Description

"This incisive critique thoroughly and convincingly debunks the claims that recently discovered texts such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary undermine the historical validity of the New Testament.

"Jenkins places the 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. He demonstrates that the texts that purport 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 bestselling 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." (From back cover.)

Table of Contents

1. Hiding and Seeking
2. Fragments of a Faith Forgotten
3. The First Gospels? Q and Thomas
4. Gospel Truth
5. Hiding Jesus: The Church and the Heretics
6. Daughters of Sophia
7. Into the Mainstream
8. The Gospels in the Media
9. The Next New Gospel