Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief

by John Lamb Lash

"Lash is capable of explaining the mind-bending concepts of Gnosticism and pagan mystery cults with bracing clarity and startling insight. . . . [His] arguments are often lively and entertaining."― Los Angeles Times In Not in His Image John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. Early Christians burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets. But as Lash reveals the truth cannot be hidden or destroyed. Not in His Image  delves deeply into the shadows of ancient Gnostic writings to reconstruct the story early Christians tried to scrub from the pages of history, exploring the richness of the ancient European Pagan spirituality–the Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaia. Long before the birth of Christianity, monotheism was an anomaly; Europe and the Near East flourished under the divine guidance of Sophia, the ancient goddess of wisdom. The Earth was the embodiment of Sophia and thus sacred to the people who sought fulfillment in her presence. This ancient philosophy was threatening to the emerging salvation-based creed of Christianity that was based on patriarchal dominion over the Earth and lauded personal suffering as a path to the afterlife. As Derrick Jensen points out in the afterword, in Lash’s hands Jesus Christ emerges as the agent provocateur of the ruling classes. "Sometimes a book changes the world. Not in His Image is such a book. It is clear, stimulating, well-researched, and sure to outrage the experts. . . . Get it. Improve not just your own life, but civilization’s chances for survival."―Roger Payne, author of Among Whales

Genres: Spirituality, Religion, History, Nonfiction, Gnosticism, Philosophy, Paganism

464 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's a lot on the Web about John Lamb Lash. Some of the data is contradictory. On the one hand, he's represented as an autodidact, as a college dropout. On the other, a PhD is attributed to him. There's even disagreement about his birthdate. Given the sketchy, eccentric character of this book I strongly suspect he had little academic training.

The book is not entirely without merit. The critique of Abrahamic 'dominator' religions as being anti-nature is certainly worthy of consideration, Christianity in particular having a poor historical record, its orientation being otherworldly. Its advocacy of deep ecology is something I appreciate.

However, Lash's appropriation of the historical record is, most charitably stated, extremely tendentious. For one thing, he claims an essential unity to 'pagan' traditions in general and to pagan mystery cults in particular, setting them in opposition to the monotheistic religions without much recognizing that these very pagan traditions were the matrix out of which the Abrahamic religions arose. Indeed, Judaism, itself of henotheistic Hebrew roots, is hardly of a class with its semi-derivatives, Christianity and Islam. As regards the assertion of pagan unanimity, the record certainly does not support his bold claim. Indeed, he seems unaware of much of the counterevidence. For instance, he asserts that pre-Christian Europeans did not practice human sacrifice (p. 49). Is he unaware of the archaeological evidence of the Bog-sacrifices in Denmark? of the ancient Roman practice of live burial? of Moloch offerings in Punic Europe? of the Roman accounts of Druidic practices? What is one to make of his repeated assertion of the 'life affirming' culture of what he calls 'Europa' in the face of the misogyny, the slavery, the wars, the infanticide, and the slaughters recounted in the pagan histories and evinced by the discoveries of the archaeologists? (and where, for that matter, does he get the idea that the mass suicide at Masada occurred in 86 C.E.?) Lash's rosy representation of an idyllic pre-Christian Europe is as absurd as much of the Christian apologetic!

To make matters worse, Lash adopts the recently invented term 'Gnostic' to typify his supposedly univocal mystery cults, entirely ignoring its normative scholarly application to beliefs which were radically dualistic. Instead, he picks and choses, focusing on the occult texts in the tradition of the 'Pistis Sophia' and, to make matters worse still, attempts to reconcile a dubious reading of them to modern physics whereby, incredibly, he treats her, the Pleroma, the Anthropos, the Christos, the Aeons and the Archons as if they were real, substantial beings and the myth, treated in such a way, as reconcilable with contemporary science. His three-planet thesis and this business as a whole makes one wonder not only about the author's scholarly aptitude but about his very sanity.

This is definitely not a book for those unfamiliar with European antiquity and the history of religions, nor is it worthy of the attention of those who do have such familiarity.

PS For some reason the 'date started' function in Goodreads isn't working today. I started this book at Xmas, having received it as a gift.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting premise, some really lousy scholarship. Lots of unsupported assertions and at times a refusal to consider some very significant problems with his interpretation. Still, I was intrigued by the idea that Jehovah is actually an inorganic alien parasite who didn't create our world, just commandeered control of it. And there are some ideas Lash develops fairly convincingly--the idea, for instance, that the god of the old testament hates trees. If you're interested in the history of religion, it's worth reading, but keep your bullshit detector on at all times.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book which examine the roots of all Abrahamic religions as derived from the destruction of the Mystery Schools in Alexandria. Clearly explains the development of salvationist and redemption theology against the backdrop of ancient eco-feminist Gaia belief. The research is amazing and the conclusions brilliant and supported by the Qumran and Nag Hamaidi remnants. Amazing stuff...

