The Gospel of the Second Coming

This book is certainly at the cutting edge of Christian theology, but whether you go along with it's central thesis of Gnostic theology: that the Jesus story is a Judaic-Pagan Myth (revealing a central truth), or if you still choose to stand in the traditional Christian thelogical claim, that Jesus actually existed as a human being and rose after his death, thus revealing that he is the Christ, you will benefit by reading this book if you see it as an opportunity to step outside your current faith/non-faith belief system, in order to "see" with "new eyes".

I loved this book. It was entertaining from start to finish and yet held so much information as well. I was raised as most, a christian, to believe in a loving & merciful God that somehow would send you to the depths of hell, fire and brimstone if you did not do everything just right. This book was an excellent and fun way to help clear the fog in my head from all that childhood "brainwashing".

Although literally flooded with the New Testament version of events for most of my life, I never really understood the complete truth about Christianity until I read "The Gospel of the Second Coming." Through this modern parable, Freke and Gandy present the Gnostic point of view, which finally tells the whole story of the 1st century CE. "God" is not the jealous, cruel, vengeful dictator of the OT and "Jesus" is not the literal person, being born without a father, performing miracles, and rising from the dead. Instead, these are stories that teach spiritual truth: Love/Oneness is man's essential birthright. Most people are "asleep" and do not realize the unity of the Universe and of all humankind. It is only when we "wake up" that we "know" who we really are, who everyone else is and what kind of relationships we could be having with each other. "Love God" and "Love your neighbor" is not only the message of the 2nd "Coming," but also it is the message of the 1st. The New Testament compilers distorted the truth in order to establish an authoritarian Church. The NT version is authoritarian, but the Gnostic teachings are decidedly about individual freedom. Therefore, ne'er the two shall meet. Christians may choose whom they will serve: On one hand is the literal "Jesus" of the Bible/New Testament. On the other hand is the "Gnosis", the "Word/Logos," the "Spirit of Truth," the "Christ" that dwells in the heart. Many have already met this "Christ" within, but often confuse Him with the literal "Jesus" in the NT. The former is "real" and can be experienced by everyone. The latter is a character in a story that must be "believed" in spite of lack of credibility and historical evidence. Read "The Gospel of the Second Coming" and decide for yourself how plausible it is. You may find that it is just as plausible as the NT story, maybe even more so.

For 22 years, approximately 200 Fellows of the Westar Institute, the Jesus Seminar, have attempted to parse Jesus' alleged utterances into categories of possibly said, unlikely to have said, and impossible to have said. Needless to say, this kind of investigation can get very, very weighty. Instead, Freke and Gandy have given us a delightful book, which I find quite funny in lots of places, that enables the reader to understand the difference between the literal, historical Jesus and the Gnostic Jesus, even if the reader has no formal background or training. And understanding that difference can make a difference between a Chrisitan experience that is guilt-ridden and one that is enlightening. Maybe other reviewers consider this a trivial pursuit, but I bought a dozen copies for my dearest friends.