The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospels―Annotated & Explained (SkyLight Illuminations) by Stevan Davies (PDF)

Description

This ancient Gnostic text can be a companion for your own spiritual questThe Secret Book of John is the most significant and influential text of the ancient Gnostic religion. Part of the library of books found in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945, this central myth of Gnosticism tells the story of how God fell from perfect Oneness to imprisonment in the material world, and how by knowing our divine nature and our divine origins―that we are one with God―we reverse God’s descent and find our salvation.The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel―Annotated & Explained decodes the principal themes, historical foundation, and spiritual contexts of this challenging yet fundamental Gnostic teaching. Drawing connections to Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, kabbalistic Judaism, and Sufism, Davies focuses on the mythology and psychology of the Gnostic religious quest. He illuminates the Gnostics’ ardent call for self-awareness and introspection, and the empowering message that divine wholeness will be restored not by worshiping false gods in an illusory material world but by our recognition of the inherent divinity within ourselves.Now you can experience and understand this foundational teaching even if you have no previous knowledge of Gnosticism. This SkyLight Illuminations edition presents the most important and valued book in Gnostic religion with insightful yet unobtrusive commentary. It provides deeper insight into the understanding that in Gnosticism the distinction between savior and saved ceases to exist―you must save yourself and in doing so save God.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From the Inside Flap The Gnostic history of God comes to life “The ultimate goal of humanity is to come to understand this myth, the gospel of the Secret Book of John, in such a way that the pattern of devolution from the fullness of God to humanity’s imprisonment in matter is reversed. To understand the events of our fall reveals to us a map for our journey of ascent. We will emerge free from matter … return to an established position in the mind of God, and never leave again.” —from the Introduction “Gnosis is the yeast that lifts the dough of revelation above the arid flatland of religious convention. Stevan Davies’ The Secret Book of John is very yeasty. Taste and see!” —Rabbi Rami Shapiro, author of The Hebrew Prophets: Annotated and Explained “Breathes new life into the Gnostic gospel message—their ‘good news.’ Davies’ translation and clarifying commentary help to unlock their secrets of salvation for the contemporary seeker.” —Charles W. Hedrick, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, religious studies, Southwest Missouri State University About the Author Stevan Davies is professor of religious studies at Misericordia University and has studied the non-canonical gospels and acts for over thirty years. Among his books are The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated and Explained, The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel―Annotated and Explained (both SkyLight Paths) and The Revolt of the Widows: The Social World of the Apocryphal Acts. He has also published books about the canonical Christian scriptures including New Testament Fundamentals and Jesus the Healer: Possession, Trance and the Origins of Christianity. His website (http://users.misericordia.edu/davies/thomas/Thomas.html) is a leading Internet resource on the Gospel of Thomas.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I used this book for furthering my self knowledge in the area of who we really are and where we really came from.To me this book introduces one to the things happening before genesis in the bible beyond marcion of sinope.Of Jesus revieiling to one of his disciples John about the mysteries and thing hidden in silence.The mother,father and the only begotten son of the most high ,And all the powers that eminated from the father’s mind ,down to the great upset of wisdom’s creation the first ruler Yaldaboth and the archons rulers he created etc etc.It shows a picture of our creation and salvation from a different point of view.

⭐This is an excellent commentary on an early Christian scripture, from one of the several versions of early Christianity that is not as well known today. I have the Kindle version which has very helpful hyperlinks between the text and the footnotes, allowing convenient study of particular passages. As for the text itself, I find many of the metaphors compelling and useful, well worth the study for Christians interesting exploring their tradition outside of the narrow confines of ‘the canon’.

⭐To me this book is almost like reading a foreign language. The words flitted about my head like little birds. If you are looking for direct and to the point language this book is not for you.

⭐It’s been a while since I’ve read this, but I do remember that it IS A VERY GOOD READ!

⭐Its amazing how much information of God there is out side of the bible. So much of Man’s insights, culture, traditions and changing the original words and meaning there is in the bible. Can make a person experience a lack of trust, or provoke them in searching diligently for more knowledge and truth of who our wondrous creator is and our true identity.

⭐I think we owe the brothers who hid the books til a more enlightened time. They give us a fresh look at Christianity as it really was and isBishop Bernie O. Finch Ascension Alliance an Independent Catholic Alliance (non Roman)

⭐The annotation is highly helpful.Great presentation, quality publication.For a person as myself who is newly introduced to Gnostic tradition after studying’orthodox’ Christianity for a number of years this is a very fun and helpful book.

⭐A little hard to read seems a bit theological, but will give it a try

⭐Those familiar with the print editions of the Skylight Illuminations “Annotated and Explained” series will know that the format consists of the text on a right hand page, with commentary on the left hand side. Unfortunately no change of format has been applied for the Kindle edition. This means that two or three screens or so of commentary (corresponding to a single left hand print page) appear before the two or three screens of text (single right hand page) which it is commenting upon, requiring moving forward two or three screens to read some of the text, then two or three screens back again to read the commentary before “paging” forward again to read the next section. There are no hyperlinks from the note superscripts to the commentary, and the “continued on page X” at the ends of sections are redundant.The text of the Apocryphon itself has been presented in an arty “poetic” style, with varying font size and random line breaks and tabbing. This appears to be converted to a fixed image in this Kindle edition, so that you cannot change the font size of the Apocryphon text as you can with the commentary text. This is somewhat annoying as the text can be rather small in parts. Conclusion: get the printed edition if you are going to get this book.The commentary on the Apocryphon is in fact fairly good, doing a respectable job of explaining the content for the general reader new to Gnosticism. The introduction however does make some odd and unjustifiable claims, such as the fact that Codices II, III and IV of the

⭐Nag Hammadi library

⭐contains the Apocryphon at the beginning means that all the subsequent texts in these Codices such as the

⭐Gospel of Thomas

⭐and

⭐The Gospel of Philip

⭐should be understood entirely in relation to it – much ink has been spilt over the question of content and order of works in the Nag Hammadi codices with no conclusion; or that gnosticism was not an organised religion – on this claim we simply do not know as there is no evidence either way.For a more scholarly yet highly accessible work on the Apocryphon, I highly recommend Karen L. King’s

⭐The Secret Revelation of John

⭐.

⭐An Excellent read!!! I am now reading through ‘The Secret book of John’ A second time!! Truly, A Mind Opener!!! Thank you!!!

⭐Bought this on kindle

⭐not such a good book, but the service was fine.

⭐good

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