Who exactly were the Gnostics? Were they simply heretics, rightly condemned by the Church or were they ancient visionaries who held the secret keys of mystical Christianity? This question forms the basis of this incredibly well researched and riveting book, Forbidden Faith, by Richard Smoley.
     Richard Smoley is an expert in esoteric Christianity and was the editor of Gnosis magazine for many years and so brings his extensive knowledge and expertise to this fact-filled book.
     In this meticulously researched book, Smoley proves that Gnosticism has many faces and forms a multi-branched tree of wisdom that creates a major part of the Western spiritual heritage. However, because of church-led repression, most of us are unaware of this legacy, nor are we aware of the huge influence it has on our lives to this very day.
     Up until around the late 1940s, Gnosticism was considered an arcane and defunct offshoot of early Christianity; quaint but unimportant and filled with superstitious nonsense. What was known is that these sects believed that the God of the Old Testament was in fact an evil God. The true God, the God to whom Jesus referred to as Father, was far from this realm.
     Gnostics believed that a loving, heart-centred God could not have created this world of separation and pain. They also believed we are trapped here and must find a way to ascend back to the real God.
     Therefore each sect found their own particular way of attaining this ascension. Some used extreme systems of repression of bodily urges, including celibacy, vegetarianism and frequent cleansing rituals. Others felt it did not matter what happened to the body, as it was a symbol of separation, and therefore indulged in all the earthly pleasures.
     A series of repressed manuscripts, now known as the Gnostic Gospels, were unearthed in Egypt, and their beauty and Zen-like quality of prose made us all do a rapid re-think.
     One of these Gospels is the now famous Gospel of Thomas, which contained clear evidence that Jesus had a secret, mystical teaching he imparted only to spiritually mature followers. This gospel, along with several others, brought about a renaissance of Gnostic study which continues today.
     Yet despite this continued interest there is much confusion about who Gnostics were, exactly what they believed in and what, if any, relevance it has today.
     There are so many books on one form, or one branch of Gnosticism. The serious student will be relieved to discover that finally a clear and concise overview has been formulated. Richard Smoley’s fascinating book takes us on an amazing journey tracing the Gnostic legacy from its ancient roots.
     As he presents the evidence, the reader will be delighted to discover a golden thread of Gnostic wisdom has relentlessly woven its way through the rich tapestries of the Gospel of Thomas; the Manichaeans of Central Asia and finally to A Course In Miracles, written in the 1970s.
     He tracks how the Gnostic impulse was publicly repressed but survived underground in various forms of Christianity only to surface again in the Middle Ages with the Cathars of southern France. This mystical group of “heretics” inspired the medieval tradition of courtly love but were then brutally wiped out by the Inquisition.
     After that time, Smoley reveals that the legacy survived into our modern era with the help of the Jewish Kabbalah, the Freemasonry of America’s founding fathers, the poetry of William Blake, the intuitive insights of the Theosophists and the psychological works of Carl Jung.
     Finally we discover how some of the key teachings of the Gnostics are being revived in the science fiction of Philip K. Dick, as well as popular movies such as “The Matrix” and the book and movie, The Da Vinci Code.
     The story of the Gnostics is as rich and colourful as any novel. Richard Smoley offers clear evidence that Gnostic faith is the true secret, the ultimate “forbidden” faith that contains the key wisdom of ascension.
     Gnostic belief has been assaulted relentlessly, but as Smoley reveals, it springs up, like wild flowers through the icy snow of repression, again and again.
     I highly recommend this beautifully presented book to any serious student of ancient wisdom.
     The Gnostics, of which there were dozens of sects, held key wisdom that parallels the deeper wisdom of the east, including Buddhism, Zen, and Vedanta. Without a thorough knowledge of Gnostic thought, we cannot understand the psychology of our era, nor can we untwist the tight weave of our own egos.
     However, I must emphasis that this book is going to be controversial because it again supplies clear evidence that the Church deliberately diluted and adulterated the wisdom teachings of Jesus.
     Not only were delightful and wisdom-filled Gospels destroyed and repressed, they were, in some cases, older than our current Gospels.
     The serious student must ask him or herself, why did the Church brutally and relentlessly try to destroy this movement?
     The reasons are self-evident. It becomes abundantly clear that the wisdom of Gnostic truth ensures that a Church is not required. I believe, ultimately, that is why we are seeing the dissolution and transformation of the Church in the 21st century.