The Gnostic Notebook: Volume Two

On the Secrets of James and Thomas

In Volume One, Lambert pulled back the veil on the secrets hidden within the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm. Now he turns his attention to the Holy Gospels. Using various texts from the Nag Hammadi library, including the Gospel of Thomas, Lambert identifies a list of seven key parables found within the Synoptic Gospels. According to the texts, the successful interpretation of these seven parables is enough to unlock the mysteries hidden within the teachings of Jesus. "... my primary desire was to find a map, if you will, which would lead to the next section of the Synoptic Gospels we need to unlock. I look at these Gospels as a sort of literary puzzle box. The section where Jesus revealed that the parables were designed to conceal information as well as to transmit it to those he wished, operates similarly to a panel on the surface of this puzzle box which can be slid to a new position, unlocking various other pieces of the puzzle in the process. And for a while, it was working, and there was a thread to follow leading from reference to reference. Eventually, however, we ran out of leads. If only there was an external text that could provide us with a map of sorts so that we knew where exactly to look, or to return to my puzzle box metaphor, a map of the box's surface indicating which panels one should focus one's attention on."