Good Introduction to the Gnostic Gospels
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This book is a great introduction to the gnostic gospels, especially if followed up by "The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International Edition" also by Marvin Meyer.  Anyone who is reading these books in search of truth is on the path of true discovery.  There are many translations of the Nag Hammadi Scriptures and the gnostic gospels readily available, and while some may be good, others are not.  That being said, you won't go wrong here.  This book, which is easy and accessible, is a good place to start for anyone who is just becoming familiar with these gospels and texts.  For those who are already familiar with these texts, I highly recommend Meyer's other book: "The Nag Hammadi Scriptures."
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This volume by G. R. S. Mead, published in 1906,
contains 3 books in one.  The first volume (or book)
is titled: Prolegomena -- and contains: The Remains
of the Trismegistic Literature/The History of the
Evolution of Opinion/Thoth the Master of Wisdom/
The Popular Theurgic Hermes-Cult in the Greek Magic
Papyri/The Main Source of the Trismegistic Literature
According To Manetho High Priest of Egypt/An Egyptian
Prototype of the Main Features of the Poemandres'
Cosmogony/The Myth of Man in the Mysteries/Philo of
Alexandria and the Hellenistic Theology/Plutarch:
Concerning the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris/"Hermas"
and "Hermes"/Concerning the Aeon Doctrine/The Seven
Zones and Their Characteristics/Plato: Concerning
Metempsychosis/The Vision of Er/Concerning the
Crater or Cup/The Disciples of Thrice-Greatest
Hermes.
  The second volume (or book) contained in this
one volume is: Sermons -- and contains: I Corpus
Hermeticum; and II The Perfect Sermon; or the
Asclepius (English translations of these works --
with copious, useful footnotes).
  The third volume (or book) contained in this
one volumes is: Excerpts and Fragments -- and
contains: (I) Excerpts by Strobaeus; (II) References
and Fragments in the [Church] Fathers -- which
includes Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Clement of
Alexandria, Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius,
Lactantius, Augustine, Cyril of Alexandria,
Suidas, Anonymous; and (III) References and
Fragments in the [Pagan] Philosophers -- which
includes Zosimus, Jamblichus, Julian the
Emperor, Fulgentius the Mythographer.
  And finally, there is a Conclusion.
 This is an excellent compendium of useful and
provocative readings and sources.  The reader
may then want to branch out and read other
compilations and introductions to the Hermetica
(such as Brian P. Copenhaver, Cambridge Univ.
Press) or concentrate also on Gnosticism, such
as the works of Kurt Rudolph (GNOSIS, Harper/
San Francisco) or Hans Jonas (THE GNOSTIC
RELIGION, Beacon Press).
  G. R. S. Mead in a faith-full man, but he is
also an in-clusionist.  He sees the great mystics
and illuminators and God-filled questers as all
being "Sons of God" -- with not just one particular
one being more "divine" than another.  But this is
a God-centered group, not a demonic one.  Each man
has the divine spirit -- the spark of the eternal
light -- within him, and the degree to which he
listens to it and is guided by it serves as the
touchstone of his insight and his piety.
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This is an extensive  (yet not exhaustive) excellent overview of the wide variety of Gospels that were available after the death of Jesus : there were different interpretations on the life & death of Jesus and what it meant (hence a variety & sometimes contradictory Gospels). Some of the Gospels were authentic & others were forgeries, some were included in the New Testament & others excluded. The powers that be at the time (Constantinople & Roman Empire) decided on what is to be taught in the Church (hence the New Testament Gospels were chosen) & voting on the Divinity of Jesus (as some Gospels pronounced Jesus human & others Divine) and the Trinity of the Godhead. The Gospels that did not make it where banned & their followers driven underground. This is a great introductory read on Early Christianity and how it was crafted the way it was & why?
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Smith, Gary V. Interpreting the Prophetic Books: An Exegetical Handbook. Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2014.

Gary V. Smith provides an introductory handbook on how he believes people should interpret the prophetic books. He has a variety of teaching experience at significant seminaries and at Union University, and currently teaches part-time at Bethel Seminary. Including this book, he has published at least twelve journal articles and five books, mostly related to prophetic literature. He has taught related courses on this subject matter since 1983.

