Gnosis on the Silk Road: Gnostic Parables, Hymns & Prayers from Central Asia

by Hans-Joachim Klimkeit

In the late 1970s the first English translation of the Coptic texts discovered in Egypt in 1945, which came to be known as the Nag Hammadi Library, profoundly changed the world's understanding of Christianity. Now with the publication of Gnosis on the Silk Road - a never before published collection of extraordinary texts from the Gnostic tradition in Central Asia - renowned scholar and author Hans-Joachim Klimkeit has provided a unique Eastern companion text to that important work.
This first-ever English translation of the major Gnostic texts from Asia is a vital discovery that reveals a new expression of Christianity as it blended with the mystical religions of Turkey, Persia, Central Asia, and even China.
Klimkeit presents an astonishing collection of parables, hymns, narratives, and prayers that unveil a major Christian movement primarily founded by the prophet Mani, who merged Gnostic Christianity with the radical religious dualism of Persian religion and Zoroaster. As the movement spread along the Silk Road from Turkey to Asia, it adopted prominent features from Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Asian faiths. The result was a Christian philosophy and practice that was much closer to the mystical, meditative religions of the East.
Like the Western Gnosticism reflected in the Nag Hammadi Library, this Eastern Gnosticism was condemned as heresy by orthodox Christianity, and only today with the opening up of the former Soviet Union and the increased awareness of the importance of the Silk Road has the world been given a chance to learn from this radically different approach to Christianity.

Genres: Gnosticism, Theology, Esoterica, Spirituality, Religion, Nonfiction

432 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1993

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not an easy book to review. By most people's standards, it's a dry-as-dust collection of liturgical texts produced by a religion that disappeared centuries ago. To make things more difficult, the material is fragmentary. So why would anyone read Gnosis on the Silk Road?

Reading is in fact probably not what is needed with GotSR. Exploration is closer to the mark. Curiosity is also helpful, about Manichaean religion, the role of visual art in belief, the doctrines of a church (or at least that's how it thought of itself) that included gospels as part of its teachings, but also Buddhist and Zoroastrian concepts. How could such a religion have played an important role in the Roman Crisis of the 3rd century, which saw the temporary division of the Empire into three parts? And what of the beauty of some of its hymns and parables?

However curious we might be, I recommend reading The Gardens of Light, a biography of Mani, in tandem with GotSR.

For those who feel inclined, this reviewer urges preparations for a dusty journey, an oasis of reflection and knowledge, and the discovery of scattered jewels.

[Oceanix · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not an easy thing to write a book that is centuries old. The mannequin manuscripts across referenced with gnosticism and the canonical Bible. The terminologies used in these manuscripts seems to be that of Buddhism Christianity gnosticism Judaism and most likely other various religions. The book focuses heavily on the redemption of sin through the Messiah and the literature has a vehement zeal for the true god. Parable of the drunken man and The corpse and other parables interesting and thought provoking stories. More of these manuscripts have been found and only recently translated into English, charging by the quality of this book I will be reading the others that follow the same theme.

[dorje raf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gnosis on the Silk Road was my introduction to Gnosticism and Central Asian Manichee texts and I can say it did not disappoint. With the section at the front being deep enough for explanation, my favorite sections of this book include the hymns to the Sun and the Moon, and the talk of the celestial abortions.