I've been reading Philip Jenkins' Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way. He's probably best known as the author of The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice, but I see from his Wikipedia page that over the years he has produced an astonishingly large body of work in fields as diverse as Welsh history and the sociology of crime.

Hidden Gospels is his take on the impact the Nag Hammadi and Dead Sea materials have had on the quest for the historical Jesus. Specifically, he wants to examine that way liberal circles have taken to the notion that the true message of Jesus rapidly became suppressed by an authoritarian and unenlightened Church leadership. An anti-authoritarian age, he says, will naturally seize upon any theory that fits its own world-view. Hence, undue credence has been given to theories of supposedly feminist, free-spirited Gnostics, up against patriarchal bishops out to suppress them with masculine rationalism.

Jenkins does go into questions such as dating Thomas (early or late?) and points out that these theories are based on speculation. But it always seems to me that attempts to achieve any kind of conclusions from New Testament scholarship share this speculative character. Lay a hundred New Testament scholars end to end, and you'll get a hundred different opinions. In any case, Jenkins' focus is on the sociology of today's theorists rather than on the theories themselves.

Given Jenkins' obvious goal, I can't put much faith in how accurately he has conveyed the best of modern scholarship on Christian origins. But his book is written with exceptional clarity and for that, and for the intrinsic interest of the material, I find it a great read. It provides a welcome caution against overly enthusiastic adoption of fashionable theories.

That's a really good review, Derek. Thanks.

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Specifically, he wants to examine that way liberal circles have taken to the notion that the true message of Jesus rapidly became suppressed by an authoritarian and unenlightened Church leadership.

That's a common theme among New Age writers, who throw in reincarnation for good measure.

The Real Jesus : The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels is a similar book that I've enjoyed, only it takes on the "Jesus Seminar" and related projects.

Jenkins also subjects the Jesus Seminar to his scrutiny. It all seems quite dated now -- a quaint reminder of the way things were in the 1980s. The publishing house of Harper San Francisco (now called HarperOne) seems to have been almost single-handedly responsible for much of the popularization.

Incidentally, I saw that Newsweek had a cover story last week claiming that the Bible advocates homosexual marriage. If that's what they're printing during Advent, goodness knows what they're saving up for Lent, the popular press's traditional season for Christian-baiting.

Derek:

I'm in the middle of the first volume of Father John Meier's "A Marginal Jew." It is the best summary of mainstream scholarship I've seen. Meier is the heir apparent of the late Father Raymond Brown, and takes up the "hidden" gospels with considerable attention.

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Originally posted by w.c.:
[qb] I'm in the middle of the first volume of Father John Meier's "A Marginal Jew." It is the best summary of mainstream scholarship I've seen. [/qb]

I've seen that book in a library, but the huge length of it put me off from starting to read it LOL. I understand that Volume 4 is due out next year.

Yes, and it is a slow read. Meier is a good writer, but he covers so much, and his insights are relatively dense ones. But it is the best I've read on such topics among the modern scripture scholars.

I'm planning on reading one every six months . . . . about a pound a month!