The Lost Gospels?

[Aillidh]

I've been pretty interested in reading the lost gospels lately, practicularly The Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary.  I was wondering if anyone else had read them/been seriously inspired by them?  

Honestly what started this whole thing was a Jodi Picoult book called Change of Heart .  After reading that book I really got into it and began reading up on it any chance I could get.  

I was raised Irish Catholic in a family with 16 of us in all, 18 counting my parents.  Went to Catholic school off and on (moved a lot) from K-10th grade.  Only thing I ever remember learning about the Lost Gospels was that they were heresy but anyways just curious if anyone else has looked into them.

[Picard]

I haven't read them, but the Nag Hammadi is definitely on my list of books to read this summer. I'm exited! I'm not a Catholic anymore, but am still very curious what these gospels have to give for wisdom/spirituality/life lessons.

[Aillidh]

I've been reading from here thusfar gnosis.org but I hope to buy the Nag Hammadi soon.  I've learned a lot from them.  Some of the passages line up perfectly with the Bible and others are kinda out there.  But I got a lot from reading it though, I really hope you enjoy it too!  Here's a few quotes from it that I really loved from the Gospel of Thomas:

If you don't bring forth what is inside you, what you don't bring forth will destroy you. 

The Kingdom of God is within you (and all about you), not in buildings of wood and stone. When I am gone Split a piece of wood and I am there, lift the stone and you will find me.

Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you. 'Look, the Father is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the Father is within you and it is outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty." 

[nicolelynn]

Yes, I am so there! I was an evangelical until just a few months ago, now I identify more as a Christian mystic/Universalist with strong gnostic leanings =). I have read all three. The Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary serious blew me away. I was almost in tears reading them, a little bit grieving over all I had missed adhering so strongly to the canon previously, but joyus I had discovered them at this point in my life. I don't buy anything really as 100% truth anymore, but that is the thing with gnosticism, it is about finding and experiencing for yourself. I'll admit others are difficult to wrap my head around, like the Gospel of Judas, but still an enlightening read anyways.

I just finished reading the Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels and highly recommend it,

[Aillidh]

I'm enjoying reading them as well, and leaning towards a more gnostic view myself these days.  I've had a lot of recent events such as the death of my younger brother who was my best friend, rock my beliefs a lot.  I went through a period of anger and disbelief where I thought I didn't believe in God anymore.  Turns out that's not true at all, in my heart I still believe in God.  I'm not sure though I believe in everything the Church believes in anymore.  It's very confusing.  But at the same time I cling to the rituals and institution of Mass and the ways of the Church.  So it's all open-ended I'm just learning for now.    

 I don't buy anything really as 100% truth anymore, but that is the thing with gnosticism, it is about finding and experiencing for yourself.

That's the way I feel, I take a little from here and a little from there, put it all together and it makes the big picture seem a lot less daunting in my mind.  

I just finished reading the Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels and highly recommend it,

I'll definitely look into that, thanks for the recommendation.