"New York Times"-bestselling author Mosley delivers two speculative tales about how everyday people are exposed to truths that forever change the way life, death, good, and evil are understood.

"New York Times"-bestselling author Mosley delivers two speculative tales about how everyday people are exposed to truths that forever change the way life, death, good, and evil are understood.

Was the Gospel of John written in critical response to the Gospel of Thomas, an early collection of Jesus's sayings? Or was it directed to the Christians among whom Thomas originated? Ismo Dunderberg challenges these views, arguing that the two gospels were written at about the same time but without knowledge of each other. He also offers a thorough discussion of the identity and functions of the enigmatic Beloved Disciple in the Gospel of John, throwing new light on this figure by comparing it to other `beloved' disciples of Jesus in early Christian literature. This part of Dunderberg's analysis also helps to evaluate the portrayal of Judas in the recently published Gospel of Judas, although this text was not yet available, when this study was completed.

For more than thirty years, The Institute for Cultural Research (ICR) led the field in stimulating debate and examining ideas within the humanities. Among the Institute's active followers was J. D. Salinger, Robert Graves, Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing, and many others from all walks of life.During its long and distinguished service, ICR published dozens of papers on cultural and cross-cultural themes. Written by scientists, scholars, novelists, musicians, and an array of others, these papers formed a unique resource that is as relevant today as it was decades ago.In the years since ICR ceased formal activities, The Idries Shah Foundation has continued the spirit of its work, and have republished the full range of original monographs.

There is a general consensus that the Fourth Gospel underwent two editions. But in contrast to all previous efforts to reconstruct these two editions on the basis of source and redaction criticism, Waetjen maintains that these two editions essentially overlap without far-reaching changes. Chapter 1-20 originated within the Jewish community of Alexandria and were addressed to Jews in order to persuade them to "believe into" Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. The second edition originated when chapter 21 as added and certain revisions were made in chapters 1-20 by an editor in the Christian community of Ephesus in order to present the Gospel to Gentile Christians and perhaps attendantly to legitimate it for canonization. Waetjen examines John's gospel by engaging in a close reading of various units of the Gospel from the perspective of a two-level drama that presents two narrative worlds within the literary structure of the Gospel. Out of his readings of the texts, one of the major and provocative conclusions Waetjen draws is that Lazarus is the Beloved Disciple of Jesus in chapters 1-20. John, the son of Zebedee, is intimated to play the role of the Beloved Disciple not only in chapter 21, but throughout the Gospel. In other words, the editor of chapter 21 has concluded that John (based on the title that the gospel already bears), is the Beloved Disciple and project that backwards from chapter 21 throughout the previous 20 chapters. Waetjen's thorough scholarship and his attention to detail in his original readings challenge traditional readings of John's Gospel, providing fresh insights into the Gospel.

Zen is dhyana; in China it became ch’an. And then from China it had to be taken to Japan, because in China also it soon became impossible to find a man who was ready to receive it. This Kakua brought it from China to Japan. Just as Bodhidharma took it from India to China, Kakua brought it from China to Japan.