amazing & beautiful! i’ve always wanted to compare the gnostic jesus to the jesus of islam. i’ve read that islam was once considered a gnostic christian heresy by church scholars of the time. have you read ‘the muslim jesus’? it’s the most complete collection i’ve found of the isa tradition within islam:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674004779
it’s well worth the investment, and it’s an amazing collection.
-----
Posted by jp on 08/25 at 09:53 PM
Hi Jp - yes I know this work, it is a great book. Some of the sayings have been ‘Islamized’ but there are many there that I’m convinced are survivals of lost authentic Gospels.
I remember reading once (but I don’t have the data now) about a sect in Afghanistan that revere Jesus and claimed to have been taught by him there post-crucifixion. Whether they believed he was really crucified or escaped I don’t know by they had many sayings like the ones Khalidi documents and some quite surprising ones. Their main feature was a special dance that they say he had taught.
Might try to find some more about them.
Posted by on 08/26 at 10:00 AM
More Dome Stuff
I was looking around for some photos of the Dome of the Rock decorations and also some other palm-tree info and I found some interesting (to me) stuff. Firstly there is a great article by William Dalrymple (again) entitled A Christmas Palm Tree.