Review: A Compelling Alternative
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 15, 2012
This is a book written by a courageous woman. The title might make you wonder if this is some weird revisionist new age fuzz about Jesus. There's no question Daemon (fascinating name in this context) is a Christian, but she's a different kind of Christian, one who's needed in our time. She believes that Jesus should be taken seriously for his claim that we would do works like him and even more! She sees the skepticism of most of us who whistle past that conviction as the "contamination of Christ Consciousness."She offers some fascinating readings of our plight that stem from our natures as described in the Garden of Eden myth. I got caught up in this and find her treatment quite creative, the work of an alive and expansive mind. She leans on the Gospel of Thomas, a source frowned on by many conservative Christians, but not by such great religious thinkers like Elaine Pagels, who does the same thing and has affected my thinking about the faith.Daemon shares her life with us unstintingly and boldly by describing her own other-worldly experiences that take us into realms we might think unbelievable. They're a little like getting engrossed as I did when I sat "lost" in the theater engrossed in Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." I have to say it all seemed believable to me at the time, and honesty haven't walked away from it since!I could share more of the content but I wouldn't be fair to it on your behalf. If you have the least curiosity about such matters, if you long to know how your faith might be strengthened, if you seek more insights on this Presence who captures more attention than anyone else ever has, this is a book for you. Pick up your e-reader and get at it.Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas