Search - Odes of Solomon :: Vol. 1-Odes Project

Definitely spiritual "Gnostic mumbo-jumbo"!

"Tristan" | NJ USA | 05/05/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The reviewer who stated that he liked the album but had to ascertain that it didn't contain "Gnostic mumbo-jumbo" obviously doesn't know anything: 1) about the evolution of the many Christian Churches in antiquity; and, 2) about Gnosticism objectively evaluated. It is the consensus of many theologians and biblical scholars that these mysterious, haunting and beautiful poem-hymns were penned by none other than the most "notorious" Gnostic of them all: Valentinus. Valentinus was reputed to be not only one of the most profound theologians of antiquity but also highly skilled in poetry.



I myself found the music on both albums to be pleasing to the ear and quite contemporary. The singers and choruses are very reverent and devout in their performances of the modified Odes. But what seems so ironic is that they are blithely proclaiming hidden Gnostic Teachings but don't seem to understand correctly what they're singing about. No doubt they would be as horrified as the prior reviewer might be as well were all of them to know the real origins of the Odes and the Gnostic Teachings contained therein. The Odes were excluded from the canon of scripture by the early Church Fathers for a good reason (in their eyes anyway): I bet that they knew the source of the Odes - Valentinus.



And by the way, most mainstream Christians seem not to understand that their favorite apostle Paul clearly proclaimed some very, very Christian-Gnostic concepts that are still retained in the Bible. Furthermore, most mainstream Christians are very, very Gnostic in their spirituality in that they value so highly a personal and unmediated direct relationship with Jesus Christ, which is a core Teaching in all Gnostic churches and schools of thought, both past and present.



"Who hath an ear, let him hear"(!)"