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Strange New Gospels
Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2018 with the help of original edition published long back [1931]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, Printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume, if you wish to order a specific or all the volumes you may contact us. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - English, Pages 132. EXTRA 10 DAYS APART FROM THE NORMAL SHIPPING PERIOD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.} Complete Strange new gospels by Edgar J. Goodspeed. 1931 Goodspeed Edgar Johnson
111 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
About the author
Edgar J. Goodspeed
196 books9 followersEdgar Johnson Goodspeed (1871–1962) was an American liberal theologian and scholar of Greek and the New Testament. He taught for many years at the University of Chicago, whose collection of New Testament manuscripts he enriched by his searches. The University's collection is now named in his honor.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 28, 2024
A THEOLOGIAN ANALYZES ESOTERIC STORIES ABOUT JESUS
Edgar Goodspeed (1871-1962) was a liberal American theologian perhaps best remembered for his translation of the New Testament ('The New Testament: An American Translation'). He wrote this brief book in 1931, but it is a true "gem," and well worth seeking out. (It was a predecessor for more modern accounts such as 'Strange tales about Jesus: A Survey of Unfamiliar Gospels.')
By "Strange New Gospels," Goodspeed means accounts of Jesus outside of the canonical gospels, and even the pseudepigraphical gospels (such as the "Gospel of Thomas"). As Goodspeed notes, these accounts have traditionally been "neglected by serious scholars" as being obviously spurious works. However, several of the works he cites remain in print today, and continue to exercise influence in "New Age," esoteric, and alternative religious circles, so Goodspeed's sober, non-polemical, yet scholarly treatment gives a fascinating background of these works.
Goodspeed first covers "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ" by Russian Journalist Nicolas Notovitch, which (as he notes in his quite fair and balanced summary) had been published in the late 19th century, as an account of the life of Jesus ("Issa") purportedly found in a Tibetan monastery, which purports to detail Jesus' activities during his "lost years" between ages 12 and 30 at age 13, including his travel to India to study with Jains, Brahmins, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians, before returning to Jerusalem at age 29. Goodspeed cites famous Orientalist and translator Max Muller's negative appraisal of the work, as well as the repudiation of the work by the very Lama of the monastery that Notovitch supposedly obtained his translation from.
Goodspeed also critically but fairly covers the 1907 The aquarian gospel of Jesus the Christ by the occultist Levi H. Dowling (1844-1911), who purportedly wrote the book (from the "Akashic Records") about Jesus' early education and travels, first studying with the Jewish scholar Hillel, then traveling to India (where he learns the art of healing), Tibet, Persia, Greece, and Egypt. He also covers 'The Archko Volume: Or, the Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmuds of the Jews,' as well as several other works that are nearly forgotten today ("The Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eyewitness"; "The Confession of Pontius Pilate"; the "Letter of Benan"; the "Twenty-Ninth Chapter of Acts"; and "The Letter of Jesus Christ").
Goodspeed's book is quite valuable to all who are seeking objective background information about such "esoteric" sources that purport to "fill in" Jesus' background. And he is considerably KINDER to their authors than is the traditional Christian author harshly criticizing accounts of a "New Age Jesus."
Edgar Goodspeed (1871-1962) was a liberal American theologian perhaps best remembered for his translation of the New Testament ('The New Testament: An American Translation'). He wrote this brief book in 1931, but it is a true "gem," and well worth seeking out. (It was a predecessor for more modern accounts such as 'Strange tales about Jesus: A Survey of Unfamiliar Gospels.')
By "Strange New Gospels," Goodspeed means accounts of Jesus outside of the canonical gospels, and even the pseudepigraphical gospels (such as the "Gospel of Thomas"). As Goodspeed notes, these accounts have traditionally been "neglected by serious scholars" as being obviously spurious works. However, several of the works he cites remain in print today, and continue to exercise influence in "New Age," esoteric, and alternative religious circles, so Goodspeed's sober, non-polemical, yet scholarly treatment gives a fascinating background of these works.
Goodspeed first covers "The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ" by Russian Journalist Nicolas Notovitch, which (as he notes in his quite fair and balanced summary) had been published in the late 19th century, as an account of the life of Jesus ("Issa") purportedly found in a Tibetan monastery, which purports to detail Jesus' activities during his "lost years" between ages 12 and 30 at age 13, including his travel to India to study with Jains, Brahmins, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians, before returning to Jerusalem at age 29. Goodspeed cites famous Orientalist and translator Max Muller's negative appraisal of the work, as well as the repudiation of the work by the very Lama of the monastery that Notovitch supposedly obtained his translation from.
