Jesus the Sufi: The Lost Dimension of Christianity

by Max Gorman

Explores concepts central to Christianity, the kingdom of Heaven, son of God, baptism, and resurrection.   Jesus is seen as a representative of an ancient and continuing wisdom tradition identified with that of the Sufis. By his distinctive use of stories for teaching purposes, his sayings, and what the Sufis call 'action-teachings', including those actions known as 'miracles', Jesus is shown to have been quintessentially a Sufi master. Max Gorman shows how Sufism illuminates from within concepts central to Christianity: the kingdom of Heaven, son of God, baptism, resurrection - which can then be seen as states and stages in an evolutionary philosophy. This new edition of the classic work includes a new chapter on Gnosis.

Genres: Spirituality

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

Reviews

[Julian Hadlow]

Max gives a convincing rendition of Jesus as following the Sufi line. He shows that by use of parables and teaching stories amongst others, that Jesus exemplified the Sufic Tradition.

Max also gives many examples of Jesus' teaching from non-canonical sources that helps to make his view clear.

This is my second time of reading, and I gained more this time as a result of a differing viewpoint gained over the course of time.

Well worth reading if you want to see an added dimension to Jesus that has been forgotten in the conventional view. Also a must-read for those engaged in personal improvement to expand your horizons.

[Rick Dressler]

One gets the distinct impression that Max Gorman knows what he's writing about from personal experience. Once again, interesting non-canonical traditions that Jesus survived the cross and lived in India afterward surface.

[John Fredrickson]

This is a short book which gently introduces some Sufi themes in the context of better understanding what Jesus was actually all about.

Gorman is quite knowledgeable about Sufism, but also about Christian history, and he presents some interesting theories about Christians (e.g., St Francis) who may have been Sufi initiates. He presents a very lucid case that the Christian religion as we know it is an impoverished one (my words, not Gorman's) while discussing the many parallels between the sayings of Jesus and the practices of the Sufis.