The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back: An Old Heresy for the New Age

If you are looking for a fast read to get a taste of growing and prevalent trends within our culture and seeping into our churches, look no further. In just 5 chapters Peter Jones introduces the reader to a varied and expansive field with an aim (from the tail-end of the intro.) to: * clarify the true nature of forces opposing Christians today * warn the church * encourage Christian believers Each chapter contains a detailed notes section which the reader can use for a more in depth study. Since this book was published in 1992, undoubtedly some of the examples and book references may appear somewhat "dated,' but still very relevant. Some key topics touched on in this study are: * diversity and "kaleidoscope" of ideas found within Gnostic & new age teachings * Nag Hammadi texts and the idea that believers find salvationnthrough self-actualization and realization * the "light" (presumably of truh) is within you * serpent motif * prayer/ chanting * reincarnation * "Christ consciousness" * feminism * Hindu chakras * Goddess worship * Liberal theology & the hypothetical "Q" document As you can see in this list, Jones tackles a wide field in a great short work. Just enough for a starting place.

This book is a warning to Christians that the old heresy of Gnosticism is back with a vengeance. This work is very concise (I read it in a couple of hours the first time) yet thorough in it's examination of this branch of the apostate church. Not intended to be comprehensive, it achieves it's objective of sounding an informative warning that the Christian church be on it's guard concerning an enemy that is difficult to pin down. Through the generous use of footnotes, Mr. Jones points the reader in the right direction for further investigation of the evidence he claims ties much of the new age movement to ancient gnosticism. His simple, straightforward writing style make this book an easy read. Written in 1992, many of his conclusions seem prophetic today. I recommend you buy this thought-provoking little book and make up your own mind.

_The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back_ by Peter Jones is a very short book on the nature of the ancient heresy of Gnosticism and its relation to the trendy, ultra-humanitarian New Age spiritual outlook today. The occult battle between God's revealed Truth, embodied in Christ, and secret doctrines that support the worship of the Serpent: Lucifer, the Devil who poses as an Angel of Light, has been carrying on since the beginning of time. "Gnosticism" comes from the Greek "gnosis" which means knoweldge (important because this "knowledge/gnosis" is opposed to Faith in a theological sense). Gnosticism finds its origins in the texts of various heretical psuedo-Christian groups that mixed un-Orthodox notions of Christ with Eastern, Egyptian and Hellenic philosophy and the Jewish Cabala. The central theme is that the God of the Old Testament, Yahweh, is a demon, and that Lucifer the Serpent taught Adam and Eve true spiritual knowledge and therefore incurred the wrath of Yahweh. Christ, according to Gnosticism, came to free man from the laws and doctrines imposed by Yahweh so that man can attain a higher spiritual consciousness without traditional doctrines and rituals. Since Yahweh's creation is regarded as evil and imperfect, it is the duty of men to change the world and the natural order of things to fit his own sovreign will. This is particularly evident in the realm of sexuality and the way God's gender is viewed. "Gnostic Gnotions" of the Mother Goddess, an impersonal androgynous diety and sexual fusion into an unconscious "one" give the catalyst for women's liberation, feminism, homosexual rights instead of the normative heterosexual family structure. Gnosticism is not dead, but has simply resurfaced in various forms throughout history, covertly aided by groups with their own agenda. If there is a link between the New Age, witchcraft, paganism, Nazism, Communism, Zionism, anti-Christianity in all its forms, then it is the Gnostic heresy. The only problem with Jones' _Gnostic Empire_ is that it is far too short and fails to provide a bibliography where similar information on this topic can be acessed.

I'm a former Presbyterian who is indebted to Dr. Jones. Having been a member for thirty years I had witnessed many changes in the leaderships' ability or willingness to talk about absolute truth and after reading The Gnostic Empire Strikes Back I began to understand why. Of all the reviews I read here I felt reviewer [email protected] from Escondido, Ca. expressed my sentiments best. I have loaned my copy to many of my friends and have also purchased many other copies to give away as gifts. As 2 Timothy 2:15 states,"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the work of truth." I thank Dr. Jones for helping me in this pursuit.