As with other handbooks in Kregels Handbooks for Old Testament Exegesis series (HOTE), Smith sets out to explain the basics of prophetic literature well enough so that his readers, people who plan to exegete these texts, can know how to do just that. As such, he covers the nature of the prophetic literature, major themes, interpretation, proclamation, and how to move from the text to application.

This book provides much to commend and critique; I will limit myself to one comment for both. The first thing that comes to mind is that Smith covers so many topics within prophetic literature conciselyonly 192 pp. Given the breadth of topics, that is quite the accomplishment. This work, then, is certainly the culmination of much reflection, teaching, and writing on these topics. The reason why I picked to review this book for this blog is because as I preach through Jonah, I found it helpful to reflect on how I plan to interpret this book and, thus, have as a conversation partner someone who has studied, published, and taught in these areas for some time. Smith covers Jonah directly, too.

As far as a critical comment is concerned, the concise nature of this handbook handicaps the usefulness of this book. To be fair, a handbook should be concise and, thus, serve as an introduction to the topics covered. Yet, I found myself repeatedly wanting more in terms of depth, scholarship, practical application, and critical appraisal of the issues he covers. He would have done well to add even only five pages per chapter to make his discussions useful. As it stands, though, many of discussions do not serve well as introductions to those topics because of his dated explanations. For example, he covers the genre of the prophetic books, but this discussion is divorced entirely from any literary theory of genre; this move is problematic because the concern for understanding genre is, after all, a literary issue. Furthermore, his discussion on Difficulties between a Prophecy and Its New Testament Fulfillment is seriously lacking because he does not survey each of these models all that well, especially with more recent scholarship, and he fails to explain which model he believes his reader should take. Discussions of how to understand typology have come some way from the introduction provided in this handbook.

As posted on: http://www.cgctorenglish.chinesegospelchurch.ca/rwt-blog-52308
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An interesting collection of texts that contains some that seem like odd choices. But an introduction to the Gnostic gospels and other texts that were floating around at least during the time when the canon was closed for imperial use.
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Ancient Gnostic texts reveal a long-forgotten relationship with between humanity and the divine, and a surprisingly unique perception of the divinity among these circles.
This book presents the latest translations of four texts from the Nag Hammadi library of Gnostic texts. The four texts chosen are classic Gnostic scriptures of particular importance to early Christianity. They are, "The Secret Book of James" (written by Jesus' brother), "The Gospel of Thomas" (the most prominent classic of Gnostic Christian spirituality, by Jesus' twin, Judas Thomas), "The Book of Thomas", and "The Secret Book of John" (by Jesus' disciple, John the fisherman).
Amazingly, each of these four authentic texts are specifically identified by the mysterious ancient authors, in the first verses, as containing secret information from Jesus Christ himself! These texts in particular make an essential contribution to our understanding of Gnosticism and its role in early stages of the development of Christianity, seeming to shed welcome new light on some previously uncertain aspects of the Christian religion.
We should be extremely grateful for the opportunity to read these fascinating documents, which were until recently all but lost forever. The Gnostic movement was systematically oppressed, and its legacy systematically destroyed, long ago by its powerful opponents. The Gnostics were triumphant in this epic story, because, in their wisdom, they deliberately sealed away their sacred knowledge to be re-discovered at a time in the distant future when they would be respected and appreciated. The Nag Hammadi library comprises 52 documents in 13 books, most of which were entirely unknown to until the Nag Hammadi artefacts were discovered.
In this book an informative introduction, including the intriguing story behind the texts, prepares a clear passage for the reader's journey into this repository of ancient wisdom. The notes at the end of the book provide a concise commentary, with useful explanation and reference to other scriptures including the Bible, to complete the reader's learning experience. The relatively thin size of this volume makes it highly accessible - most people could easily read the whole book in a single weekend!
If you have the slightest interest in history or religion - especially Gnosticism or Christianity, then you will certainly enjoy this book.
The texts in this book really are an amazing and important part of human history, and everyone should at least have a look at them.
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In *Studying the Historical Jesus* Darrell Bock has written a primer for his students at Dallas Theological Seminary, one that is also useful to interested readers in general.  In a sense, the book provides a defense on two fronts of the historical study of Jesus: against the unfounded belief that it throws doubt on the truths of Scripture, and against excessive skepticism about the historicity of the Gospel accounts, such as many critics have engaged in since the Enlightenment.

