internationally respected authority on the ancient Pagan Mysteries and early Christianity<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (back jacket flap). Although I agree with my critics that I should wait until I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read the book in total before critiquing it, I must agree with others that it is totally allowable to critique it along the way.<\/p>\nI already have major problems just from reading the first pages. Example:
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But the original Christians didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see Jesus as an historical man who \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsuffered for our sins\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. They viewed Jesus as the mythical hero of a symbolic teaching story, which represents the spiritual journey leading to the experience of awakening they called \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgnosis\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, or \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcknowing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (p. 4).<\/p>\nNot that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe we need to critically examine our assumptions, traditions and beliefs we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve inherited from the past. But I hope they spend considerable time and effort to prove<\/strong> that! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge, sweeping statement that flies in the face of centuries of research, study, and writing. I recognize the recurring and growing influence of gnosticism, so I feel it is urgent for me to read and understand these guys, their books, and their influence. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s see what happens, so stay tuned!<\/p>\n <p> <\/p><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been loaned a book by a good friend of mine called The Laughing Jesus, written by both Timothy Freke, a philosopher and international public speaker \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exploring gnosis\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; and Peter Gandy, an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153internationally respected authority on the ancient Pagan Mysteries and early Christianity\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (back jacket flap). Although I agree with my critics that I should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thought"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.ca\/e\/ir?t=davidhaywardc-20&l=ur2&o=15\")
, written by both Timothy Freke, a philosopher and international public speaker \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exploring gnosis<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; and Peter Gandy, an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153internationally respected authority on the ancient Pagan Mysteries and early Christianity<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (back jacket flap). Although I agree with my critics that I should wait until I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read the book in total before critiquing it, I must agree with others that it is totally allowable to critique it along the way.<\/p>\n