How God Became God
What Scholars Are Really Saying About God and the Bible
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How God Became God
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Narrated by:
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Richard M. Smoley
About this listen
This epic, thrilling journey through Bible scholarship and ancient religion shows how much of Scripture is historically false - yet the ancient writings also resound with theologies that crisscrossed the primeval world and that direct us today toward a deep, authentic inner experience of the truly sacred.
From a historical perspective, the Bible is shockingly, provably wrong - a point supported by today's best archaeological and historical scholarship but not well understood by (or communicated to) the public. Yet this emphatically does not mean that the Bible isn't, in some very real measure, true, argues scholar of mysticism Richard Smoley.
Smoley reviews the most authoritative historical evidence to demonstrate that figures such as Moses, Abraham, and Jesus are not only unlikely to have existed but bear strong composite resemblances to other Near Eastern religious icons. Likewise, the geopolitical and military events of Scripture fail to mesh with the largely settled historical time line and social structures. Smoley meticulously shows how our concepts of the Hebrew and Christian God, including Christ himself, are an assemblage of ideas that were altered, argued over, and edited - until their canonization. This process, to a large degree, gave Western civilization its consensus view of God.
But these conclusions are not cause for nihilism or disbelief. Rather, beneath the metaphorical figures and mythical historicism of Scripture appears an extraordinary, truly transcendent theology born from the most sacred and fully realized spiritual and human insights of the antique Eastern world. Far from being untrue, the Bible is remarkably, extraordinarily true, as it connects us to the sublime insights of our ancient ancestors and points to a unifying ethic behind many of the world's faiths.
©2016 Richard M. Smoley (P)2016 Gildan Media LLCListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 360
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 361
Large numbers of atheists, humanists, and conspiracy theorists are raising one of the most pressing questions in the history of religion: "Did Jesus exist at all?" Was he invented out of whole cloth for nefarious purposes by those seeking to control the masses? Or was Jesus such a shadowy figure - far removed from any credible historical evidence - that he bears no meaningful resemblance to the person described in the Bible?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Vintage Ehrman
- By Anonymous User on 07-17-12
By: Bart D. Ehrman
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The Bible's Cutting Room Floor
- The Holy Scriptures Missing from Your Bible
- By: Joel M. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
In The Bible’s Cutting Room Floor, acclaimed author and translator Dr. Joel M. Hoffman gives us the stories and other texts that didn’t make it into the Bible even though they offer penetrating insight into the Bible and its teachings. The Book of Genesis tells us about Adam and Eve’s time in the Garden of Eden, but not their saga after they get kicked out or the lessons they have for us about good and evil.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good content, rather poor presentation by narrator
- By Anonymous User on 12-28-16
By: Joel M. Hoffman
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The Great Shift
- Encountering God in Biblical Times
- By: James L. Kugel
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
Why does the Bible depict a world in which humans, with surprising regularity, encounter the divine - wrestling an angel, addressing a burning bush, issuing forth prophecy without any choice in the matter? These stories spoke very differently to their original audience than they do to us, and they reflect a radically distinct understanding of reality and the human mind. Yet over the course of the thousand-year biblical era, encounters with God changed dramatically.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Changing Conceptions of God and the Self
- By Anonymous User on 10-27-22
By: James L. Kugel
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The Mormon Mirage
- A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today
- By: Latayne C. Scott
- Narrated by: Tamara Marston
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 144
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 116
Three decades after leaving the Mormon faith, Latayne Colvett Scott looks back to her original journey out of Mormonism and the reasons why she left. Revised and updated, this third edition of The Mormon Mirage presents both a fascinating inside look at Mormonism and new and formidable evidence against its claims and teachings.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Keep away from it. Hate-Literature.
- By Anonymous User on 04-13-12
By: Latayne C. Scott
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Paul and Jesus
- How the Apostle Transformed Christianity
- By: James D. Tabor
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 251
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 223
Historians know virtually nothing about the two decades following the crucifixion of Jesus, when his followers regrouped and began to spread his message. During this time the man we know as the apostle Paul joined the movement and began to preach to the gentiles. Using the oldest Christian documents that we have - the letters of Paul - as well as other early Christian sources, historian and scholar James Tabor reconstructs the origins of Christianity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Paul or Jesus?
- By Anonymous User on 01-29-13
By: James D. Tabor
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How God Became King
- The Forgotten Story of the Gospels
- By: N. T. Wright
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 433
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 384
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 375
New Testament scholar N. T. Wright reveals how we have been misreading the Gospels for centuries, powerfully restoring the lost central story of the scripture: that the coronation of God through the acts of Jesus was the climax of human history. Wright fills the gaps that centuries of misdirection have opened up in our collective spiritual story, tracing a narrative from Eden to Jesus to today.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Jesus' life matters, not just his death
- By Anonymous User on 03-17-16
By: N. T. Wright
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The Evolution of God
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,078
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 692
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 689
In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very heavy reading
- By Anonymous User on 08-07-09
By: Robert Wright
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Decoding Nicea
- Constantine Changed Christianity and Christianity Changed the World
- By: Paul Pavao
- Narrated by: Alan Sisto
- Length: 5 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4 out of 5 stars 42
The Council of Nicea was not clerics in a dark and ornate hall. It was brawls in churchyards; it was emperors and governors fighting to save the empire; it was political intrigue as the governments of church and state blended into a volatile stew. It was the way a fringe group of peace-loving communal worshipers of a crucified Palestinian prophet conquered the Roman Empire.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Who mixes fact with fiction?
- By Anonymous User on 12-28-17
By: Paul Pavao
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The Exodus
- By: Richard Elliott Friedman
- Narrated by: Richard Elliott Friedman
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 180
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 161
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 157
Biblical scholars, Egyptologists, archaeologists, historians, literary scholars, anthropologists, and filmmakers are drawn to the mystery of the exodus. Unable to find physical evidence until now, many archaeologists and scholars claim this mass migration is just a story, not history. Others oppose this conclusion, defending the biblical account.
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3 out of 5 stars
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It started well......
- By kboy2008 on 04-21-20
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The Lost Gospel
- Decoding the Ancient Text That Reveals Jesus' Marriage to Mary the Magdalene
- By: Simcha Jacobovici, Barrie Wilson
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 449
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 386
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 385
Waiting to be rediscovered in the British Library is an ancient manuscript of the early Church, copied by an anonymous monk. The manuscript is at least 1,450 years old, possibly dating to the first century, Jesus' lifetime. And now, The Lost Gospel provides the first-ever translation from Syriac into English of this unique document that tells the inside story of Jesus' social, family, and political life. The Lost Gospel takes listeners on an unparalleled historical adventure through a paradigm-shifting manuscript.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very well-crafted but uses lot of sketchy material
- By Anonymous User on 01-09-18
By: Simcha Jacobovici, and others
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Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy
- A Journey into a New Christianity Through the Doorway of Matthew's Gospel
- By: John Shelby Spong
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
A man who has consciously and deliberately walked the path of Christ, John Shelby Spong has lived his entire life inside the Christian Church. In this profound and considered work, he offers a radical new way to look at the gospels today as he shows just how deeply Jewish the Christian Gospels are and how much they reflect the Jewish scriptures, history, and patterns of worship.
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5 out of 5 stars
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understanding the jewish thoughts in the Gospels
- By Anonymous User on 08-30-18
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Don't Know Much about the Bible
- Everything You Need to Know About the Good Book but Never Learned
- By: Kenneth C. Davis
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey, Lorna Raver
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
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Story4 out of 5 stars 168
Bringing to life the world of the Old and New Testaments, the acclaimed creator of the bestselling Don’t Know Much About® series transforms dry, difficult reading into colorful and realistic accounts. Relying on new research and improved translations, Kenneth C. Davis uncovers some amazing questions and contradictions about what the Bible really says: Jericho’s walls may have tumbled down because the city lies on a fault line; Moses never parted the Red Sea; There was a Jesus, but he wasn’t born on Christmas and he probably wasn't an only child....
