Not in His Image

October 15, 2006
In an eclectic mix of mythology, deep ecology, Tibetan Buddhism, astrology, UFO research, drug mysticism, and speculative science, Lash ("Quest for the Zodiac") recommends reviving the cult of the Gnostic earth goddess, Sophia, as a prop to modern environmentalism and as a spiritually healthy alternative to life-denying and oppressive Abrahamic religions. Relying on secondary sources of varying trustworthiness, Lash spins a conspiracy theory in which a rigorist, otherworldly religiosity, the redeemer complex, was spread through an inner cabal of Jewish priests to the Essenes, where it morphed into Christianity and took over the world, destroying ecofriendly, egalitarian paganism in its wake. He also expounds at length on Gnostic cosmology, which he frankly and accurately describes as theological science fiction. Lash's history is propagandistic and amateurish; anyone who cites D.H. Lawrence as an authority in religious history can't be taken too seriously. He oversimplifies the heterogeneous Gnostic movement, which at times could be more ascetic and contemptuous of material creation than anything in Western monotheism, and romanticizes paganism by ignoring its own record of religious persecution. Not recommended."Charles Seymour, Wayland Baptist Univ. Lib., Plainview, TX"

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