As he notes, "[W]e must differentiate between what we know from history and the text and the way we reconstruct history. ... rather than applying our doubt to the text, there is nothing wrong in examining carefully our own understanding in studying the text." (159)  Thus, the book is in two parts:

(1) A brief presentation of the sources of our knowledge and of "what we know from history and the text."  The premise is our need to understand the social and cultural environment in which Jesus lived and in which the Gospels were written, and the historical background of the Jews prior to and including the time of Jesus that led to fervent messianic expectations.  In the Introduction, under Greek Biblical Sources, Bock includes a survey of the content, themes and introductory issues pertaining to the four Gospels; in the conclusion to the whole book he expresses "confidence that the Gospels are a solid source of information."

(2) An equally brief examination of the different critical methods, their strengths and weaknesses, that scholars use in reconstructing the history behind the Gospels and how the Gospels came to be in their present form.  After an introductory section, there is a chapter on the three quests for the historical Jesus, in which Bock notes that the third quest does not supersede the second but runs alongside it - the third quest "works more seriously with Jewish backgrounds" (147). A chapter on historical criticism sets the stage for the following chapters on source, form, redaction, and tradition criticisms. The final chapter on narrative criticism and the Gospel genre is different in that the topics are subsumed under literary criticism and considerations, not historical criticism.

The concise discussions drive the curious reader to reach out for more, aided by bibliographic footnotes; nonetheless, it is surprising how much information this introductory work imparts.  Bock is an experienced writer; he adds interest to his prose by avoiding generalities (most of time), linking names and dates to hypotheses and methods, and relating seemingly ho-hum social, economic and geographic details to what we read in the Gospels.  So, for example, not only do the hills of Galilee reach 2000 to 4000 feet above sea level while the Sea of Galilee is 685 feet below sea level, but also: "This dramatic drop-off explains the weather in some events in Jesus' ministry as he was on the Sea of Galilee.  Winds can rush down with a tunnel effect... resulting in huge, dangerous storms" (113).  Who after this would not want to read again the passage about Jesus and the disciples as they crossed the lake to "the other side" (Mark 4:35-41 & parallels)?

In the Preface, Dr. Bock says only time will tell whether he had succeeded in what he set out to accomplish in writing the book. Here is one affirmative vote.
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This book brings a wealth of scholarship materials on the four gospels to the general reader. The key idea is that we ought to read the four gospels not as separate works, but four 'distinct yet overlapping narrative renditions of a shared story.' This is best done by learning to read the gospels in parallel, hence the title of the book. The structure of the book is divided into three parts. Part One sets the stage by reasoning why the gospels are to be seen as one unit.  Part Two goes into the nitty-gritty of each gospel uniqueness, and how each of them complete the whole gospel story. Part Three demonstrates this by providing six examples of how the gospels can be read.

The author skillfully brings together a lot of credible scholarship material. He talks about the three 'synoptic' gospels as (syn=with; and opsis=view). He uses Kurt Aland's work on the synoptics, the Two-Source hypothesis (comprising the theory of the Markan priority, and Q), the Farrer theory, the Synoptic problem, and many more. He treats readers to a insightful overview of the beginnings of the gospel writing background. He describes the various forms of biblical criticism in a very clear manner: historical criticism, form criticism, source criticism, redaction criticism, narrative criticism. He also makes a case for the gospel writers as 'anonymous' rather than sticking with the traditional attribution to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Bringing together the sources, the writing, and the composition of the gospels tell us a lot about the contexts of the gospels at the time they were written.

The author vividly paints the perspectives of each gospel. John is the 'simplest and most profound' evangelistic and theological treatise. Luke is the most 'socially oriented.' Mark is 'action packed' and Matthew is the most 'Jewish.' What really makes me glad to read this book is the readability and flow of an otherwise very dry topic of scholarship and biblical interpretation/criticism.  (Note to readers: 'Criticism' is a technical term for scholarship studies, an interpretive way to describe an intentional level of deep study/analysis, and is not used here as a negative way). For example, 'form criticism' essentially refers to a way of trying to understand the gospels according to different forms, like is it a parable? A story? A statement of fact? A conversational rhetoric? etc

The way Adams compares and contrasts each of the gospel pericopes is illuminating. I like the way he uses the very familiar structure Burton Throckmorton's way of comparing them the synoptic gospels, as well as John in table form.

