Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way

by Philip Jenkins

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195156315
• ISBN13: 9780195156317
• Release Date: December 2002
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Orthodoxy vs, heresy

I never realized, when I began reading about the Nag Hammadi scroll discoveries, that there were so many divergent opinions about them, and about their relevance to Christianity as it is practiced today. It appears that even the Biblical "experts" cannot agree on a dating for many of these items, and this author takes the position that much of the dating is based, not upon research, but upon the preconceived religious leanings of the dater. I'm just a layman, and this is all very confusing to me, because I am reading about these things purely from a historical point of view, rather than a religious or political position. There seems to be a chasm between the "liberals" and the "conservatives" in the field, with the former arguing for earlier dates which would put the documents much closer to the time of Jesus, while the latter say they were composed much later, after the Church was already fairly well organized. I don't know which group is correct, but I do enjoy a good debate, and this book certainly provides one. I look forward to reading more works on this most interesting subject.

Refreshing...

Having studied, for a number of years, the very same texts Jenkins discusses in this book (see some of my other reviews), it dawned on me over time just what the agenda was behind those very scholars touting the texts as 'gospel' truths. Just as they accuse the 'orthodox' of political power mongering, so too are they in the end doing the very same thing. Mr. Jenkins has expressed quite clearly what I too discovered. While the texts do reveal much about the early Christian movement, they do not tell us anything new about the times of Jesus. They tell us about the life and times of second and third century 'Christians'. Rather than an orthodox Church suppressing a 'true' Christianity, it is more likely the other way around: these groups splintered from a Church already in existence. And the texts we have reveal this -- not the early days of The Way.Mr. Jenkins does a good, and in my opinion objective, job reporting the realities of the entire industry (and it is truly a powerhouse of an industry). There is an agenda and the results of their scholarly findings look remarakbly similar to the current popular beliefs of our age.Showing the other side of the coin, this book reveals just what is misleading, even wrong, about the claims. For a long time I too was immersed in these texts and I too wanted to believe they were more representative and that the Church as we have it today in its various splinters was in fact a religious mechanism for political control (though I do believe there are some truths in this). But the reality is that these texts are not 'all that'. They, and the methodologies used in studying and presenting them to the mainstream, are flawed.This is a book that lucidly and without sensationalism lays bare the facts. It presents the facts on the texts themselves but it goes deeper and reveals what is behind the current studies on these very texts. It is highly recommended to ensure that you don't buy this current wave of scholarship (which, as Mr. Jenkins reiterates, is far from 'new') hook, line and sinker. If you don't wish to have your beliefs shaken then this book may not be for you. But, if you are a seeker of facts in order to establish your own opinion, you won't be disappointed.

Exposes the agenda of radical Jesus scholarship

My recent interest in reading books concerning the search for the "Historical Jesus" is rather ironic since I believe I have to go no further than the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to find the Jesus of history. Today's more radical Jesus scholars, as exemplified by the Jesus Seminar, put very little stock in the canonical gospels (except what is considered part of the imaginary "Q" gospel) and instead appropriate more dubious sources, like the Gospel of Thomas and other apocryphal works, to construct a Jesus more to their liking. Philip Jenkins does a masterful job in bringing these issues to light. He exposes many of the ultra-liberal scholars as being on a par with the most rabid conspiracy theorists. ("Here is the Jesus THEY don't want you to see!") Of particular interest is the discussion of the media factor, and how popular media latches on to more radical ideas because there is nothing inherently "interesting" about more orthodox ideas about Jesus. Thus, the likes of Crossan, Funk, and Mack get to have their 15 minutes of fame (and greatly increased book sales), while more conventional Bible scholars are mired in the obscurity of academia. Unfortunately, as the radical edge receives more publicity, the mainstream consensus of Jesus scholarhip will have a tendency to drift further to the left. This book is an extremely worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in the modern quest for the historical Jesus as it gives a much needed corrective to the radical left of the Jesus Seminar and their ilk.