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5 out of 5 stars
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decent survey of the topic
- By Anonymous User on 02-02-14
By: Kenneth C. Davis
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James, the Brother of Jesus
- The Key to Unlocking the Secrets of Early Christianity and the Dead Sea Scrolls
- By: Robert Eisenman
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 43 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 62
James was a vegetarian, wore only linen clothing, bathed daily at dawn in cold water, and was a life-long Nazirite. In this profound and provocative work of scholarly detection, eminent biblical scholar Robert Eisenman introduces a startling theory about the identity of James - the brother of Jesus - who was almost entirely marginalized in the New Testament.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Regretable. Hard to follow. Repetitive.
- By Anonymous User on 08-18-17
By: Robert Eisenman
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Creating Christ
- How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity
- By: James S. Valliant, C. W. Fahy
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 185
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 185
This explosive work of history unearths clues that finally demonstrate the truth about one of the world's great religions: that it was born out of the conflict between the Romans and messianic Jews who fought a bitter war with each other during the first century. The Romans employed a tactic they routinely used to conquer and absorb other nations: they grafted their imperial rule onto the religion of the conquered.
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5 out of 5 stars
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life is one big lie
- By Anonymous User on 12-25-19
By: James S. Valliant, and others
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Reading Judas
- The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity
- By: Elaine Pagels, Karen L. King
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre, Robertson Dean
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 153
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
Two celebrated scholars illustrate how the newly discovered Gospel of Judas provides a window into understanding how Jesus' followers understood his death, why Judas betrayed Jesus, and why God allowed it. Presented with the elegance, insight, and accessibility that has made Pagels and King the leading voices in this field, this is a book for academics and popular audiences alike.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Judas Iscariot: Betrayer or Saint?
- By Anonymous User on 08-21-12
By: Elaine Pagels, and others
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Reasons to Believe
- How to Understand, Defend, and Explain the Catholic Faith
- By: Scott Hahn
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 715
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 594
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 598
In Reasons to Believe, Scott Hahn, a convert to Catholicism, explains the "how and why" of the Catholic faith - drawing from Scripture, his own struggles, and those of other converts, as well as from everyday life and even natural science. Hahn shows that reason and revelation, as well as nature and the supernatural, are not opposed to one another; rather, they offer complementary evidence that God exists. He is someone, and He has a personality, a personal style, that is discernable and knowable.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Catholic for convition and tradition
- By Anonymous User on 05-29-12
By: Scott Hahn
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The Apocryphal Gospels
- The History of the New Testament Apocrypha Not Included in the Bible
- By: Charles River Editors, Gustavo Vazquez-Lozano
- Narrated by: Mark Norman
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 37
Between 50 and 90 CE, the various writings that comprise the New Testament were written, including the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of Paul, and other letters to more general communities of the early Church. But what is recognized as the 26 books of the New Testament today, in literally hundreds of English translations, actually took several more centuries to be determined as "canonical" by the Church.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Interesting information.
- By KP on 12-11-16
By: Charles River Editors, and others
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Forbidden Faith
- The Secret History of Gnosticism
- By: Richard Smoley
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
The success of books such as Elaine Pagels's Gnostic Gospels and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code proves beyond a doubt that there is a tremendous thirst today for finding the hidden truths of Christianity - truths that may have been lost or buried by institutional religion over the last two millennia. In Forbidden Faith, Richard Smoley narrates a popular history of one such truth, the ancient esoteric religion of gnosticism, which flourished between the first and fourth centuries AD, but whose legacy remains even today, having survived secretly throughout the ages.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent start to finish
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By: Richard Smoley
