jesus untouched by the church by hugh ross

Details of the book:
hard-back, dust-jacket and covers in full-colour, a quality book, 160 pages, 235 x 162 mm, calligraphy by John Blamires, published by Sessions of York, England, 1998, price UK£14.95
Obtainable from bookshops
quoting ISBN 1-85072-213-7
or by e-mail from
www.cygnus-books.co.uk

In USA click on www.quakerbooks.org
and search for gospel thomas

Customer reviews from Amazon:

***** First hand spiritual understanding, September 30, 2004
Reviewer: Haydon Bradshaw from Somerset, England. One of the most respected spiritual teachers in Britain. Thomas is thought to have been unable to write and to have dictated these unfamiliar statements of Jesus perhaps on different occasions and in no apparent order. Hugh McGregor Ross has regrouped the statements by subject, greatly helping the reader's understanding. His scholarly notes on each section provide insight of considerable depth arising from a lifetime of spiritual work rather than dry academic punditry. Very attractive to anybody wishing to find a fresh, strong, clear view of Jesus's teaching. Maybe not many know of this book but it could become a classic as reader's enthusiasm fires their friends This is a real scoop!  
 
*****review of Jesus untouched, March 29, 2004
Reviewer: a.pollock from London England I heard about the book and then read it. I reccomend this to any person who is interested in spiritually and the truth of the words spoken by Jesus. It is well written and you can understand the words of Jesus. I found it very profound.
Enjoy It!  
 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

*****Wonderful analysis of the Gospel of Thomas, February 14, 2001
Reviewer: Thom Hartmann (email2thom@cs.com) from Montpelier, VT USA This book is the most cogent, insightful, detailed, and thoughtful of those written on the Gospel of Thomas. Brilliant!! A must-read for anybody interested in the early history of the church or the true teachings of Jesus.

This is the book that presents the results of the experiment described in the display panel Discovery!!! on the Thomas home-page. It presents every one of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas but in a different sequence from the higgledy-piggledy arrangement in the original version.

Thus merely by putting together sayings with like-for-like meanings, a coherent set of spiritual Teachings of Jesus is revealed. This has not previously been done.

What the book does is to provide the data from which the reader may himself or herself discern the Teachings that are hidden in the Gospel. To aid this, in a few places a more liberal or flexible translation from the ancient document is used, adding some extra words. Intentionally, the book does not give commentaries on the sayings nor try to spell out the Teachings. Thus each group on a distinctive Teaching is followed, only where it seems they might be helpful, by Notes; in some cases these are expanded to become essays of spiritual import. These, set in ordinary type, are provided to help the reader find the inner meanings of the sayings and the significance of the Teachings. They provide clues, sign-posts pointing to the right direction, and guide-lines to check that a useful path is being taken. They do not attempt to give or explain the inner meanings of the sayings, for that would negate the method used by Jesus which requireds the recipient of his sayings to do some work in order to find the inner meanings always at a higher or deeper level than can be set down in mere words. The title of the book is chosen to give a clue to the reader that the Gospel of Thomas is a pre-Christian book, and that its Teachings are independent of, even different from, the doctrines of the Church.

Here is the Table of Contents, with the names that have been given to each identified Teaching, together with a sentence added here to give clues to what is meant.

SETTING THE SCENE
Escapes and Discoveries
The ancient text went through an alarming set of escapes, some from the hands of the Church

The Thomas Text

The Thomas People

Literary Features

Relationship with the Bible

THE TEACHINGS
The Good News Brought by Thomas

The Summary
The logia 0 to 3 are seen here as a summary of the Gospel and illustration of Jesus' speech

Discrimination
Discrimination is a vital teaching of some spiritual traditions, but its use by college lecturers or clergy in the pulpit would be calamitous

Seeing the Master
Jesus prompts us to develop a third eye with which we can discern spiritual qualities

Turning to the Master
We are urged to turn towards Jesus the Teacher

To Know and Metanoia
To Know is a paramount Teaching, and Metanoia is the transformation of our awareness

Birth and Death
Jesus answers our most fundamental questions: From Whence? Where To?

Light at the Centre
Light is a synonym for spiritual Truth; his emphasis that it exists at our Centre

Finding the Light at the Centre
Guidance how we find that Light

Quenching Ahamkara
Introducing a concept absent from our western culture and our language,
but one of the most basic in other spiritual traditions

Oneness
We find here the culmination of the Teachings in this Gospel

Spiritual Life
Essential reiteration of the centrality of spirituality

From Small Things Great Grow
Emphasis on growth from seed to maturity

The Way to the Kingdom
Guidelines for our journey

Spiritual Richness
The rewards, here and now

Monakos and Courage
Making clear that independence and courage are needed

Images
Perhaps one of the most profound themes in these Teachings

Happiness
A reiteration of Jesus' frequent reference to happiness and joyousness

Old Order and New Way
Emphasis that what Jesus brings is fundamentally new

Beyond Femininity
Showing Jesus respected the worth of the feminine aspect

Wealth in Poverty
Surprise at the contrast with materialism

Austerity
A discipline to lay aside materialism

Jesus' Disappointment
Jesus recognizes his message is not being received

Wise Sayings
Sayings outside the Teachings but full of wisdom

The Consummation
The opening pages of the Gospel revealed in their full meanings

 

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