Gnostic Religion

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

Gnosis simply means knowing. And in the Gnostic frame of reference, gnosis refers to remembering the truth of our existence and our cosmic origin. Gnostic literature says we come into life holding all of this knowledge within ourselves, and that we have complete access to the Father, the Son, and the Fullness of God any time we choose to turn our focus upward. It is this direct connection to the Father that brings us into alignment with our gnosis.

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.

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.

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.

For the past 20 years, Stuart Wilson and Joanna Prentis have been explored the early Essene community, the life of Jesus, and the power of the teachings of Mary Magdalene through the use of past life regression. Expanding on the information conveyed in their first two books, The Essenes and Power of the Magdalene, Wilson fully explores, with the assistance of the Essenes, the ancient mystery teachings of Mary Magdalene and Jesus that have never been revealed before.

Although all the titles of the Nag Hammadi library are not known, many people have heard about its most famous components: The Gospel of Thomas - at one time it was discussed whether it should be included in the New Testament - and The Gospel of Philip, which tried to revive the debate around the identity of Mary Magdalene: "Why do you love her more than all of us?" asks a disconcerted Peter to Jesus. Finally, the Nag Hammadi texts have led many scholars to reconsider the rigid canons imposed by the early Church, and the readers to find a more intimate religion that turned upside down many postulates of Christian orthodoxy.

In this book, we will explore Gnosticism and the Divine Feminine through the lens of two great Gnostic texts. We will see the influence of Gnosticism and how their idea of the Divine Feminine effected orthodox or mainstream Christianity. The treatise of Eugnostos the Blessed (50-150 AD) and the gospel called The Sophia of Jesus Christ (50-200 AD) are presented together in a single volume, due to their close and undeniable connection.

The holy grail. The Knights Templar. The Gnostics and ancient mysteries of Greece. Discover the connection between them all with this phenomenal book written by 32nd-degree Freemason and celebrated author John Michael Greer. This book is a must-listen for seekers of the holy grail and those who want to learn about the inner workings of occult Freemasonry.

The Neville Goddard Lecture Series will be presented in a 12-volume set, 25 lectures per volume. This volume, Volume XII, contains lectures such as Wonder Working Power; You Are a Cosmic Being; You Can Forgive Sin; You Can Never Outgrow I Am; You Dare to Assume; and many more.

Comparative studies often reveal similarities between greatly different cultures, even if those cultures are geographically separated by thousands of miles or historically distinct by thousands of years. This has been especially true in religion where similar ideas have been propounded by tribes or clans that have on the surface no contact historically or geographically with one another. For the phenomenologist, this kind of transcultural link or synchronicity is important because it raises the question of how religious ideas emerge and develop over time.

Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, reputed to be the source of the most esoteric knowledge in human history, has fascinated scholars, seekers, and dreamers for centuries. For generations, scholars and researchers have tried in vain to discover the fabled Temple of Solomon, only to be confronted by one problem after another.