Thrice-Greatest Hermes, Vol. III — G. R. S. Mead (1906)

Gospels, he thinks, point to concerted effort, and he believes that they were written in Egypt- It is not surprising that he lays much stress on Gnosticism, but he has no wish to revive it. He rather pleads that we should study it with a view to recovering precious t/uths that have been lost. The book is written in a pleasant style, and we have read it with interest, but we cannot regard it as Mr. Mead's most successful effort."— The Primitive Methodist Quarterly.

" This anlysis o! the ' Gospels,' however, is preliminary to a vindication of that eternal ' Gospel ' which lies beneath all such literature. Mr. Mead contends that this Gospel may be discovered in Gnostic writings which were condemned by the early Christian Church as heresies. He admits freely that the forms of the ancient ' Gnosis ' cannot now be revived, but he finds in the popular Evangelical doctrine of the living Christ an adumbration of the ancient wisdom of the condemned Gnostics. But the Christ of Mr. Mead's teaching is one of a sacred brotherhood, including Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, and other great enlighteners of the race. These are all living spiritual energies, inspiring and guiding mankind in its toilsome quest for truth and righteousness. Readers will find in Mr. Mead's thoughtful and scholarly pages much that will help in that rational and spiritual reconstruction which ia the great religious task of the hour."— Yorkshire Daily Observer.

"'O l^,/9pj0rj£ EpsuvnTrK TWV o-p^wv TOW p£picrriavta-/u,o'j x. Gr. E. S. Mead s^n/utoo-iiva-tv o-pri /xsXjTflv Trspl rrn; x^arTi&viwg QiXoaoQioK; l^a^uc, ^'axr*x>iy. . . . 'O x. Mead flvs si? TWV xofvQaiuv (rxaTravEwv r»5c spEuvrmxr/? Taurn<; Epya<r*ac xal 9rav o , T» ypa^Si xpiva* ioia£ovo-»j£ 7rpoa-o%ri<; a£tov. . . . 'EjawvECjutsvo? t>7ro T*J? vyious TavT»K VLfXWS o x. Mead cryvsTsXfcrsv Icr^drcaq fiaujuacnov s'pyov."- Erevna.

DID JE5US LIVE 100 B.C. ?

An Enquiry into the Talmud Jesus Stories, the Toldoth Jeschu, and some Curious Statements of Epiphanius — Being a Contribution to the Study of Christian Origins.

440, xvi. pp. Large octavo. Cloth, 9s. net.

SOME PRESS NOTICES.

" A close and learned investigation Mr. Mead is a theosophical scholar whose previous works dealing with Gnosticism and Gospel criticism are of some value not only to theosophiits, but to theologians." — The Times.

" On the examination of these little known tales Mr. Mead expends an amount of patience, labour, and learning which the ordinary man .... would deem ridiculous. Happily, however, the world is not yet peopled exclusively with fat, plump, commonplace people, and those who follow Mr. Mead can be sure of reward in matter which will set them thinking. . . . These researches are contributions to the study of the origins of Christianity, and their uniqueness lies in the fact that very few writers ever enter the fields where Mr. Mead works with such praiseworthy diligence. The ordinary reader trusts too implicitly, in these matters, to his Geikie and his Farrar, and even the student who has the dash of the heretic in him is too easily contented with his Renan. For both these classes of readers Mr. Mead's chapters will open up new fields of thought. The reader will find himself in the midst of those fierce fanaticisms, and weird, occult theosophies which were part of the atmosphere in which infant Christianity grew. Without an adequate acquaintance with these, Christian origins cannot be understood. This knowledge Mr. Mead's readers will obtain if they follow him closely, and their view of the beginnings of Christianity will be correspondingly full and true." — The Yorkshire Daily Observer.

" Mr. Mead's previous wanderings in historic by-ways have resulted in much curious lore associated with Gnosticism and the Neo-Platonists, and he seems to have been attracted to this adjacent field as one likely to contain hidden treasure For