As someone who was subjected to Catholic school for 12 years, I've always been somewhat interested in all the Gnostic texts that didn't get included in the bible. So when I saw this on my girlfriend's bookshelf, I had to give it a read.Chapter 1: Chapter 1 examines whether or not Christ actually rose from the dead or if it was a symbolic, not literal event.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2 covers the structure of the Catholic church and how it ties back to Peter and the Apostles, one of many church ideas the Gnostics challenged. It also examines the Gnostic believe that the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament weren't the same God, something that formed the basis of Karl Edward Wagner's Kane series.
Chapter 3: Chapter 3 examines the lack of female symbolism in Christianity and talks about Gnostic texts that assign female characteristics to the Holy Spirit and other aspects of Christianity, like the creation in Genesis and God's traditional depiction.
Chapter 4: Chapter 4 talks about whether or not there were some shenanigans at the crucifixion involving the old switcheroo or Jesus faking his death or even Jesus not being human. It also discusses the persecution of Christians during the early years.
Chapter 5:Chapter 5 chronicles the fighting between the various Christian sects during the early years over their beliefs.
Chapter 6:Chapter 6 is the real meat of the book, Gnostic teachings and rituals.
Like the conclusion of the book says, History is written by the winners. It's easy to see why some of the things in this book weren't included in the bible and perplexing that some of it wasn't. Would it have killed early church leaders to include some pro-female content?
I will now return to my regularly scheduled reviews featuring robbery, gun play, magic, and monsters.