zorro
11-05-2006, 06:17 PM
Stolen Identity, which is subtitled The Conspiracy to Reinvent Jesus, was written by Dr. Peter Jones, professor of New Testament at the Westminster Seminary branch in Escondido, California. He holds an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, aThM from Harvard Divinity School, and a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. His doctoral studies were in Gnostic literature which makes him well qualified to write on the subject matter contained within this book.
What is the subject matter with which this book is concerned? Basically, it is a well written and informative comparison between Gnosticism and Biblical Christianity. What in the world is Gnosticism and why would this be considered something that is relevant to anybody? Gnosticism is thought to be a form of "revived Eastern thought" which was brought to the West during the time of Alexander the Great. With Alexander's conquests Oriental mysticism invaded Western thought and resulted in a new type of occult spirituality which pervaded the subsequent "mystery cults" in Europe. In the early church, ideas of Gnosticism were brought into the church by reputed converts from these cults and from Christians who became involved with these cults.
A revival of Gnosticism has occurred during the last half century and Dr. Jones credits much of this revival to the discovery of 52 scrolls of "Christian" Gnostic literature in 1945 in Egypt and subsequently translated into English and published in the 1970s. These Gnostic texts are claimed to probably date from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, and thus the view of Gnosticism has come to be seen by many as being the true way of understanding Jesus and his teachings as opposed to those of the scriptures of the New Testament. The influence of Gnosticism today is greater than we might imagine. For example, Dan Brown, the author ot The Da Vinci Code, promotes the beliefs of Gnosticism in his writngs, and there are many others who do the same today.
In this book, Dr. Jones compares the Jesus of the Bible with the Jesus of the Gnostics. No other views of Jesus have any historical support whatsoever, and so, Dr. Jones sees these 2 views as the only ones really worth considering. He then compares the Biblical teachings with those of Gnosticism in the following areas: the God of Jesus, the message of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, the divinity of Jesus, Jesus and spirituality, Jesus and sexuality, the morals of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus. He concludes the book with 2 chapters titled "Your Choice" and "My Choice".
So, is all this important or relevant to us today? Well, I think that it is not only extremely relevant in order for us to better understand our present culture and some of the major ideas currently being promoted (and the reasons for them), but I think that it is of utmost importance with respect to each of us personally. I am convinced that Dr. Jones is correct when he writes, "Whoever defines Jesus defines ultimate religious truth". I also think that he is correct in saying that "Your view of God determines everything else you do or think". I think that this book can be helpful in understanding God and Jesus correctly. It should be read by both thoughtful believers and non-believers in the person known as Jesus Christ in the New Testament scriptures.
Dr. Jones spoke in Jackson earlier this year and a portion of one of his lectures that he gave at that time is found in the initial post of the thread titled "Revolution" in the Off-Topic forum.
What is the subject matter with which this book is concerned? Basically, it is a well written and informative comparison between Gnosticism and Biblical Christianity. What in the world is Gnosticism and why would this be considered something that is relevant to anybody? Gnosticism is thought to be a form of "revived Eastern thought" which was brought to the West during the time of Alexander the Great. With Alexander's conquests Oriental mysticism invaded Western thought and resulted in a new type of occult spirituality which pervaded the subsequent "mystery cults" in Europe. In the early church, ideas of Gnosticism were brought into the church by reputed converts from these cults and from Christians who became involved with these cults.
A revival of Gnosticism has occurred during the last half century and Dr. Jones credits much of this revival to the discovery of 52 scrolls of "Christian" Gnostic literature in 1945 in Egypt and subsequently translated into English and published in the 1970s. These Gnostic texts are claimed to probably date from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, and thus the view of Gnosticism has come to be seen by many as being the true way of understanding Jesus and his teachings as opposed to those of the scriptures of the New Testament. The influence of Gnosticism today is greater than we might imagine. For example, Dan Brown, the author ot The Da Vinci Code, promotes the beliefs of Gnosticism in his writngs, and there are many others who do the same today.
In this book, Dr. Jones compares the Jesus of the Bible with the Jesus of the Gnostics. No other views of Jesus have any historical support whatsoever, and so, Dr. Jones sees these 2 views as the only ones really worth considering. He then compares the Biblical teachings with those of Gnosticism in the following areas: the God of Jesus, the message of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, the divinity of Jesus, Jesus and spirituality, Jesus and sexuality, the morals of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus. He concludes the book with 2 chapters titled "Your Choice" and "My Choice".
So, is all this important or relevant to us today? Well, I think that it is not only extremely relevant in order for us to better understand our present culture and some of the major ideas currently being promoted (and the reasons for them), but I think that it is of utmost importance with respect to each of us personally. I am convinced that Dr. Jones is correct when he writes, "Whoever defines Jesus defines ultimate religious truth". I also think that he is correct in saying that "Your view of God determines everything else you do or think". I think that this book can be helpful in understanding God and Jesus correctly. It should be read by both thoughtful believers and non-believers in the person known as Jesus Christ in the New Testament scriptures.
Dr. Jones spoke in Jackson earlier this year and a portion of one of his lectures that he gave at that time is found in the initial post of the thread titled "Revolution" in the Off-Topic forum.