Goodspeed also critically but fairly covers the 1907 The aquarian gospel of Jesus the Christ by the occultist Levi H. Dowling (1844-1911), who purportedly wrote the book (from the "Akashic Records") about Jesus' early education and travels, first studying with the Jewish scholar Hillel, then traveling to India (where he learns the art of healing), Tibet, Persia, Greece, and Egypt. He also covers 'The Archko Volume: Or, the Archeological Writings of the Sanhedrim and Talmuds of the Jews,' as well as several other works that are nearly forgotten today ("The Crucifixion of Jesus, by an Eyewitness"; "The Confession of Pontius Pilate"; the "Letter of Benan"; the "Twenty-Ninth Chapter of Acts"; and "The Letter of Jesus Christ").
Goodspeed's book is quite valuable to all who are seeking objective background information about such "esoteric" sources that purport to "fill in" Jesus' background. And he is considerably KINDER to their authors than is the traditional Christian author harshly criticizing accounts of a "New Age Jesus."
June 20, 2023
Strange New Gospels sets out to debunk some Nineteenth Century and early twentieth century documents which have been circulated as genuinely coming from the time of Jesus Christ, and thus as having potential significance for how the Christian Gospels should be read and interpreted.
Each ‘translation’ purports to come from ancient manuscripts, which tend to be (unsurprisingly?) unavailable for modern scholars to examine. The unavailability of the source evidence means that these alleged translations have an immediate question mark hanging over them.
Written in 1931 this book achieves its aims of ‘debunking.’ It explains the provenance of the documents and thus shows reaaders why their authenticity is so implausible, if not impossible.
However, in the 90 years since the book was published, further information has also come to light about some of these ‘fake’ documents. And of course an old book like this one cannot incorporate that further information. For example, the ‘Life of Issa’ tells how Jesus went to Tibet and was trained there. It was initially rejected as implausible when the head of the Tibetan monastery which allegedly held the ancient documents denied all knowledge of the supposed visitor who had gone there and translated the document. However, in subsequent decades others have claimed to have gone to the monastery and authenticated the original translator's tale, although the allegedly ancient original document is still mysteriously unavailable for any scholars to examine...
This book does not cover those kinds of fuller permutations in the saga of the documents. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, if the outcome is the same? But part of the question is whether subsequent information is enough to question the original dismissals.
This original 1931 book remains relevant, but it has also been rendered incomplete in terms of more up to date information about its contents; and also in terms of wider information about other documents which it does not include. For example some Mormon literature might well fall within its scope.
Rather than simply reprinting the original book, it would have been better to either publish a new version with updates, or to annotate the old one with footnotes and appendixes to bring it up to date. Just re-printing the original makes is a strange publishing decision, although it is of course much easier to reprint than to update.
Each ‘translation’ purports to come from ancient manuscripts, which tend to be (unsurprisingly?) unavailable for modern scholars to examine. The unavailability of the source evidence means that these alleged translations have an immediate question mark hanging over them.
Written in 1931 this book achieves its aims of ‘debunking.’ It explains the provenance of the documents and thus shows reaaders why their authenticity is so implausible, if not impossible.
However, in the 90 years since the book was published, further information has also come to light about some of these ‘fake’ documents. And of course an old book like this one cannot incorporate that further information. For example, the ‘Life of Issa’ tells how Jesus went to Tibet and was trained there. It was initially rejected as implausible when the head of the Tibetan monastery which allegedly held the ancient documents denied all knowledge of the supposed visitor who had gone there and translated the document. However, in subsequent decades others have claimed to have gone to the monastery and authenticated the original translator's tale, although the allegedly ancient original document is still mysteriously unavailable for any scholars to examine...
This book does not cover those kinds of fuller permutations in the saga of the documents. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, if the outcome is the same? But part of the question is whether subsequent information is enough to question the original dismissals.
This original 1931 book remains relevant, but it has also been rendered incomplete in terms of more up to date information about its contents; and also in terms of wider information about other documents which it does not include. For example some Mormon literature might well fall within its scope.
Rather than simply reprinting the original book, it would have been better to either publish a new version with updates, or to annotate the old one with footnotes and appendixes to bring it up to date. Just re-printing the original makes is a strange publishing decision, although it is of course much easier to reprint than to update.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews