Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy

Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy From the Gospels to the Da Vinci Code
By Richard Smoley
HarperSanFranciso, 2006. 256 pp. $15.95 paperback.

A while ago I went to my local library to pick up a couple of books on the changes in American spirituality from that associated with institutionalism and a sense of rootedness in place to that of a personal quest orientation. As I was leaving, the library display of books caught my eye. It was a collection of books associated with The Da Vinci Code, but a book on Gnosticism engaged my curiosity. I ended up checking out Richard Smoley's Forbidden Faith: The Gnostic Legacy From the Gospels to the Da Vinci Code in order to explore it further. Smoley is the editor of Gnosis magazine, and co-author of or author of several books on esotericism and “inner Christianity.”

Smoley writes in popular fashion and provides an overview of the history and varieties of Gnostic thought. He looks not only at ancient forms of Gnosticism but also traces it to more recent times in what he calls the “Gnostic Revival.” This chapter, along with Gnosis and Modernity, and The Future of Gnosis, represent some of the more interesting treatments as he traces neo-Gnostic elements in various facets of American culture, including pop culture as exemplified by The Matrix trilogy of films and The Da Vinci Code.

It should come as no surprise to either orthodox Christians or those supportive of various forms of neo-Gnosticism that I disagreed with portions of his book, particularly his discussion of the canonical Gospels and his claim that none of them were written by eyewitnesses. His perspective on the written sources for Jesus’s life go further in that he speculates that the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas might indeed be dated earlier than the second century due to its alleged resemblances to the hypothetical Q document, and therefore it might be the first gospel and represent some of the earliest expressions of the faith of the early Christian communities. A book review is not the place to rehash these debates, but suffice it to say a good case can be made from conservative scholarship that runs counter to Smoley's claims ...

The remainder of this review by John Morehead can be read at:
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~cbr/