Gnostic Mystery

By Randy Davila

An ancient mystery in today's Middle East . . . Jack Stanton, an American businessman, makes a pilgrimage to war-torn Israel in hopes of rekindling his Christian faith. While traveling with his friend Punjeeh, an ER doctor from Jerusalem, Jack acquires an ancient scroll written by the Gnostics, a mystical group of early Christians--and his spiritual quest takes an unexpected turn. The scroll makes the startling claims that the Gnostics were the original followers of Jesus, and that they retained secret knowledge of Jesus that was not included in the Bible. With the help of the brilliant Chloe Eisenberg, a professor of philosophy and religion, Jack and Punjeeh navigate the dangerous terrain of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in an attempt to decipher the puzzle of the scroll and bring the Gnostics' revelations about Jesus to light. Threaded with the searing realities of today's Middle East, The Gnostic Mystery is packed with historical facts about the Christian religion. The thrilling mystery makes a compelling case that the origins of Christianity are far different than we believed . . . until now. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hierophant Publishing
• Release date: Jun 5, 2009
• ISBN: 9780981877112

Randy Davila

Randy Davila is the President of Hierophant Publishing and Hampton Roads Publishing Company. Between the two publishing houses, he has overseen the publication of books by authors such as don Miguel Ruiz, Jr., Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Neale Donald Walsch, Richard Bach, Jack Canfield, and many, many, more. Visit him at www.insighteventsusa.com.

Book preview

1

The Philosophy and Religion Department was tucked deep inside the University of Jerusalem's West Complex. Jack and Punjeeh navigated the building's maze of intersecting hallways in search of Chloe's office, Jack's anticipation growing with every step. He was anxious to read the translation of the ancient scroll he acquired a day earlier, but he was also excited to see Chloe again.

Jack had been trying to get more information about her from Punjeeh all morning, but this was one area in which his friend wasn't very talkative.

She's a nice lady, Punjeeh said. She grew up in Greece and moved here to take a professorship at the college two years ago. I understand she is very popular with the students, as Esther says her classes fill quite quickly . . . there's not much more to tell, really.

So what's the story with this Ben fellow? Jack pressed.

Punjeeh looked momentarily puzzled and then chuckled aloud. Ben? Oh . . . well, I think you'll have to ask her about that one, he said coyly.

They arrived at Chloe's office and found her seated behind a mahogany desk in a brown leather high-back office chair. The office itself looked like a well-kept mini-library: Bookshelves climbed all four walls, each stuffed with texts of varying shapes and sizes. Chloe was talking with a distinguished-looking, balding gentleman in his mid-fifties. Jack immediately noticed the scroll, which was unrolled in the center of her desk.

Knock, knock, Punjeeh said as they peered through the open doorway.

Please come in. Chloe stood and motioned them forward. The older gentlemen also stood to face them. Once erect, his tall, thin frame became more pronounced, towering over the rest of the group.

This is Professor King, Chloe said, our department chairperson and resident expert on Christianity. He's an ordained minister in the Anglican Church and has a PhD in early church history.

Jack and Punjeeh introduced themselves and exchanged handshakes with Professor King.

Quite a find you have here, gentlemen, Professor King said in a deep voice that betrayed a hint of an Oxford accent.

Don't look at me, Punjeeh said. This one belongs to Jack.

Thank you, Jack replied enthusiastically. Everyone gets lucky once in a while. He looked over at Chloe. So what exactly have we got here, anyway?

The answer is complicated, she acknowledged. Please, sit down.

Professor King resumed his seat while Jack and Punjeeh took the chairs next to him. They leaned over the desk and examined the scroll. Now that they were closer, Jack noticed a plain piece of white paper with a handwritten paragraph in English on the desk next to the scroll, which he assumed was the translation.

He could also see Chloe better. She looked even more attractive than in their first meeting the night before. She wore a black suit-skirt that came to her knees, a red blouse the color of her lipstick, and her jet black hair was pulled back in a bun, which contrasted well with her amber-green eyes. Her wire-frame glasses offered the only hint of her profession, and they sat neatly on her cute pug nose.

I think the easiest thing to do is have you read my translation, Chloe began, waking Jack from his daydream, and then hopefully Professor King and I can help you make some sense of it.

Chloe turned the piece of paper around and slid it across the desk. Jack could feel his heart beating faster as he read the following:

Oh Valentinus and Basilides, if only you were here to see what has come to pass.

What we started, they have overtaken.

The emperor claims a great vision of our Risen Lord and has become one of them. Oh what deception! If they only knew of Mithras, Dionysus, Osiris, and the many, many more.

His gathering at Nicea has decreed their ignorance. The Emperor's mother has descended upon Jerusalem and spread falsehoods. The unification of church and state is complete.

In Rome, our brothers and sisters in Gnosis are being murdered. Our writings are called heretical and thrown into the fire.

Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do.

But what shall become of the Secret Mysteries? Shall they die with me? They must not. I will record the First Secret Mystery of Jesus and hide it within the caves of our forefathers. Let God keep it safe from destruction, and ordain whoever finds it, so that the truth and the mystery shall someday be reborn.

Chloe and Professor King sat silently as Jack and Punjeeh read and reread the translation. Finally, Punjeeh spoke. This is fascinating. When do you think it was written?

If it's authentic, said Professor King, raising a finger, and at first glance I have no reason to believe that it's not, I would place it sometime in the mid-fourth century. Definitely after 325 AD, when the Council of Nicaea took place.

Again Jack found himself on unfamiliar ground. In his other life back in the United States, he was the expert in most situations. At work, people came to him with questions, but here he was the one asking all of them. The council of what?

Nicaea, answered Professor King. It was a meeting of Literalist Christian bishops and a precursor to the formation of the Roman Catholic Church. This document appears to be written by a Gnostic Christian who was dissatisfied with the union of the Catholic Church and the Roman Empire.

Jack's bewildered expression remained. Chloe sensed his distress and offered her assistance. Professor, if I may?

By all means, Chloe, please.

Let's look at it line by line, she began. Some items are easier to discern than others. First, by the tone and organization, it appears that this is a letter.

Jack nodded in agreement. To these Valentine and Basil persons.

Right, said Chloe. Valentinus and Basilides were very influential Gnostic teachers who lived during the second century, around 120-180 AD.

Perplexed, Punjeeh's eyes widened. But Professor King just said this was written in the fourth century, or more than 200 years later.

Very astute, Dr. Punjeeh, interrupted Professor King, very astute.

Chloe smiled. "That's why I said it appears to be a letter, but in reality, I think it's more of a lamenting. The author was obviously a Gnostic Christian as evidenced by the addressing of Valentinus and Basilides in the beginning and the later line that states our brothers and sisters in Gnosis. But I don't think this is a letter he expected anyone to read anytime soon . . . so in a way, I think he was writing his epitaph."

And in hindsight, quite possibly the epitaph of the Gnostic movement as a whole, added Professor King. Because within a few years of this letter, the Catholic Church had consolidated its power, tortured and killed its Gnostic opponents, and destroyed virtually all the Gnostics' writings. Quite simply, the Catholic hierarchy did everything they could to permanently erase Gnostic ideology from the historical record.

2

2 Days Earlier – West Bank, Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory

"Are you scared?" Caleb asked.

Of course not, Youseff scoffed as he cautiously peered down the small hole into the cavern below.

That was lie number one.

You look scared, Caleb continued, prodding him on.

Don't be ridiculous. What's there to be afraid of? Youseff shot back. It's just a cave. I've been in plenty of caves.

That was lie number two.

Youseff Muhammad and Caleb Hamad, both thirteen, were about to set the ball in motion to reveal one of the best-kept secrets of all time – but that was the furthest thing from their minds. They were simply treasure-hunting. And although finding buried treasure is a universal dream of adolescent boys, it was especially true in the small Palestinian villages around the Dead Sea, where archaeological digs were a regular occurrence and the prospects of finding something of value did not seem so remote. In a war-torn country where the poorest workers survive on less than three dollars per day, finding the right artifact could be the ticket to a new and better life.

Throw me the rope, Youseff commanded, trying to sound confident, if only for his own benefit. Tall and stocky for his age, he regularly talked tough to impress his way upon the other boys in their village. But this type of behavior never worked on his best friend, Caleb, who, although smaller in stature, knew Youseff for what he was, a pussycat.

Caleb smiled as he pitched him the coil of frayed Manila hemp they had borrowed from a neighbor. Youseff looped it around the base of a tree, pulled the knot tight, and dropped the rest down the hole. It landed with a thud, about ten feet down, he guessed.

Youseff looked up at the blazing midday sun. It had to be almost one hundred degrees by now. Their dark eyes, dark hair, and olive skin were accustomed to the desert climate. The boys had hiked almost five miles through the Judean Desert to reach these limestone hills near the northwest corner of the Dead Sea. Caleb had discovered the crevice a week earlier while hunting with his father, who forbade him from exploring it. You fall down there and we'll never be able to get you out, his father warned. Of course, to Caleb the warning only made the journey all the more necessary. He had, however, convinced Youseff to go first, just in case his father was right.

Youseff swung his legs down into the opening and slowly lowered himself into the dark passage. As he did, the damp, stale air filled his nostrils. Disgusting, he said to himself as he reached the bottom and looked around.

The cave was larger than it had seemed from above. He could see a few feet in every direction, thanks mainly to the slant of high-noon sun that shone brightly through the hole in the ceiling. He took a box of matches and a candle from his pocket. The sound of the striking match echoed throughout the cavern and provided a point of illumination that grew larger once he lit the wick. After his eyes had a moment to adjust, Youseff could see that the cavern had a roughly rectangular shape about the size of the classroom that he and Caleb attended at the village school.

Youseff glanced quickly around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, or what he imagined would be ordinary for the inside of a cave, since he had never been in one. Except for a few small rocks strewn across the dusty floor, it appeared empty.

But the north end of the cave was just beyond the candle's illumination. Looking into the darkness gave him an eerie feeling. Slowly, Youseff started walking toward the shadowed section. As he did he could roughly perceive the silhouette of a mysterious object along the base of the far wall.

What can you see? Caleb shouted from above.

The sound of his friend's voice startled him. Youseff froze in his tracks. Nothing yet, just dirt and rocks, he replied after regaining enough composure to answer. But there's something over here against the wall. I can't make it out yet.

What is it? Caleb asked impatiently.

Hold on a second, I'm getting there.

Youseff resumed his careful pace toward the north wall, squinting his eyes in an attempt to visualize the obscured object at its base. The further he got from the hole in the roof the more he had to depend on the candle for light. It's probably just a pile of rocks, he told himself. When he got within a couple feet of the object, he knelt and held the candle out in front of him.

Suddenly, he realized what it was.

3

"We've reached our cruising altitude of thirty-five thousand feet. I'm going to turn off the Fasten Seatbelt sign. Feel free to stretch your legs and move about the cabin."

Jack Stanton peered out the window of his first-class seat on Israeli Air's nonstop flight from Washington's Reagan airport to Jerusalem. Nothing but blue water as far as the eye could see, and not a cloud in the sky. But a long way down, he thought. He checked the time on his watch. ONLY ten more hours to go.

Patience had never been one of Jack's notable qualities, but in at least one way that had served him well.

He had been impatient as a young entrepreneur, refusing to go the traditional route of coming in at the bottom and working his way up the corporate ladder. After graduating college, he spent six months as an analyst for a D.C.-based mutual funds company. But when things didn't move fast enough for him, he broke out on his own and started an asset management firm that focused exclusively on technology stocks. And although convincing investors to take a chance on him was difficult at first, his accurate prediction of the impending tech-stock implosion made those who had gambled on him some very sizeable profits. After that, new clients had beaten down his door, and things had been nonstop ever since. What had started as a small investment house ten years ago now employed more than one hundred people, had $500 million under management, and offered assistance with mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, and commodities trading.

But now, at age thirty-three, after accomplishing most of the financial goals he had set out for himself, he had a restlessness inside him, a feeling of lack. It was if somewhere in the back of his mind loomed the uncomfortable thought: Is this all there is?

Would you like a cocktail, sir?

Jack's internal questioning was interrupted by an external one.

No, thanks, he replied to the tall, voluptuous Israeli Air flight attendant. How 'bout just a Diet Coke?

Coming right up, she said with a smile.

Jack had learned long ago that alcohol clouded his mind and was bad for business. He credited non-drinking as one of the reasons for his financial success. Women, on the other hand, had been an entirely different story.

He admired the flight attendant's long, dark hair and hourglass figure as she walked to the front of the cabin. She returned momentarily with the drink. Here you are.

Thanks, he said, flashing his pearly whites and revealing the small dimple on his left cheek. This was the trademark smile that had won over clients and female companions alike. He then noticed the Star of David pendant around her neck.

This is my first time to the Holy Land, he said. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm a little nervous, too, with the violence and all.

I'm sure you'll be fine, sir, she answered politely, but with a monotone voice that let him know she wasn't interested in continuing the conversation.

Strike out, he thought.

Then it occurred to him: Would she call Israel the Holy Land too? Or was that just the Christian term for it?

Jack was certainly no theologian. Catholic by birth, or a cradle Catholic as the term implies, he was raised by a mother who labored tirelessly at two jobs to send him and his younger sister to parochial school. Even so, he never paid as much attention to the nuances of the church as he now wished he had. Of course he understood the big picture: Jesus was the Son of God who died for our sins, rose from the dead, and is coming back later, but Jack certainly didn't have the biblical knowledge that he saw in other people. In fact, and he was careful not to advertise this, he hadn't even read the vast majority of the Christian holy book.

But that didn't mean that Jack wasn't interested in religion and philosophy. Quite the contrary, he had spent many a day grappling with such questions as Why are we here? and What's the meaning of all this? It was this philosophical side, and the unexpected feeling of lack that accompanied his material achievements, that had led him to plan this two-week trip to Israel. He hoped to rejuvenate his interest in the religion of his birth, and he hypothesized that by visiting the historic places where all the amazing events in the Bible had occurred, he could then feel a deeper, stronger connection to his faith.

And besides that, he really needed a vacation. His employees had been begging him for months to take some time off. Finally Jill, his administrative assistant, began telling all his clients in January that he would be on vacation for two weeks in August. It was June before he found out.

Chocolate ice cream is the best! Jack heard a young boy say insistently from across the aisle and a row behind.

No! Vanilla! replied an even younger-sounding girl.

Chocolate!

Vanilla!

Chocolate!

Vanilla!

Jack cocked his head around to get a look at the pair. The boy was around seven and the girl probably five or six, sitting on opposite sides of a young woman who was doing her best to ignore the conversation and continue to read her magazine.

Mommy, tell Brian vanilla is best,

Reviews for Gnostic Mystery

[bensdad00 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A passable first effort but a bit to didactic for my taste. Every other page the author was constructing straw men to be knocked down and the main character was made out to be impossibly ignorant on common subjects for no good reason (a middle-aged multi-millionaire who doesn't know what hummus is?). If there is a second book, it better be better or he won't get a third chance.

[carolinachronicles · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The concept of The Gnostic Mystery by Randy Davila was quite promising; an exploration of shocking truths that challenge widely-accepted beliefs in an explosive geographical setting has many of the elements of a darn good yarn built right in. The fact that I received the book as a free early review copy from the publisher further disposed me to want to like it and find good things to say about it. Unfortunately, as much as I hoped to provide a glowing review, I cannot do so in good conscience. The book simply failed to deliver on its promise. The Gnostic Mystery has several failings. 1. The book doesn't work well as a mystery novel because of the lack of attention to character and plot development and an excessive focus on what amounts to a book-long argument for Christian skepticism.2. The scholarship of the book is lacking, especially when it comes to the treatment of Gnostics, and the picture presented of traditional Christian religion is very one-sided, simplistic and incomplete.3. The book doesn't seem to be written for a readily identifiable audience: it alternately treats the reader and the main characters as ignorant or gullible, rather than compelling introspection and doubt through intelligent presentation of supportable facts.4. The book leaves one with the distinct feeling that it didn't manage to be what it set out to be -- of the spell-binding Dan Brown Spiritual Mystery ilk. The Gnostic Mystery both fails to be a novel in any satisfying sense and it also fails to be a genuine mystery.The narrative of the book is very thin, because the characters remain undeveloped and the mystery and action of the book are not given much importance. I think the book aims, rather, to be something of a Socratic dialogue, wherein the major players search for truth and find it by following difficult questions to the ultimate answers. The book does not accomplish this, because rather than having smart, engaging characters that interact meaningfully and with a gutsy give-and-take, there are essentially two poorly-conceived characters (Jack - the hopeful Catholic seeker, and Punjeeh - the disillusioned former Catholic), sadly lacking in basic knowledge of their own faith, who are lectured for the duration of the book by a third character, the "wise" professor Chloe, and sometimes by her sidekick Professor King. As an aside, Chloe, as portrayed in the book, would have been more credible as a mildly sexy middle school teacher who is proud of the nice effort of her eager learners than she is as a university professor from Greece, whose mindset is curiously and narrowly western given her background and whose mode of expression is decidedly unscholarly. Rather than discovering the truth by their own efforts, the two men are told the "truth" in a rather drawn-out and over-simplified manner that takes all of the excitement out of discovering the solution to the proposed "mystery" of the book. The plot, which ought to give the lecture-aspect of the book its reason to be, is predictable, plodding, and scarce -- it probably accounts for up only about 30 of the 197 pages of text.Another way the book fails to live up to expectations is in its scholarship. I have a degree in philosophy from UCLA and an interest in history, which means that the philosophical, religious and historical aspects of the book should have been some of its greatest selling points for me. Instead, I found the history to be an unskilled rehashing of several skeptical arguments against the validity and veracity of the established church, the existence and identity of the person of Jesus, and the justification of religious belief. The book, set rather clumsily in a geographical hotbed of religious tensions, also presents an espousal of a sort of feel-good pacifistic argument against established religion as the cause of human ills. It's a popular way to think these days, and the religiously-based violence we still see in the world is certainly deplorable, but I do not happen to uncritically agree with the skeptical viewpoints the author pounds in the pages of the book. I do, however, love to be challenged intellectually, so the fact that the book has this bent was not intrinsically a problem. The problem was in execution. If these ideas had been presented in the context of an intellectually stimulating, inspiring narrative whose characters I came to love and respect, I might have found the material compelling. Since it devotes so much time to exploration of history and religious thought, it seems fair to expect a certain level of balance and thoroughness. At first glance, there is a fairly impressive bibliography at the back of the book. Upon examination, it turns out to be primarily a list of books arguing against Christianity as we know it, with a few original sources (Eusebius, Justin Martyr, etc.) and a less-skeptical history or two thrown in for good measure. Again, this is not a problem in itself if the information in the book manages to be solid. The problem is that what one would expect to find in a book called The Gnostic Mystery is a collection of reputable books on historical Gnosticism (which is not, as the book seems to suggest, simply the more legitimate form of Christianity as it developed in the first century C.E.). In fact, that area of research is startlingly thin. Gnosticism has an impressive pre-Christian and non-Christian history, but as presented in the book, it is simplified and twisted into an uneasy, touchy-feely marriage of something resembling Locke’s political theory, Hindu-esque mysticism and 20th century psychology. Again, I wished the book had done Gnosticism justice, rather than simply using its focus on the hidden and secret, its dualism and its suppression by what became the mainstream of Christianity as devices to produce a "mystery" for the characters to unravel. In the actual pages, the original sources are alternately discredited or quoted indiscriminately to support a point. Additionally, the translated texts of the "scrolls" were extremely hard to swallow as 4th century texts, so I faced an almost insurmountable hurdle of incredulity as early as page 11.The book also seems to lack a clearly-defined audience. On the one hand, the subject matter is potentially quite deep, intellectual and ultimately attractive to those who already possess some interest in spiritual matters. On the other, the book dumbs-down and slants that same subject matter to a ridiculous degree. It could not have been written for people who are already savvy about religion and religious history; if it had been, it would have been at least 100 pages shorter because it would have dispensed with the basic western-Christian history and theology lessons, not to mention the liberal sprinkling of unsubstantiated (and un-cited) claims about historical persons and events. It cannot be written as a challenge for the believing Christian audience, because it lacks the respect for religious believers that is critical when it comes to opening a focused mind to a different paradigm. Instead, it takes the position that it shouldn't matter if all of your sacred cows are slaughtered and dumped bloody and shattered on your lap by skeptical theorists whose own views may or may not be substantiated by scholarship: if you aren't a complete idiot, you will accept the debunking and find comfort and peace in platitudes about how your discredited, undermined and possibly non-existent would-be savior still has a message that is beautiful and relevant to life. To me, how someone who didn't exist in any recognizable form still manages to be relevant to anything is the real mystery in the book, but that particular mystery the author doesn't touch. In short, the book assumes that the reader is ignorant and as willing to swallow the skeptical arguments wholesale as Jack and Punjeeh are in the story, so it is rather insulting to the intelligence of thinking people - especially if they happen to be religious. It must be written for people who are clueless about Christianity, which makes the audience rather narrow, at least in the United States.In the end, the book seems to amount to an abortive attempt to cash in on Dan Brown's literary legacy. It would seem that the author has big plans in that vein: the last few paragraphs even set the reader up for a sequel! I can tell you right now that I will not be picking up the sequel should it materialize, because I don't think the author is skillful enough to make the scholarship-inspired mystery novel work.While I have done enough writing to appreciate the work and heart that must have gone into the crafting of the book, and I still think the concept really was a good one, it pains me to say that I can't encourage the production of more of the same. I believe Mr. Davila ought to leave the Spiritual Mystery genre to Dan Brown and others who have figured out how to make it work.

[publiusdb-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as a part of goodreads' "First Reads" program/contest. The instructions with the contest suggest it be put on a special "First Reads" shelf, and then read and review it...

Could I give it less than one star? A quick look plot teaser on the cover of "The Gnostic Mystery" is reminiscent of a Dan Brown novel. The protagonist finds himself unexpectedly thrust into danger as he solves some mystery about the ancient Christian church. It is anything but this, however.

Looks can be deceiving, and the similarities with "The Da Vinci Code" or "Angels and Demons" are almost non-existent. As soon as Davila has enough plot to lay a foundation (the first 10-20 pages), the plot stops, almost completely, and the polemic begins. As if that was not enough, the plot that he does include jumps around chronologically, and unnecessarily, confusing and distracting the story. While one flashback might be acceptable, the story jumps forward and backward, and without any real flashbacks at all. Changes in the story time are indicated with large bold type "Three days earlier" or "Present day," but with a disjointed effect that hurts, not helps, the story. When the jumps in time suddenly end, at about the same time the plot slows to a glacial crawl for the duration of the book, it is a relief.

However, the end of the jumping indicates something else, also: the end of the plot. With no real tension or conflict between the characters or in the plot, and with the modicum of plot out of the way, Davila gets to work on what appears to be his real purpose all along: a polemic against the miracles, virgin birth, death and resurrection, and atonement of Jesus Christ. Attributing these "myths" to the manipulation of Eusebius and Constantine, Davila proceeds to spend the lion's share of the book with conversations between an a Catholic "believer" and a seasoned academic. Their discussion of about faith is really the process of the academic disabusing the believer of his faith that Jesus was divine or that the circumstances around his life were touched by the divine. In the final analysis, by Davila's estimation, Jesus was at best a teacher and an amalgamation of pagan beliefs with a revolution in spiritual beliefs, a confluence of the mythology and power of Zeus and Apollo on one side and the morality and gentility of Buddha on the other.

And did I mention there's almost no plot against which this boring polemic is set? What plot there is amounts, at best, to a Family Feature Film, lacking tension or conflict.

In the end, I finished it just to see where Davila would take his arguments against organized religion. As I come from a Restoration perspective established on roots not connected to the events that resulted in the modern Catholicism, I did not have any problem seeing the events of the early Christian church that Davila describes in the light of what I know. What Davila describes with his limited research is what we now know to have been general apostasy of the church in the centuries after Christ and his apostles. It was no test to my faith, nor do I think someone who roots their faith in, surprise surprise, faith, in contrast to archeological research, would find their faith tested either. His arguments are heavily one sided, superficial, and would make great paper tigers for a real discussion by persons representing both sides (Hugh Nibley would get a kick out of this).

All that said, I don't recommend you waste time with this book. It is boring, lacks character or plot development, and is a polemic disguised as a novel. Go read Dan Brown if you want a mystery about the Catholic church.

[mlh2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the book. While I have to give kudos to the author for his vast knowledge on the subject and his obvious research, I felt as though the story itself was written simply to convey the information which he had gathered. I do not wish to say that the author is wrong or that I am offended with his approach to the subject. On the contrary, I found the "academic" information to be quite well written and understandable. It was when the story turned to the actual events and activities of the characters themselves that the story and writing was lacking. The dialogue between the various characters seemed so contrived - so fake and forced. And I also felt that the "mystery" itself was weakly developed. I liked the premise of the story, but I felt it was still in the outline stage rather than a finished product. So much more could have happened and the conclusion was so nice and neat and quickly cleaned up. I was left wanting more of a story rather than a shell of a story with a lot of information piled on top. I think this was a good first attempt at a novel and if he only more fully develops the characters and the story itself in the next installment (if there is to be one), then the book will be much better.

[mont1ms · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I received this free, so forced myself to read through to the end. I wanted to write something positive, but can't. It was too heavy handed, and the main characters were so ignorant, it is laughable. Are adults really that uneducated?

It might have been better if the explanations had been made to a child, who would be expected to have read or studied less. Or as a short story, aimed at adults who have had a modicum of religious education...

I'm sorry I couldn't have liked this, but the book had potential - scrolls being found in the Dead Sea area - and it was wasted.

[arctic1stranger · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The cover was the best part of this book. I tried and tried, but in spite of my interest in the subject, the book did little to engage my attention. The writing was clear, but the way the author handled the subject matter was pedestrian.

[mary6508 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I hadn't realized I never left a review of this book, because I never finished reading it . Very simply, I could not finish this book, I found it particularly awful. It really doesn't matter whether I believed what the author was presenting, I just really didn't like the story or the style of his writing. I don't believe I will read anything else by this author.

[biunicorn_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Gnostic Mysteryby Randy DavilaThere are a lot of truths woven into this 197 page spiritually fictitious tale of the Gnostic scrolls and the believed first followers of the Christ. The author was able to bring the best from other sensational novels and weave them into an amazing tapestry that kept me spellbound for hours. This one is a real page turner. I loved the author's descriptive yet laid back writing style as it swept me along from one insightful event to another. This story surely had it all, tenderness, intrigue, speculation and a mystery within a mystery. I would recommend my well written new friend to anyone, wanting one of those good nighttime reads that ya just can't put down. Thanks Randy, nice ending, sounds like another adventure, can't wait.Love & Light,Riki Frahmann

[noaharney · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I actually chose not to review this book originally because I felt that it was such a poor attempt at disguising a string of logical fallacies as a novel that I couldn't imagine putting any more thought into it.The book starts out as a mildly interesting mystery, but it ends up being so heavy handed that any interest you might have in the novel is killed. The character who is introduced as being a logical and intelligent person soon forgets the basic concepts of logic and automatically agrees with whatever logical fallacy his guide/author stand in says.If you are looking for a good mystery novel delving into the history of Gnosticism don't pick this one.

[kcpiano_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through Library Thing's Early Reviewer program. (Thank you, LIT!) I have to say that I could not get interested in this book. As you can see from other reviews, it is a book referring to the Gnostic Gospels and is written as a novel. I just couldn't get through it. In fact, as another reviewer said, I only put it in this library because of the Early Reviewer Program, but I actually gave this book to Goodwill. I'm glad they don't base our eligibility to get an early release book on positive reviews, because I'd have to make one up!

[jjgoodwin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought this book very interesting. Many of the facts that he presented I was aware of and I also learned some new facts. He presents his theory about the origins of Christianity in a very easy readable way. If you are interested in comparative religion or early christian beginnings, it will certainly raise questions and hopefully motivate you to further study.

[cozylover · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book was such a disappointment. The author took a highly interesting subject and turned it into a dull, poorly formed bunch of nonsense. I agree with the majority of other reviewers. The manner in which this was presented makes you doubt the validity of the information presented.

[ballyman_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This was a very disappointing read. It has a great theme, but it is carried out very poorly. It should be an exciting and informative book, but it is written in a style that makes the Hardy Boys look like great literature. It is difficult to believe that it could get an adult reader excited about the story. Davila's goal seems to be to make others aware of the Gnostic Gospels, but by divulging that in such an elementary style, it causes the reader to doubt his expertise in the subject.

[platygirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It's funny, I reviewed this book back in July after finishing, and posted it! But just got a note today that it wasn't here and I had to review. So here is a BRIEF review as I don't want to write the entire thing out again.This book had potential to be a good book. I figured it would be something like a Dan Brown book: full of facts and a great mystery story that kept the reader entertained and turning pages. I was sadly mistaken.I found this novel to be a venue for the Author to give a personal lecture on the information of the Gnostics instead of portraying it as a novel. I fought my way through to the end hoping that it would get better. I think that this book would be better as a non fiction so that the author would have full attention on his ideas.

[pastorbob_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Shabby ideas and thinking poorly woven into a weak narrative structure. If I ever had a friend who incessantly lectured me in every conversation the way characters in this book do, (ie: Chloe), my story would likely be about an aggravated assault. Put together with such a polemical and remarkably inaccurate revisionist picture of the formation of the Christian church, ('Many scholars' do NOT believe this stuff), The Gnostic Mystery resembles an undergraduate mind attempting to link the dots of material they don't actually understand. To the point, the revealing of various 'facts' in this book are consistently framed by the tone of great discovery. Certain characters make declarations, and everyone else responds with wondrous surprise or eager questions for more. The impression given is that the authour thinks he is actually revealing something tremendous or significant that heretofore has been hidden away. For example, quoting randomly from almost any page in the book, like page 187: "'What?' Punjeeh asked incredulously, further puzzled by her . . ." Ironically, (and painfully), this book actually contains nothing significant, and certainly nothing that's new - (His bibliography of 27 books includes 4 by Pagels, and 1 by Tom Harpur) - except of course for the material that Davila has simply made up. In the end, Davila actually has to create a fictitious Gnostic document to make his point. Why? Because real Gnostic material does not say what his personal issues need it to say. Since reality won't give him a legitimate basis for his revisionist fantasy, he has to fake it to contest for his own whipped up version of Gnostic thought and history. It's worth saying that the real work of a religious or spiritual thinker is to struggle through the questions of fear and guilt that his character Jack says he never understood in "traditional church teaching. One cannot simply avoid or drop them. And so instead of creating fictional religious alternatives that 'feel' better to his 21st century vanities, he would do well to dig into those areas which really are a mystery to him. But I suspect that Davila isn't actually interested in mystery at all. Instead, his real interest is in being the one majestically to dispel 'mysteries' for everyone else, even if he has to make them up in the first place. He's been reading Harpur for sure . . .

[dpbrewster · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

While I am certainly not hostile to either organized religion or gnosticism, this is not a particularly good book either as a novel or as a thinly disguised polemic on religion. Certainly, anyone who is familiar at all with the books and scholarship of Elaine Pagels, particularly "The Gnostic Gospels", her study of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts, will find the book unremarkable in its thesis. Certainly, even as scholarship, Pagels books are far more engaging than Davila's novel.It is true that in the marketplace of ideas and diversity of beliefs within the early church, Gnosticism lost out. Not because of its ideas or a conspiracy by more established sects, but because of its own lack of any coherent organization and internal factionalism.

[pastrydeity · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

You know how in (stereotypical) bad SF you get scenes of scientists standing around giving each other (and the square-jawed but non-scientist action hero) long infodumping speeches about some obscure (or made-up) science? This is exactly like that, but with religion.I wanted to like this book. I have an interest in religion and in the Gnostics in particular. But the writing style just didn't do it for me. I didn't care about the characters (except to be annoyed, with Jack in particular) and the plot was almost nonexistent. Subtract the bombings and you could almost substitute it for an unfunny sitcom episode. Also, any semblance of plot ends about forty pages before the book does, and from there on out it's just speechifying about Gnosticism.It seems to me that Mr. Davila is passionate about what he believes, and that's a good thing, but putting it into the framework of a novel would've taken a gentler hand to turn out interesting. If you can see that an author is trying really hard to do something (in this case, create suspense, with the short chapters and the jumping around in time) they're not succeeding at it. Also, there's nothing wrong with the word 'said.' Characters don't need to spend all their time exclaiming and remarking and making faces every time they say something. But that's just a pet peeve.

[rjwhiteley · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This book is one of many which follow the pattern of the DaVinci Code. However it doesn't live up to its promise, in large part because it seems to be confused in genre: is it a mystery novel or a religious text? Given it presents as a novel, the author would have benefitted from a good editor. Parts of the story line were excellent and I would have loved to see them developed; other parts were poorly written and slow moving The characterizations of the Palestinian boys were well drawn; other characters relied on overly heavy descriptions and stereotypes. The material on early Christianity and gnosticism read like an undigested textbook, and included a number of factual errors. I don't recommend it - there are better works in competing genres.

