08/26/2026
Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief
by John Lamb Lash
afterword by Derrick Jensen
Explores the suppression of ancient Gnostic teachings and pagan earth-based spirituality by early Christianity, advocating for a return to sacred ecology and a re-examination of modern belief systems.
Basing much of Not in His Image on the Nag Hammadi and other Gnostic writings, John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. They burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets. But as Lash reveals, when the truth is the planet Earth it cannot be hidden or destroyed. Not in His Image delves deeply into the shadows of ancient Gnostic writings to reconstruct the story early Christians tried to scrub from the pages of history, exploring the richness of the ancient European Pagan spiritualitythe Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaiaand chronicles the annihilation of this Pagan European culture at the hands of Christianity. Long before the birth of Christianity, monotheism was an anomaly; Europe and the Near East flourished under the divine guidance of Sophia, the ancient goddess of wisdom. The Earth was the embodiment of Sophia and thus sacred to the people who sought fulfillment in her presence. This ancient philosophy was threatening to the emerging salvation-based creed of Christianity that was based on patriarchal dominion over the Earth and lauded personal suffering as a path to the afterlife. As Derrick Jensen points out in the afterword, in Lashs hands Jesus Christ emerges as the agent provocateur of the ruling classes.
The history of Western Civilization's dangerous, destructive turn, and a compass pointing toward our original, spiritually vibrant path.
Not in His Image describes the rich spiritual world of pre-Christian classical Europe - the Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaia - and its future as a force for rebalancing our lives and reconnecting to the earth. In his riveting account of who the Gnostics really were and what they were protesting against, John Lash identifies who we once were, and what has become of our original genius. He describes the decisive arc of history from the dawn of the Christian Era to the present moment of global terror, a trajectory driven by faith-based violence and fundamentalist politics.
JOHN LAMB LASH is an exponent of the practice of mythology. He is principal author of the Marion Institute's Web site, metahistory dot org, an inquiry into the contemporary meaning of humanity's myths and beliefs. He has written a number of books, including The Seeker's Handbook, Twins and the Double, The Hero-Manhood and Power, and Quest for the Zodiac.
DERRICK JENSEN is the author of A Language Older Than Words, Walking on Water, and The Culture of Make Believe. He is a frequent contributor to magazines such as the New York Times Magazine, Audubon, Orion, and The Sun.
Cover design by Charles Kreloff Cover photograph by Kamil Vojnar
Chelsea Green Publishing 2006
"First printing"
Hardcover
441 Pages
978-1-933392-40-0
9781933392400
Available for pickup in Las Vegas
Shipping available with the addition of postage. Sent via USPS Media Mail in the USA
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