Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way
by Philip Jenkins
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Book Summary Information
Author: Philip JenkinsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-12-05
ISBN: 0195156315
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way
Book Review: A brilliant expose
Summary: 5 Stars
Professor Jenkins has given us a brilliant response to the so-called "Jesus Seminar" theorists. Beginning with an in-depth analysis of the gospel of Thomas and Q, Dr. Jenkins exposes the anachronistic methods of the self-proclaimed Jesus scholars guided by their presuppositions alone. Rather than doing the work of objective historians following the facts, these hacks have seized upon our distrust of authority and Protestant assumptions in order to recreate the early church into their own image.
Dr. Ray Guarendi refers to the "new atheists" who do not claim to deny God but instead claim that they believe in God but, "he thinks just like I do." This is God created in the image of man rather than the God of scripture. It is the self-guided (misguided) presupposition that we bow to know authority but our own understanding. Here is the lie of the garden wrapped in a pretty package for resale to the modern world.
Dr. Jenkins exposes this lie for what it is with careful historical analysis of what we know and do not know about the early church. And, once again, the words of Solomon ring true, there really is nothing new under the sun. There is little in these recent "findings" of ancient texts that we did not already know. Popular culture has accepted the Jesus Seminar as gospel truth not because the facts speak for themselves but because the modern mind wishes to accept them. They think just the way modern culture thinks, and so, they believe, it must be true.
Packed with examples of the fallacies of the Jesus Seminar, _Hidden Gospels_ is a rich and rewarding expose. Comparing the history of the creation of the canon from the words of the Jesus Seminar to the objective history of its formation challenges not only the Jesus Seminar but Protestant assumptions as well. The role of the church in the formation of the canon cannot be denied. And so, the Protestant standing on "sola scriptura" must rest scripture firmly on the shoulders of mother church. Without that firm foundation, the winds and waves of Jesus Seminar doctrine is sweeping them away. The connection between Protestantism and the Jesus Seminar thinking cannot be missed.
At last a response to the Jesus Seminar with depth and teeth. Any who have followed this movement or the "DaVinci Code" offshoots will find this book a helpful remedy and vaccine against the distortions so popularized today. Highly recommended.
Summary of Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way
This incisive critique thoroughly and convincingly debunks the claims that recently discovered texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, and even the Dead Sea Scrolls undermine the historical validity of the New Testament.Jenkins places the recent controversies surrounding the hidden gospels in a broad historical context and argues that, far from being revolutionary, such attempts to find an alternative Christianity date back at least to the Enlightenment. By employing the appropriate scholarly and historical methodologies, he demonstrates that the texts purported to represent pristine Christianity were in fact composed long after the canonical gospels found in the Bible. Produced by obscure heretical movements, these texts have attracted much media attention chiefly because they seem to support radical, feminist, and post-modern positions in the modern church. Indeed, Jenkins shows how best-selling books on the "hidden gospels" have been taken up by an uncritical, drama-hungry media as the basis for a social movement that could have powerful effects on the faith and practice of contemporary Christianity.
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