[Heiki Eesmaa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thick layer of interpretations and opinions are drawn from weak evidence. I were much more happier with the book if it were presented as an opinion piece.

The author, I am guessing an auto-didact with little scientific background, has indeed read widely and presents the Gnostic thesis with much enthusiasm but in a one-sided way and with little intellectual rigor.

My conclusion is that the patterns he sees in ancient history tell more of the inner life of a modern American than of ancient world. Reading it with some distance, the book may still be worth consuming.

[Lore Angeles · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started out as juicy and focussed and I enjoyed it very much until the author began to simply rewrite what has been written many times before. Lash went from objective, pagan and academic to writing about theist characters as though they had credence. His criticism lost me there. It's as though he became tired. It's difficult to maintain, I realise, in a world that andocentrises its mysteries and then talks about them as though they were distant relatives. Didn't finish it.

[sharad · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the quintessential book that must be read by anyone who previously or presently has espoused the Abrahamic religions: Judaism/Christianty/Islam. The author is the most learned scholar of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Codices, and other Coptic texts; he shares with us the true meaning contained in these textual materials.

The trends humankind currently follow will be completely dissected and analyzed; and exposes what has been kept hidden from view, in order that we may discern folly from truth. Ultimately, our attention is directed towards true Gnosticism and not some diluted, "christianified" version of it. Anyone seeking self-awareness/enlightenment ought to give this a good study even if only to more closely examine those ideals you're holding onto during and after the process.

[the only serious book i ever read three times (22AUG2016)]

[Kitty]

Yep...just can't bring myself to read anymore. While the theories within are interesting and some seem legitimate, research on Lash shows that he is racist and I don't support anything of the sort. Sad that such a genius mind is also one full of hatred.

[Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some this could be a construed as disturbing recant of early Christianity, that is nothing like that taught in "respectable" schools. However, I found his version entirely plausible and worthy of follow-up. He also explains in expert fashion the history of the gnostics, the murder of Hypatia and the suppression of Gnosticism by the nascent Church. Like a historical detective he cross references his sources and discusses implications and repercussions. It is an enlightening non-fiction work worthy of study that forces the reader to confront a world where all may not be what it seems.

[Alex Hukill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book on a whim because I didn't know much about Gnosticism. I feel like JLL started with an interesting premise and exciting build up, but it fell into a full blown rant about how bad Judeo-Christian religions are. It got tiring and I gave up. I was hoping for more fact and less angry opinion. It was good at first, though!

[Carole]

Really liking this book, can't put it down!

[Oliver Stone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Little scientific background . He proclaims himself a gnostic. Just rehashes what has already been said. His theory about the galactic core bla bla is just speculation and far from common sense.

[George Ramos · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anti-Christian polemic, a scholarly study of the beliefs and cosmology of the Nag Hammadi-era Gnostics, and a clarion call towards gnosticism in it's truest sense for our modern world, this book astonished me while it moved and inspired me to study what Gnosticism truly was. It goes beyond trying to show that Christians were a "quaint, varied lot" like many modern, popular writers try to do (like Elaine Pagels and Karen Armstrong). Instead, John Lash shows that the Gnostics and the rest of the Judeo-Christian world were at bitter ends, with Gnosticism turning into the "underground" foundation of our modern society despite the best efforts of organized religion to stamp it out. A fascinating read, inspiring and shocking like few books I've read.

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bold, controversial examination of consensus religion and society, and an impassioned wake-up call to rediscover and realign with natural life forces. Wide-ranging and well researched, yet at times meandering and repetitive, this is a compelling and important work that provides insightful perspectives intended to challenge ingrained modes of thinking and behaviours.

[Sue Ballenski · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are plenty of ideas to ponder and wonder about. I wound up only giving 3 stars because of the painful jumps in ideas and subjects that must have made sense to the author but truly made my brain hurt trying to follow along. Other members of my book group said the same thing. But the book does have observations that made me change my point of view and reevaluate long held beliefs. I like that.

