The Unknown Sayings of Jesus

by Marvin W. Meyer

Hundreds of sayings were attributed to the sage from Nazareth by ancient admirers. More than fifteen hundred versions of five hundred quotations are attributed to Jesus in the New Testament, the Gospel of Thomas, and other Gospels found at Nag Hammadi. Marvin Meyer has combed additional Jewish, Muslim, and Christian sources for another 200 of the most fascinating epigrams and parables ascribed to Jesus. Dr. Meyer includes an intriguing introduction and annotations that put the sayings into perspective.

208 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 1998

About the author

Marvin Meyer is a scholar of religion and a tenured professor at Chapman University, in Orange, California.

He is the Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute. He is also Director of the Coptic Magical Texts Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. Dr. Meyer is the author of numerous books and articles on Greco-Roman and Christian religions in antiquity and late antiquity, and on Albert Schweitzer's ethic of reverence for life. He has been interviewed on television programs that have aired on ABC, BBC, CNN, PBS, A&E, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the National Geographic Channel.

Professor Meyer is best known for his translations of the texts of documents associated with the ancient mystery religions, early Christian magic, and Gnostic texts, of which the most notable have been the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas. He is regarded as an authority on Gnosticism and has published many books on the subject.

Meyer died of melanoma on August 16, 2012.

Reviews

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing special that you have not read elsewhere. Author just compiles quotations of Jesus from a variety of sources.

[Ch_13d]

nice

[Dan Shonka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvin Meyer clearly knows this subject matter, and this book dips into many resources that can easily be described as off the beaten path. Some of the sayings included in this collection sound very similar to sayings found in the Bible's New Testament. There are also sayings that certainly sound like something Jesus may have said. Then there are some that, well, makes the reader wonder. Was the person recording this or that saying distracted when Jesus was speaking? Maybe the person writing the saying down had been imbibing in some of the water-to-wine. Perhaps Jesus was just testing the listeners to see what all they would write down? At any rate, the reader could describe some of the sayings as befuddling, confusing or mysterious. A few sayings I read multiple times to no avail. They either made no sense to me, or they sounded out of character for the Jesus most people "know."

At any rate, this is mostly and easy and interesting read.

[Shammah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent book (one of many out there) with sayings and things that Jesus spoke. I don't know about you, but for me it is almost tragic when one limits him/herself to what is found in the Bible, because there is so very much more out there, that for whatever reason the "first" editors of the Bible chose to leave out. If you "hunger and thirst" to know more, this is just the beginning.

[Kimberly Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the non-canonical texts.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing material...this is a jesus less dogmatic, more available