The Secret Book of John: Gnostic Lies about
God, Creation, and Procreation
By: Michael Waldstein, Ph.D.
Item
No. C30201
ISBN: 9781618900401
Publisher: Saint Benedict Press, LLC
Imprint: Catholic Courses
Publication Date: 2012
Binding: DVD
Price:
$89.95
ORDER HERE - ORDER INFORMATION
Formerly titled "Counterfeit Gospels: Gnostic Writings in the Early Church.
Modern novels and movies claim the Church suppressed secret writings about Christ and his apostles for centuries...and they're right!
If you've heard of The Da Vinci Code, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Jesus Scroll, Holy Blood Holy Grail, Foucault's Pendulum, or The Golden Compass, you've been told that the Church hid the "truth" from the world.
In a way, these novels and movies are right. The Catholic Church did suppress and constrain the publication of these so-called "gospels." And with good reason. The Gnostic writings were circulated by pseudo-Christian sects who had broken communion with the Church. Many Gnostic texts claim to be eye-witness accounts of the apostles or secret divine messages which expand on Christ's public revelation. All of the Gnostic texts contain elements of heresy.
Claims
to Secret Knowledge
Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which means knowledge. In itself,
knowledge is no bad thing. However, in the Early Church there were many groups
of people who claimed to have received secret revelations about Christ, his
mother Mary, or even his apostles.
Among these revelations are those contained in The Secret Book of John, a Gnostic
text that rewrites creation and salvation history. It, along with many other
Gnostic texts, were excluded from the formal list of the books of the Bible
- called the "canon of Scripture" - by the Council of Carthage in
419 A.D. The Secret Book of John details a vision received by John the Apostle
from Jesus.
Retelling
the Story
Jesus tells John the "secret truth" about the creation of the world.
He claims to be the Father, the Mother, and the Son, part of the incorruptible
"Monad" - the great spirit who rules over all. In this reimagining
of the Holy Trinity, there is the One (the Father), Barbelo, (a female emanence
from the One), and Christ.
The Monad created aeons - pairs of male and female spiritual beings who are
like angels. One of these aeons, Sophia, sought to conceive a son without her
male counterpart. This son was born a monster, and he is called Yaldabaoth.
This monster-spirit then becomes the "god" over physical creation.
According to The Secret Book of John, Yaldabaoth is the Yaweh of the Old Testament;
an evil and perverse god who trapped the spiritual souls of Adam and Eve in
matter. Yaldabaoth's wicked designs are perpetuated by human procreation...
because bringing forth new life into a material world is a process of ensnaring
more spiritual souls and trapping them in a physical form.
Get
the Truth
In recent years, Gnostic writings like The Secret Book of John have gained in
popularity due to references from a variety of media sources. Even those of
us who knew the claims in The Da Vinci Code were fictional struggled to articulate
the historical truth.
Dr. Michael Waldstein, expert translator and commentator on the Gnostic text of the The Secret Book of John, will guide you through the claims of this false gospel. His commentary will help you understand why this book, and others like it, were excluded from the canon of Scripture. Dr. Waldstein discusses the danger Gnosticism poses to true Christianity - how it attempts to repaint salvation history, divide the so-called "God of the Old Testament" from Jesus Christ in the New Testament, and how it distorts the truth and goodness of God's creation. In this course, you'll get the truth you need to combat any Gnostic misinformation.
About
The Author
Professor Michael Waldstein holds his Doctorate of Philosophy from the University
of Dallas, a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute
in Rome, and his Doctorate of Theology from Harvard University in New Testament
and Christian Origins. He is the Max Seckler Professor of Theology at Ave Maria
University in Florida. Previously, he taught at the University of Notre Dame
and the International Theological institute in Gaming, Austria. His published
works include a critical edition of the four Coptic manuscripts of the Secret
Book of John, a Gnostic text discovered in the Nag Hammadi codices. His articles
have been published in Nova et Vetera, Communio, Anthropotes, and the Journal
of Early Christian Studies.
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