[Eric McQueston · Rating 1 out of 5]

Exhaustingly condescending. It read more like a manifesto, packed with biased opinions, rather than an honest comparative examination of Gnosticism (Lash’s alternative to religion) and all other world religions.
That said, if you’re able to get past Lamb’s desperate and feeble ranting, there are gems of insight regarding ‘deep ecology’, Pagan philosophy, redefining self-love, & resisting evil.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing case for how spirituality and religion can be "weaponized" for empire-building. This well-researched book will deeply disturb some and illuminate others. I don't agree with every observation but his voice is clear, sharp and thoughtful.

[C.J. Prince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out the sub title. This looks like heavy reading, however, Lash's style is immediately engaging.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only a third of the way through. Intelligently researched it's the best concerning Christianity's hype and destruction that I've read in ages.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficult to read at time but it's brilliant! It's taken me almost 3 years to go through the book because of it's high intellectual writing style. Worth the time.

[Cesar Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that can change one's life!

[Kaberoi Rua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Lash is on another level above the so-called gnostic scholars. Elaine Pagels and her Gnostic Gospels does not compare to this work by John Lamb Lash.

This book contains a heady mix of history, science, theology, anthropology, myth, and the author's personal testimony of Mystical experience. Above and beyond the several points it develops, this books presents a case for awe. This poses a dilemma, however, because the case for awe cannot be proven by scholarly method, yet that is the approach the author has taken in his argument. Readers of this book will fare more easily with this work if they bear in mind that the author frames his argument in scholarly terms, but the basic convictions from which Lash writes neither derive from, nor rely on, scholarly proof and academic method.

To make the case for awe, Lash goes back to the rapturous bond with nature that was celebrated in Pagan religions in the classical world. He returns to the Mysteries. Lash's account of Paganism may not resemble what you are accustomed to accept as history. But Lash submits that the supreme value of the honest study of history - as distinguished from blind acceptance of historical fables - is to show readers how we have departed from the proper course of our evolution as a species. The purpose of the Mysteries was to keep us on course. 

The book is constructed in the form of a sonata of four movements. Rather than straightforward, scholarly exposition it works by a symphonic play of themes or leitmotifs. The all-pervasive theme is the goddess Sophia, whose name is wisdom, whose sensory body is the earth. Lash's first objective is to recover and restore the Sophianic vision of the Mysteries celebrated in ancient Europe and the Near East. The guardians of this vision were called gnostikoi, "those who know as the gods know." To correlate Mystery teachings with Gaia theory and deep ecology - the second objective of this book - cannot be done without looking closely at what destroyed the Sophianic vision of the living earth, and how it was able to do so. The genocide of native spirituality in the classical world went on for centuries, but a cover-up has largely concealed this fact, and continues to this day. To expose the cover-up and reveal both the cause and scope of the destruction so wrought is the third objective of this book. Finally, the fourth objective is to complete Nietzsche's critique by showing what is basically wrong, indeed, pathologically dangerous, in salvationist theology and Judeo- Christian ethics.

[AvianBuddha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have recently completed Not in His Image by John Lash Lamb. What follows is a refined summary of what I take to be the book's most important arguments and themes.

Lamb argues that humanity has deviated from its proper evolutionary trajectory (xiii). To explain this deviation, he reconstructs what he regards as the original Sophianic Mystery tradition, what he calls genuine Gnosticism prior to its corruption by Abrahamic salvationist religion and the redeemer–perpetrator complex. These pre-Christian Mysteries did not promise redemption from the world, but liberation within it, through ecstatic immersion in the life force, Eros. While reading Lamb, I was repeatedly struck by strong parallels to Ludwig Klages' Of Cosmogonic Eros, a connection Lamb never explicitly acknowledges.

Central to Lamb's thesis is the claim that ego death is a prerequisite for intimacy with the planetary entelechy, Sophia. The Mysteries taught initiates to reclaim the Anthropos, humanity's species-identity, by awakening the divine intelligence (nous) already endowed within us. According to Lamb, the Nag Hammadi texts preserve a sacred narrative of the fallen goddess Sophia, whose embodiment is the Earth itself.

A major portion of the book critiques what Lamb terms the redeemer complex, which consists of four interlocking components:

1. creation of the world by a male father god independent of a feminine counterpart;
2. selection of the righteous few to fulfill a divine plan;
3. the mission of a divine son sent to redeem the world;
4. a final apocalyptic judgment imposed by father and son upon humanity (16).

Faith in redemptive suffering legitimizes the infliction of suffering, a dynamic Lamb calls the victim-perpetrator bond. This bond, he argues, underwrote atrocities such as Columbus's genocidal conquest of South America (40) and motivated Christian violence, including the murder of Hypatia. Lamb traces the origins of the redeemer complex to the Melchizedek tradition and what he calls the "Zaddikite cult of righteousness," which promoted standards of purity and perfection beyond human capacity (65). Drawing on the Qumran War Scrolls and Dead Sea Scrolls, he presents these sects as extremist movements that demanded impossible moral ideals so that divine intervention - and ultimately apocalypse - would become necessary (79). This logic, Lamb claims, continues to shape modern ecological and humanitarian crises by sanctifying domination and violence as divine retribution.

