Gnostic Religion

The Gnostic Gospels provides engaging listening for those seeking a broader perspective on the early development of Christianity. Author and noted scholar Elaine Pagels suggests that Christianity could have developed quite differently if Gnostic texts had become part of the Christian canon.

The Kybalion has long fascinated readers and listeners with its exploration of hermetic wisdom. Credited to the mysterious Three Initiates, The Kybalion is an esoteric classic that has remained popular since its initial publication in 1908. The book explores the seven Hermetic principles - including the principles of causation, mental transmutation, and polarity - and the philosophies it contains became founding ideas in the New Thought movement.

Why is religion still around in the 21st century? Why do so many still believe? And how do various traditions still shape the way people experience everything from sexuality to politics, whether they are religious or not? In Why Religion? Elaine Pagels looks to her own life to help address these questions. Drawing upon the perspectives of neurologists, anthropologists, and historians, as well as her own research, Pagels opens unexpected ways of understanding persistent religious aspects of our culture.

Learn how we got the books of the Bible. There were prophets who proved they were from God by performing miracles and making localized predictions with 100 percent accuracy. Their long range predictions were then recorded in the 66 books of the Bible. We can know this for a fact because over 50 of those long range prophecies have come to pass since the nation of Israel was reborn in AD 1948. The ancient church fathers teach the Gnostic gospels were demonically inspired. They contain no prophecy, and their teachings contradict the teachings of the prophetically proven word of God.

The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.

New discoveries in archaeology and recent bestsellers and movies such as The Da Vinci Code and The Passion of the Christ have sparked a renaissance of the many controversies that have remained unanswered in Christianity and other religions. At the heart of these controversies is Jesus. With a unique perspective only Sylvia Browne could bring, The Mystical Life of Jesus is filled with the details of Jesus' inspiring life.

Based on Christianity's Gnostic foundations and the lost secret teachings of Jesus, this book is a thought-provoking conjecture on ways to manifest the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth -- an inspirational reminder of what Christianity was intended to be.

In this new translation of the Gospel of Thomas, Leloup shows that the Jesus recorded by the "infinitely skeptical and infinitely believing" Thomas has much in common with gnostics of non-dualistic schools. Like them, Jesus preaches the coming of a new man, the genesis of the man of knowledge. In this gospel, Jesus describes a journey from limited to unlimited consciousness. The Jesus of Thomas invites us to drink deeply from the well of knowledge within, not so that we may become good Christians but so we may attain the self-knowledge that will make each of us, too, a Christ.

Gnosticism was a wide-ranging religious movement of the first millennium CE—with earlier antecedents and later flourishings—whose adherents sought salvation through knowledge and personal religious experience.

The selections made in this volume shed light on these esoteric doctrines, revealing intimate conversations between Jesus and his disciples. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene throws new light on his relationship with this favorite disciple. The Gospel of Thomas contains concentrated mini-parables, containing deep inward and symbolic meaning, many of which are not found in the New Testament. The texts chosen are relevant to many of the perplexities of contemporary life and deal with the questions of good and evil, sin and suffering, and the path to salvation.

The ancient church fathers documented their struggle with the rebellion of the bishops of Rome. They recorded the heresies that crept into the Roman Catholic Church and their subsequent rebuke of those Roman bishops, or popes. The first section will give a detailed history of Rome from AD 50 to the modern times. The second section will deal with some ancient prophecies about the rise and fall of papal Rome.

Unlock the secrets of ancient wisdom with "The Pistis Sophia: A Beginner's Guide: Unveiling the Mysteries of Gnostic Wisdom." This book is your gateway to understanding the profound and esoteric teachings of one of the most revered texts in Gnosticism. Whether you're a novice seeking spiritual enlightenment or a seasoned explorer of mystical traditions, this guide will captivate your mind and spirit. Dive into the rich tapestry of Gnostic thought as you: Discover the hidden teachings that have been preserved for centuries. The Pistis Sophia offers a cosmology filled with divine beings, ...

Contained here is a compilation of the most powerful and sought after Gnostic texts available. Gnostic writings discovered in the areas of Nag Hammadi, Cairo, Oxyrynchus, and around the world have been placed in a single volume to allow the listener an appreciation of the theology and deep wisdom held in the Gnostic sect of the Christian faith. Included in this audiobook is information on various Gnostic thoughts and beliefs, which will help the listener better navigate a Christian theology vastly different from modern Christianity.

The evolution of the Sacred Worship of Sophia, Mary Magdalene, and Mother Mary are traced through the Gnostic Scriptures. Sophia would come to be considered a force or conduit of the Holy Spirit, in part due to the fact that the Holy Spirit was also considered a feminine and creative force from the Supreme God. As the emerging orthodox church became more and more oppressive to women, later even labeling them "occasions of sin", the Gnostics countered by raising women to equal status.

This is G.R.S. Mead's translation of the Pistis Sophia, the most extensive Gnostic scripture available until the discovery of Nag Hammadi texts in 1945. The Pistis Sophia is a startling blend of primitive Christianity and Hellenic Paganism, with other elements such as reincarnation, astrology, mystery religion and Hermetic magic.

Follow author Joseph Lumpkin in his dive into Gnosticism. As a follow-up to his book "Tour of Gnosticism," where gnostic cosmology is explored in conjunction with mainstream Christendom, Lumpkin has released this jaw-dropping volume of influential Gnostic texts. Lumpkin takes it a step further by coupling the text with lessons on common themes in Gnosticism, historical context for the texts, and expert commentary exploring the differences in the largest gnostic sects.

Most people have heard of Calvinism and Arminianism, and most know there are many problems with the extreme forms, hyper-Calvinism and hyper-Arminianism. But what did John Calvin really teach and where did his ideas come from? Learn the true Gnostic origins of Calvinism from the ancient church fathers and compare Scripture with Scripture to clearly see the trap Satan has set to divide Bible-believing Christians.

And the companion (Consort) was Mary of Magdala (Mary Magdalene). The Lord loved Mary more than all the other disciples and he kissed her often on her mouth (the text is missing here and the word "mouth" is assumed). The others saw his love for Mary and asked him: "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior replied, "Why do I not love you in the same way I love her?" (The Gospel of Philip)

Pistis Sophia is a Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The existing manuscript, which some scholars place in the late 4th century, relates one Gnostic group's teachings of the transfigured 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.

From the dawn of history, a universal wisdom tradition has existed that explains humanity’s purpose in the cosmos and our relationship to the Master Source Consciousness. This mystical philosophy was harnessed by the ancient seers known as Gnostics, who were in direct contact with Source Consciousness. As Peter Canova reveals, not only do the ancient teachings of Gnosticism contain important spiritual truths, but they profoundly align with the modern sciences of quantum physics and psychology.