Saturday, March 21, 2009

Gnosticism, Lost Gospels, and today's Politics


In 1945, near the town of Nag Hammadi, a farmer found a red jar containing 12 papyrus books bound in leather. The writers of these codices were followers of an ancient movement called Gnosticism. The tales in the texts claim to be written by Jesus' first disciples. Five of the Nag Hammadi words call themselves Gospels. Some scholars believe that these documents rewrite the story of Christianity.

The Jesus Seminar wrote a new translation of the Gospels using the Gnostic influence. Writers like Elaine Pagels have written extensively on the "lost Gospels." Before long, the lost Gospels began to be used as a way to undermine Christianity, using a linguistic shell game that has created confusion and doubt among some in society. However, Gnosticism didn't receive center stage until Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code hit the book shelves in 2003.

Fifty million readers of Dan Brown's best selling novel read in The Da Vinci Code that the Nag Hammadi writings are "unaltered Gospels" which present Jesus Christ in "human terms." Dan Brown's book claims that the lost Gospels were rejected by The Church for political reasons, and that the story of Jesus is a much different tale than what is portrayed by Christianity. And with the popularity of Dan Brown's novel, in addition to a number of Hollywood releases using Gnosticism for the stories, the Gnostic Rennaissance is in full bloom.

In 2007, David Marshall published his book, The Truth About Jesus and the "Lost Gospels." The book delves deep into the "Lost Gospels" to answer what they are, where they came from, if they are trustworthy, if they are on par with the Holy Bible, and whether or not we have had wrong perceptions about Jesus all along.

Tonight, during the first hour of Political Pistachio Radio, David Marshall is my guest. In tonight's interview, we will go through a careful comparison of the "Lost Gospels" to the Bible, as well as investigate how Gnosticism has infected our society, and political system.

The Episode Airs Live at 7:00 pm Pacific Time on Political Pistachio Radio - catch it live, or the archive later, HERE.

During the second hour of the show, we will be joined by Augie Sodaro of Special Guests to discuss how agencies like Special Guests work, and how internet radio is influencing todays entertainment industry.

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