Against this transcendent, salvationist worldview, Lamb advances a radically immanent spirituality. The divine is not elsewhere, but fully present within the world, sharing intimately in the life of all beings (15, 38). Pre-Christian animists understood this earthbound divinity (24), as did telluric traditions such as the Ophites, whose snake symbolism expressed chthonic wisdom (139). Lamb holds particular esteem for the Druids, who taught that pain and death were not evils, but necessities of life, and that moral weakness alone constituted true evil (49). By contrast, he characterizes bodily denial and rejection of the sensory world as narcissistic pathologies (39).

Lamb devotes sustained attention to patriarchal distortions of earlier goddess-centered traditions. In pre-Christian Europe, for example, hieros gamos rituals, the sacred mating of a royal candidate with a priestess of the Magna Mater, expressed humanity's participatory role in cosmic and ecological balance (59). Sophianic worship aimed at guiding a coevolutionary process between humanity and Gaia-Sophia herself (101).

What opposes Sophia are the Archons, beings defined by counter-mimicry: the ability to imitate divine forms while twisting them toward lifeless, controlling ends. Archons cannot create; they replicate falsely and generate illusory dualisms. In the Sophianic mythos, figures such as Yaldabaoth arise as distorted reflections of the Aeonic archetypes in the Pleroma. Lamb describes Archons simultaneously as cosmic impostors and intrapsychic parasites, quasi-autonomous delusional structures within the human mind that pose as gods (115). Humanity, he insists, was never dispossessed of the Earth; it is the habitat Sophia herself dreamed and manifested for the Anthropos.

"In a larger sense, all of humanity is dispossessed of its genuine potential by the subterfuge of the Archons - that is, by delusional notions of transcendence" (116).

Gnosis, in Lamb’s account, was not intellectual belief but full-body illumination in the presence of sacred nature. Gnostics experienced the divine as a feminine presence clothed in an undulating white Organic Light (128). This light did not negate the senses but suffused them, yielding a supersensory revelation without abandoning sensory life (129). Gnosis was not deification or union with God, but knowing as the gods know - through elevated cognition and heightened awareness (134). It required ego death and ecstatic empathy with nature (133–134), enabling initiates to coevolve with Sophia and guide human potential toward its telos (136–137). Gnosis was attained through transentience, not transcendence (141).

"Beyond self and pouring through all that lives, so does it all live and pour through me" (141).

Through such experiences, initiates became aware of Gaia's entelechy. Sophia is both the Mother of Nature - her primary, luminous substance - and nature itself as the planetary Earth. She is autopoietic, a self-ordering and self-making being (189). Originating in the Pleroma, Sophia descended into manifestation through enthymesis, divine desire. Humanity emanates from the Pleroma through the Anthropos template, while the Archons arise outside it, lacking ennoia, divine intention (159). Gnostic cosmology rejects a Big Bang model in favor of emanation and mirroring: emanation rather than creation, mirroring rather than linear causation (167). For Lamb, the sacred is embedded in Becoming and in the Earth itself (167, 171).

The Pleroma is the living galactic core - a plenum of fulfilled potential inhabited by the Aeons, understood as cosmically pervasive, conscious processes (175). The Kenoma, by contrast, is the chaotic realm of matter into which the Aeons emanate but do not normally enter (180). Sophia is the exception. Driven by divine desire for the Anthropos, she crosses the Pleromic boundary without a consort and incidentally giving rise to the Demiurge and a malformed dualistic order (183). Earth is organic/autopoietic but embedded ("captured") in an inorganic planetary system; Gaia may be better modeled as an Earth–Sun–Moon integrated system (183).

Sophia emanates Zoe, the life force, who allies with the Sun, identified with Sabaoth, a conscious stellar being aligned with Earth against the rest of the planetary system (188–189). Lamb appeals to Gaia theory to support this vision, citing Earth's atmospheric disequilibrium, stable ocean salinity, and long-term temperature regulation despite increasing solar radiation (189, 324). The Earth is an organic world sustained by its indwelling divinity, Sophia (189).

Sophia's fall is not a metaphysical rupture or dualistic split but an error born of excess desire (213). Christos later enters the process to bring ennoia, divine intention and evolutionary coherence, while Sophia provides instinctual force and vitality (201–203). Humanity faces a triple challenge: recognizing its Pleromic origin, finding its ecological niche, and evolving its singular potential toward its telos (209).