[sshouse-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

After reading the synopsis, I thought this book was going to be a great biblical mystery that would enthrall and leave me wanting more. Wrong! It was boring, trite and I stopped reading half way through. I have only added it to my library in order to review it. In fact, I disliked it so much I gave up on it and put in on the free book shelf at work. Maybe someone else will enjoy it. For my part I was bored, bored, bored and more than a little annoyed by the thinly disguised religious lecture.

[sallyrose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As a Catholic, I found this book very interesting. First off I did think it was a crime mystery but realized early on it was more the actual mystery of the Dead Sea scrolls and Gnostics. If you would like to know more about the Gnostics in fiction form then you will really enjoy this book. I felt it got a little preachy in the middle of the book but for the rest it was a good read and I enjoyed it.

[macart3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the thirty-third of his life, Jesus Christ, er, Jack Stanton died and so he went to Jerusalem to be resurrected. While rekindling his faith in Catholicism, he buys an old scroll from a Palestinian boy. After having it translated by an attractive religion professor named Chloe, who despite being Greek and living in Jerusalem, has a perfect grasp of the English language, it turns out to be part of the Gnostic Mystery scroll. From there, Chloe educates Jack and his friend Punjeeh on the similarities of the Bible with ancient myths, concentrating mostly on Greco-Roman ones.The book gives a detailed account of the Gnostics' position in the early church, but there is so much of it that it can be hard to digest. Also, the style is very didactic despite the Socratic method of questioning in order to break up the monotony of Chloe's lectures. On the other hand, the book gives a selective bibliography in case somebody wishes to pursue the matter more. Not recommended to read in one setting.

[fencingcellist · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I was really excited to get this book; the blurb sounded fantastic. Randy Davila is an excellent writer, but this book just didn't go anywhere and insults his readers' intelligence, hence my two-star rating for good writing, a good idea for a plot, no action, and assuming the ignorance of his readers.The book lacked action and really seemed to be a lecture on what I should believe about Biblical history. However, that's not why I wanted to read the book; I expected something more along the lines of David Gibbins, and that was a terrible mistake. This book is mostly lecture, and no offense, but I'd rather go to lectures by Bart Erhman as I did in college; Prof. Erhman did not assume I was completely ignorant where Davila did. In addition, Erhman's lectures were always highly entertaining, and I cannot say the same of Davila's. Davila treats his readers as if we haven't a clue about Biblical scholarship or much of anything. This is not my field, but I knew much more than his high flying, supposedly well educated characters. If this book were re-worked, made to be faster paced, less preachy/lecture-y -- it would be a winner. This would require more action, more character development, and more excitement. Sadly, it read like a draft rather than a polished novel.

[benfergy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Gnostic Mystery is a fairly straightforward fictional story focusing on the discovery of two ancient scrolls. Throughout most of the book the narrative focuses on an American travel named Jack, but several other characters play an important role as well. The book focuses on two aspects: the discovery and transaction of the scrolls themselves, and (more importantly) the content within these scrolls, produced by the ancient Gnostic Christians and highlighting some of the doctrines they believed in. The books seems to focus a great deal on the discussions between the characters about the history of Gnosticism and its eventual decline during the early years of Christianity. I definitely found the theological discussions interesting. Keep in mind that the perspective of the book is pretty much pro-Gnostic, so it's possible that some readers who have a very traditional theology will raise their eyebrows at some of the concepts. An appendix of the book includes several sources as well, so that one who is interested in the topics in the book can continue to explore more of the Gnostic history and theology.The main disadvantages of the book? I thought the plot itself was simplistic and somewhat predictable. The most bothersome aspect is that during the theological conversations, whenever one of the characters makes an interesting point, the other characters go out of their way to praise him or her. This was excusable at first, but around the end of the book, when Jack begins to understand the theology of the Gnostics and mentions his understanding, he is complemented extremely frequently! This bothered me.Other than that, I liked the book.

[delenndax7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Overall, I would say I liked this book and it was worth reading. However, I really think the author should have divided it into 2 separate books. I think the fiction part was done well and would have been an enjoyable read had he developed that storyline more. I think the fact part of the book should have been a non-fiction book. The information he tells the reader is great and you can tell he did a lot of research to give such detail.But, I really didn't like the delivery of the information. First off, the dialogue in the scholarly part of the book was just plain terrible. The four main characters were two grown men in their 30's who grew up Roman Catholic and then there were two professors of religion. While the professors were explaining everything about the history behind the origins of Christianity to the two men, I kept "forgetting" that this was an intelligent adult conversation - the two men really seemed like naive children. And the professor's "teaching" just really felt like they were putting on a documentary for children who really had no clue and needed things to be spelled out and explained simplistically.It really is curious how different the dialogue was between the novel part and the scholarly part of the book! It almost felt like two different authors. Nearly EVERYTIME Punjeeh would address his longtime friend Jack, he would say "my friend". That's just not natural speech. "My friend" should really be reserved to express closeness at a really intense moment. And they both seemed just so incredibly naive! I don't think that two people who grew up in the Roman Catholic would be "that" clueless about some of the information, not to mention that Punjeeh was actually a doctor, a medical doctor, but still someone who had received a lot of schooling nonetheless.Now, I really really enjoyed learning facts about the history of the church that I didn't know - some of it I already knew. In a way, I think the dialogue "had" to be so simplistic in order to enable the professors to adequately explain the facts so that a reader of any level could understand thoroughly. But, as I said earlier, I think that information would have been much more enjoyable to read in a non-fiction setting.Many readers have been offended by the scholarly information dispensed, others have appreciated the information like I have. I think the author did an excellent job of getting the facts out all-the-while respecting how hard it is for some Christians to hear the information. I don't think the author dealt with the information in an insulting way at all. It's simply that some of the historical facts discussed will be shocking to some readers.If you're looking for a good suspenseful read - I would pass this book up; if you're not comfortable reading information that might confuse the current view of your faith - I would pass this book up. If you are okay with learning some challenging information about the origins of your faith, then read this book.

[brianewilliams · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was difficult to get into at the beginning because of the story shifting backwards and forwards, none of which added to the storyline. The story was OK, but not outstanding. The sidebar about a suicide bomber seemed contrived. The writing style seemed geared to teenagers, aside from the odd instance of profanity. Based on the way the book ended, with one of the main characters planning to visit the US, I suspect there's a sequel in the works.

[janoorani24 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The Gnostic Mystery by Randy Davila is a fictionalized explanation of the Gnostic Christian movement thinly disguised as a thriller. There are no thrills in the book, and few redeeming features. The story goes back and forth between the lives of two Palestinian teenagers who discover ancient scrolls in a cave near the Dead Sea, and an incredibly clueless, yet very successful and rich, American businessman visiting Israel. The boys who discovered the scrolls hide them in a tree, from which they are stolen and sold to tourists by a cousin of one of the boys. One of the tourists is the American businessman, who ends up showing it to an attractive (of course) religious scholar who translates the scroll and explains in nauseating and elementary detail its significance as an Early Christian Revelation. The rest of the story concerns finding the second scroll (sold to a schoolteacher from Baltimore) and more dumbed-down explanations of Early Christian beliefs. The characters in this short novel are really only there so that the author can write a book about Gnostic beliefs. It just barely hangs together as a novel because the characters are so poorly written. The Palestinian teenagers might as well be Texan or Iowan. There is nothing in their behavior that sets them apart from poorly written American teenagers. The businessman is supposed to be very successful and smart, but comes across as very ignorant and naïve. There is no real action in the book, and certainly no suspense, so comparing it to The Da Vinci Code, as the blurb on the jacket does, is highly misleading. Here’s an example of some of the dialogue:““Let’s open it up,” Caleb said.“Do we have to?” Youseff pleaded…“These could be valuable ancient writings,” Caleb said…“Oh, stop being such a baby,” Caleb scoffed, “and lets head back. I want to take it to the antique shop and find out what it is.””““An ancient letter from the Gnostics,” Punjeeh exclaimed, “What a find, Jack!”Jack stared blankly across the desk at Chloe, Punjeeh, and Professor King. He was really feeling like a first grader in this group. Finally he had to ask, “So who the heck were these guhnostiks?” He deliberately pronounced the silent G.”The best thing about this book was that it wasn’t very long, only 197 pages. It was very poorly written, and had hardly any plot. It does contain a bibliography with works I recognize from noted Gnostic scholars, and I did actually learn some things from the book that I hadn’t known before; however, I prefer to learn about religion from non-fiction books. I like to read novels for pleasure, especially when they’ve been compared to The Da Vinci Code. This wasn’t a pleasurable read, and I only slogged through it so I could write a review for the LibraryThing.com Early Reviewers Group. I don’t recommend this book, but do recommend a book for people who might be looking for a different interpretation of Jesus’ life: The Secret Magdalene by Ki Longfellow.

[sentimental13 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

As I am very fascinated with Gnosticism and other people's opinions of it (who the Gnostics were is certainly a source of contention is academia!), I was very interested to read this book. Although simple I found myself somewhat bored by the pace of the book. I think if I had read it when I was still in high school I would have enjoyed it more and felt it was more suspenseful overall. It's not intended to be a scholarly work, but the author has done his research and his views on Gnosticism are clear throughout. The dialogue often felt contrived and I thought that the story would have benefited from more attention to making the dialogue more realistic. For what the book discusses, it's certainly worth the read!

[chellinsky · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Gnostic Mystery is a deceptively simple book. The plot is simple enough, a tourist's experience learning about the Gnostics in the Holy Land. However, the plot obscures the book's deeper purpose of conveying Gnostic ideas. I would have rated this book more highly if the plot had been skipped in favor of an academic discussion of the Gnostics, but the author included a list of such books in the back for further study. Still, The Gnostic Mystery would serve a young (~early high school) audience well and spur them toward a greater understanding of Christian history and Gnostic thought.

[tammydotts · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The thriller framework for the novel sounds interesting and in different hands it could be. Unfortunately, the writing is simplistic, with poor attempts at characterization and settings. Even when taken as a didactic tome about the Gnostics, it falls short.

[bebesarah_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Poorly disguised as fiction, this heavy-handed, awkwardly written book is actually an argument presenting the gnostic writings as proof of the falseness of the basic tenets of Christianity. The arguments put forward are interesting, but as this is written as fiction, the author is under no compulsion to present any factual evidence. Thus, his conclusions offer no scientific or verifiable basis. The author does present a very selective bibliography. The author would have been much better off writing a straight non-fiction book, rather than attempting to write fiction. The plot is very thin, and the characters are badly drawn, with absolutely no compelling personalization. The author is not talented in fiction writing.The book would have been an interesting non-fiction account, but as it is presented here, it is just unreadable as a story. To make it even worse, there is absolutely no 'ending' as such. Obviously, the author wants to continue with a follow-up, by having such an abrupt, unsatisfying final chapter, but I can't imagine anyone desiring another volume of this.Not recommended.