The Lost Gospel Quotes

“we have not been able to imagine a social system capable of adequate constraints on the abuse of power, much less a society in which the exercise of power is rewarded for its programs in support of human well-being.”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins

“The Christian myth can be studied as any other myth is studied. It can be evaluated for its proposal of ways to solve social problems, construct sane societies, and symbolize human values. The gospel can be discussed as an enculturating mythology, and the question of its influence in American culture can be pursued without the constant interruption of questions and claims about the historical truth of unique events.”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins

“There is no indication that any of the Jesus movements were interested in salvation by personal, spiritual transformation on the model of the Christ event.”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins

“But now, included as one of the gospels in the New Testament, the differences between Mark and his sources could no longer be seen.”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins

“Rather fear the one who is able to destroy both body and soul in Gehenna [hell fire].”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins

“Thus we are coming to understand that the Greco-Roman age was experienced as an erosion of illustrious traditions and as a fragmentation of societies whose loss was keenly felt by all the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean lands. Foreign governance within a people’s home country, and the widespread displacement of people from their native lands, left many traditional social and religious functions unattended. People were left to their own devices, whether at home in an alien environment or living abroad in ghetto-like clusters throughout the empires.”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins

“The assumption had been that preaching an apocalyptic message of judgment could attract people to a movement that promised salvation from that judgment.”
― Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book of Q and Christian Origins