistis Sophia the Sophia, as major female divinity, originates and dwells outside of the divine realm. Her fall and redemption parallel that found in versions of the Sophia myth such as that in the Apocryphon of John, but the actions all take place in the material aeons, and she can only be restored to her place in the thirteenth aeon, outside the Kingdom of Light. The Pistis Sopha is a startling blend of early Christianity and Hellenic Paganism, with other elements such as reincarnation, Astrology, Mystery religion and Hermetic magic.
The first English translation, published in 1896, of an important gnostic text preserved in a Coptic manuscript.
Why Were the Teachings of the Original Christians Brutally Suppressed by the Roman Church? • Because they portray Jesus and Mary Magdalene as mythic figures based on the Pagan Godman and Goddess • Because they show that the gospel story is a spiritual allegory encapsulating a profound philosophy that leads to mythical enlightenment • Because they have the power to turn the world inside out and transform life into an exploration of consciousness Drawing on modern scholarship, the authors of the international bestseller The Jesus Mysteries decode the secret teachings of the original Christians for the first time in almost two millennia and theorize about who the original Christians really were and what they actually taught. In addition, the book explores the many myths of Jesus and the Goddess and unlocks the lost secret teachings of Christian mysticism, which promise happiness and immortality to those who attain the state of Gnosis, or enlightenment. This daring and controversial book recovers the ancient wisdom of the original Christians and demonstrates its relevance to us today.