Outstanding

In recent years, much attention has been given the claims that certain non-Canonical gospels and documents, such as the Gospel of Thomas, provide valuable information on the teaching of Jesus Christ. As Prof. Philip Jenkins shows, the obsession to find additional "gospels" is not a modern preoccupation but goes back even before the Nag Hammadi find in 1945. Parts of what is now known as the Gospel of Thomas were known for years. Some of the partisans in favor of Thomas assert that it is as old as, if not older than, the earliest synoptic Gospel. Because of the "mystical" and non-eschatological character of most of it (and other such works), the argument is made that it preserves the "real" teaching of Jesus: not the divine person of Christian orthodoxy, but the wandering sage, dispensing wisdom that just happens to coincide with so much of the modern temperament - mystical, egalitarian, feminist, etc. However, the claim that Thomas was written prior to 150 AD is week, and it is almost certain that the large majority of other gospels are dated much later than that. So when all is said and done, the claims of the Jesus Seminar and other radical scholars to find authentic sayings of Jesus in such works are without foundation.The best part of the this book is its comprehensive nature. Prof. Jenkins places this question in theological, biblical, historical and sociological perspective. As he shows, there is nothing new about the claims that the non-Canonical gospels preserve other sayings of Jesus. Long before anyone heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some had argued that Jesus was an Essene. But the pace has accelerated. Recent television programs give prominence to radicals like Crossan instead of more main-stream scholars, giving the unsuspecting viewer the impression that orthodox Christianity is "hiding" some truths about Jesus that would be subversive of the faith.I have one minor criticism of this work. Prof. Jenkins refers throughout the book to certain scholars, such as John P. Meier of Catholic University (author of A Marginal Jew) as "conservatives." Meier is no Crossan, but it is quite a stretch to use this term to describe him. While Meier accepts the historicity of much of the Gospels, he rejects substantial portions of it. Although the Roman Catholic Church has become more friendly toward higher criticism in recent years, it was quite shocking to see that Meier's work received the imprimatur of the Church.

Exposing The X Files Approach to Biblical Studies

The X Files tells us that "The truth is out there" and anyone who has enjoyed this series knows that its appeal to (post?)modern Americans is its vast conspiracy involving aliens, repressive and secretive institutions, supernatural phenomena, the concealment of the truth for sinister reasons and lone rebels who risk life and limb to uncover the truth. Moulder and Scully are our heroes seeking to find what has been hidden from our eyes -- the truth -- and thereupon free us from our ignorance and darkness. It makes a great television show, but its appeal and success lies in the fact that at least some Americans suspect that there are dark forces out there oppressing us. The success of the movie the Matrix, a clever retelling of an ancient gnostic myth, shows this as well. In "Hidden Gospels" Philip Jenkins ably shows how these type of conspiracy stories help to explain the ongoing appeal of the possibility of hidden gospels. For many Americans, today and yesterday, the possibility that there is a hidden gospel in which the "real Jesus" will finally be revealed -- free from all the alleged distortions of St. Paul, the Evangelists, ecumenical councils and historic Christianity, especially the Catholic Church -- is too seductive to relinquish. Jenkins successfully shows that the discoveries of Qumran & Nag Hammadi and the subsequent body of scholarship produced on account of them do not represent a significant contribution to that which was already known. For example, Jenkins shows how many of the Nag Hammadi texts were already well-known and popularly disseminated in the 19th Century.Having dealt with the question of their relative novelty, Jenkins then considers the reasons for their ongoing appeal. He concludes that a variety of factors have given rise to the success of hidden gospel industry. These include changes in the society and scholarly institutions, current ideological tastes, clever self-promotion of showmen-scholars and the financial interests of mass media and publishing houses. All of these factors contribute to a credible explanation for the enduring appeal of this pursuit. The truth is out there -- and Jenkins has found it. Anyone interested in biblical studies and their popularization will do well to read this important and incisive study.