Closing Thoughts

There is a lot to gain from reading this book. For seminarians and Bible school students, it is a fresh revision of what they have learnt in New Testament studies. For teachers, it is a convenient guidebook to help laypersons to understand the gospels and to share in a simple way the massive amount of gospel scholarship out there. For the layperson, it enriches the whole gospel reading experience as well as illuminate the passages. Most of all, the book gives all of us a fresh impetus to read the gospel and appreciate the life of Jesus. This is worth the price of the book.

Ratings: 5 stars of 5.

conrade

This book is provided to me free by Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley without any obligation for a positive review. The opinions offered are mine.
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Mike Aquilina writes an easy to read and engaging account of the early Church Fathers, both the Latin and the Greek.  He illustrates that there was no gap in the teachings handed down by Jesus to His apostles and then to their followers, to this present day.  He shows how the Church has been a family from the time Jesus established it, with the head of the family being recognized as the bishop of Rome, as successor to the prince of the apostles, Peter.  In reading this book, we learn how the Church Fathers identified what it means to be a Christian, how a Christian should worship and how a Christian should live. We learn how these very human men were guided by the Holy Spirit to define what the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly says.  He tells us who the Fathers are, then lets us read their words.  This is a book that any student of Christianity should read.
1997545
The introductory material in each segment provides context in which the scriptures can be read and understood. For those looking for added depth in the Christian tradition, this would be a valuable addition from a Gnostic perspective.
3892655
For a beginner in spirituality..... a great introduction.
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A great introduction to a variety of viewpoints of second century Christian Gnosticism. Be aware that the views are positive but different and they are from a Jungian point of view. Its great strength is that it provides a variety of viewpoints from those who want to reclaim the value of this rejected early branch of Christianity. Jung wanted to do that too but most of his work took place before the Nag Hammadi Gnostics were found and translated so he switched his attention of Gnosticism partial successor - Alchemy. For the case against the Gnostics you will have to go elsewhere, but this collection of short essays will give you a very broad take on the different interpretations of contemporary interest in Gnosticism.
609539
In spite of a few shortcomings, Chandlers book is well written and easy to understand. He shows that the Trinity Doctrine is related to Gnostic heresies that the Church condemns. Like most of the Gnostic heresies, the Trinity Doctrine developed from Greek philosophy and Egyptian paganism, especially Hermeticism. The notion of Christ as God has its origins in Gnosticism instead of the New Testament.

He gives a good history of the development of the Trinity Doctrine and shows that the Emperors of Rome imposed on the Church the Nicene Creed and the other Creeds related to the Trinity Doctrine. Thus, the Creed of the Trinity Doctrine was more political than theological. Moreover, the ante-Nicene Fathers were not trinitarians in the sense of the Trinity Doctrine; they were unitarians.

Also, he discusses the more popular verses in the Bible used to support the Trinity Doctrine and shows that they do not offer the support claimed. Moreover, he discusses several verses that refute the Trinity Doctrine by showing that Jesus is a man, as opposed to the God-man, and subordinate to God, i.e., not coequal with the Father. Additionally, he discusses the concept of the pre-existing Christ, which he concludes is false, and the Holy Spirit, which he concludes is not a person but an attribute of God.

One problem with his book is that he uses the Jewish and secular humanist dating system of B.C.E. (before the common era) and C.E. (common era) instead of the Christian dating system of B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno Domini, in the Year of the Lord).

His books main problem and shortcoming are that Chandler Judaizes too much. Several times he mentions the God of the Jews. Is this the God of the Old Testament or the god of the tradition of men espoused by the Pharisees? He does not say, but he probably means the God of the Old Testament. Moreover, he uses the oxymoron Jewish-Christian. A Jew rejects Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Another term that he uses is Jewish Jesus. If Jesus were a Jew, he would have followed the Pharisees and denounced himself. Jesus followed the Old Testament instead of the tradition of men, which he adamantly and ardently condemned and which was Judaism. Judaism grew out of the Babylonian captivity and was called the tradition of men and which grew into the Talmud, the holy book of the Jews. Chandler confuses the religion of the Old Testament with the religion of the Jews, which is the tradition of men. The God of the early non-Platonistic Christians was the God of the Old Treatment and not the god of the Jews. (As Chandler shows, the God of the Platonistic Christians, who are the Trinitarians, is confusing and questionable, but seems not to be the God of the Old Testament.) At times, he writes as though Christianity is merely a Jewish cult.