The Mysteries pursued this aim through a fourfold telestic method: preserving direct revelation of Sophia, cultivating individual human potential, teaching the theory of error (including Archontic deviation), and developing visionary practices for humanity’s role in Sophia’s correction (211). Contrary to Christian doctrine, Gnosticism does not teach that humanity has fallen; Sophia fell, not humankind (212).

"We are created, not in His image, but in the evolutionary 'fit' to our habitat" (261).

At the core of this capacity lies nous, divine intelligence originating in the Pleroma - unborn, uncreated, and capable of direct knowing (301). Gnosis is possible because humanity already participates in divine intelligence. Perception itself is reciprocal, shaped as much by the world as by the perceiver (223). Antimimicry arises when living reality is replaced by abstract, lifeless replicas -whether in theology, morality, or distorted concepts of love, which cannot be commanded but must arise spontaneously (232, 252).

Lamb ultimately advocates a Gaian ethic grounded in faith in humanity itself (274). Evil, he contends, does not stem from cosmic opposition but from human error: false transcendence, salvationist ethics, sensory denial, and dualistic projection (292). Gnosis is the psychosomatic rush of cognitive ecstasy, direct sensorial communion with Earth’s living intelligence (332). Humanity must create its own "creative fit," for we are unfinished animals implanted with divine imagination (epinoia) to complete the work of coevolution (354–355).

Gaia-Sophia, Lamb concludes, depends on humanity to awaken its innate potential so that she may complete her correction and fulfill her original divine desire: to dream the human world in intimate rapport with those who inhabit it (161, 349).

[Ruben Mes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was thrilled by this book.

Powerful and relevant in our age of reintegrating mythology and religion in a sustainable path forward.

Just read it and be baffled by its outrageous content and mind-blowing wanderings.

Not for the feint-hearted.

Lash and his book get a lot of hate. But what stops you from drawing your own conclusions?

A thought provoking book!

[Adrian Kass · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have access to a dictionary as you read through this very well researched analysis of a group called; The Gnostics. By the accounts in this book, their way of life was one of evolution with the natural world using their inner guidance/intuition.

Unfortunately, their time was brought to an end by the patriarchal Salvationist ‘religion’ that still reigns supreme to this day in 2021. It was a violent end involving outright bloodshed.

This book confirmed what I sensed about ALL modern day religions, but lacked the historical perspective that affirms their malevolent undertones.

A reversion back to the natural world and indigenous ways is the route I will be taking after reading this book.

[Jude Arnold]

This book comes highly recommended from someone I greatly admire, Laura Eisenhower, the late presidents, great granddaughter!

[Josh Iley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good, alot of ideas, it will certainly challenge you, ideas made me quite uncomfortable.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was too academic and hard to parse for the actual beliefs of gnosticism

[Gerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read if you are interested in gaining insight into the information from the ancient Nag Hammadi texts that were discovered in Syria in the 1940's, and what they tell us about the wisdom of the Gnostics. John Lamb Lash has dedicated himself to uncover the wisdom and teachings of this anchient source of wisdom about the human condition. The "Gnostic Intel" that Lash unviels just might be the critical infoirmation we need to avoid our self-destuction on this beauitiful planet home of ours. The Gnostic mythology of Sophia is epic and Lash lays it out so clearly and this amazing Gnostic mythology sheds a fascinating light on humanity, its oigins, its critical challenges and its amazing future! Enjoy!

[Skyhorse Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very scholarly, very complex book. I had to look up a lot of words! But I got through it. I like the ideas presented about the Earth being a living thing and that all the life on it is part of that organism. Also I agree with the idea that the Pagans were closer to true righteousness by worshiping and caring for Nature. I think the author is a little hard on Jesus, the man, and his teachings. But I do see how Christianity grew out of a very patriarchal, punishment-based religion, and became supremely corrupted. Especially when Constantine started it on the path to become the official religion of Rome in 325 CE.

We see the results of the power of radical christianism, which Christianity has been corrupted into, in Project 2025 and the Trump 2.0 regime.

[Andrew Oda · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my recent faves. Gnosticism presents the Christian story (and Reality story) as a celebration of creation, celebration of knowing, a refusal for simple salvation, and an urge to co-create this world into a new, better one. This book presents those themes, wrapped up in the figure of dreamer Sophia, very beautifully. The author states it as "sci-fi theology", yet the story put out by Gnosticism seems to explain why the world is the way it is. Very very good!. I look forward to reading it again soon