Maybe, Chandler should call Trinitarians that great smear label anti-Semitic for denying the Jewish God and scare them out of Trinitarianism.
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Another in the Classics of Western Spirituality series.  The Zohar is a text cosidered inspired or semi-canonical by some Jews.  It is considered a kabbalistic text, and as such is really a significant kabbalistic exegesis on the Torah.  Daniel Matt is considered one of the finest scholars on the subject, and this book provides a worthy introduction.  He begins with a discussion of the somewhat controversial hsitory of the Zohar (when it was written and by whom), the emergence of the Zohar as a religious text, and the challenges of interpretation.  He then exerpts about 5% of the text, translates it, and provides a detailed exegesis and interpretation of the symbolism and meaning in the notes.  Without reading the exegetical notes, one will be very lost in just reading the text - and even after reading the notes, without a good familiarity of the Bible and even some of the Talmud, it is tough sledding.  I wish the exegetical notes followed each excerpt instead of being in a separate appendix to avoid having to flip back and forth for the necessary interpretation.  This relatively minor criticism aside, if you have interest in the subject, this scholarly and approachable work will be a welcome read.
583563
Nice introduction to Rabbinic thought and how Jesus's teachings are right in line with what many of the other rabbis are teaching at or around his time.  It also pointed out that Jesus was not condemning all the Pharisees but only those who were hypocrites, much like many of Christians today also say one thing but do another.
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I like to make up my own mind about things, and I knew early on in my life I'd one day read the so-called "Gnostic Gospels". What fanned the fires of my curiosity were all the occasions as I was growing up when my teachers in religious school would tell us there was "nothing of any value" in those books, and that was why the Church excluded them from its canon. So, naturally, I gravitated toward this pseudo-forbidden reading list.

The Gnostic Gospels tell stories that are at once familiar to those modern individuals who have some background in the books included in the Bible, but there is also a lot that represents challenges to the supposed accepted version of Biblical events. After poking around over the years in the subject of the Gnostic writings, I found little of deep interest there and moved on to other areas. When I happened across this Idiot's Guide to the topic, I pounced on it and found it to be a fine overview that could teach almost anyone about these writings that date to some of the earliest decades of Christianity.

Are the Gnostic Gospels valid? If the question is "are they authentic?" then the answer would be yes. They are writings from antiquity. They contain many of the same figures from Sunday School classes and offer plenty of good-natured parables and anecdotes, histories and grains of hard-won wisdom. They, do, however, at times offer claims that stand in direct contradiction to much of what is taught as ecclesiastical truth in nearly all present-day branches of the Christian faith. Who is right? Who knows. Is that even really important?

I found this Guide to be colloquial, authored by contributors with solid knowledge of the field, and it informed me about probably all I need to know regarding this subject, whether or not I ever again go on to read the actual Gnostic works.
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The commentary by the late New Testament scholar, Leon Morris, on the two letters to the Thessalonian Christians, is an excellent introduction to these two brief letters of the Apostle Paul. Originally published in 1959 as a contribution to the New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT), Morris's commentary has not been surpassed since its publication more than half a century ago. Written in a clear and thoughtful manner, it contains material from which both the layperson and the serious scholar will benefit. As is the case with the other volumes in the NICNT, more technical matters, including comments on the Greek text, have been placed in footnotes, a practice that allows for a more fluid flow of the commentator's ideas.

In addition to a verse-by-verse discussion of the text, Morris provides some useful introductory material. Morris persuasively argues for a date in early 50 A.D. as the time of the writing of 1 Thessalonians. He also discusses the question of the relationship of these two letters, particularly the order of writing. Although Morris accepts the more traditional view that 1 Thessalonians was written first, he gives a fair summation of the arguments for the priority of what we now know as the second epistle. (Of course, nothing involving inspiration, canonicity, authenticity, or inspiration stands or falls with this issue.)

Morris writes from a Reformed perspective. Nevertheless, his interpretation of the text is quite objective.