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Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: As a gnostic, I have always wanted to check this book out. Brought it to the beach on Labor Day and read it in one sitting. So, what's the verdict? Dr. Jones has done his homework. He actually retained a translator to translate the Nag Hammadi documents for him as Robinson, et al, would apparently not give permission. And he does cite them unlike so many other anti- "New Age Authors". And he is witty and the book is entertaining. While I completely disagree with his agenda (roll back women's and gay rights, put an end to religious pluralism, etc) he does not come accross as a wide-eyed conmspiracy theorist a la Jack Chick or Hal Lindsey. This guy is an actual academic, albeit somewhat reactionary. The flaws in this book are as follows: Jones pays a lot of attention to the perceived indignities suffered by YHWH (Lord of Hosts) in those gnostic scriptures which denounce the demiurge as a lion-headed demon, but completely ignores those Gnostic Texts which explain the gnostic concept of the spiritual esurrection. He criticizes gnosticism for ignoring "sin" and then himself ignores the gnostic redemption. Plus he collapses the systems (equating Sophia w. Barbelo, ignoring the Basilidean and Valentinian apocalypses in favor of the flashier On the Origin of the World). To his credit he give one of the more coherent explanations of Gospel of Thomas Logion 114 (I think) wherein Jesus recommends that women bacome male in order to enter heaven. Jones actually explains what this means, as reverse-creation, the rib going back into Adam. Good Job there. Unfortunately, Jones also pushes the ridiculous interpretation that the archetype of the divine androgyne can be literally and directly equated with homosexuality and the gay rights movements. WHile it is true that gnostics are a tolerant group, the idea that andro (male) + gyne (female)= homosexual (same + sex) is absurd on the face of it. The gnostic concept of balancing - and even cancelling - the opposites - light and dark, good & evil, etc - of course includes sexual difference - so too do certain schools of tantric buddhiusm, which depict this "alchemical wedding" as a seated (male) god with the shakti power (dakini - sky travelling goddes) sitting on his lap in flagrante delicto! Clearly this has less to do w. homoeroticism than joining the opposites, exactly as the word "androgyne" would imply. The stuff about the Minesotta Re-Imagining conference and the resemblace of the gnostic hermaneutic to reader-response theory was pretty interesting. Maybe I should write this guy a letter and find out a good place to go to divinity school.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but flawed
Review: As a gnostic, I have always wanted to check this book out. Brought it to the beach on Labor Day and read it in one sitting. So, what's the verdict? Dr. Jones has done his homework. He actually retained a translator to translate the Nag Hammadi documents for him as Robinson, et al, would apparently not give permission. And he does cite them unlike so many other anti- "New Age Authors". And he is witty and the book is entertaining. While I completely disagree with his agenda (roll back women's and gay rights, put an end to religious pluralism, etc) he does not come accross as a wide-eyed conmspiracy theorist a la Jack Chick or Hal Lindsey. This guy is an actual academic, albeit somewhat reactionary. The flaws in this book are as follows: Jones pays a lot of attention to the perceived indignities suffered by YHWH (Lord of Hosts) in those gnostic scriptures which denounce the demiurge as a lion-headed demon, but completely ignores those Gnostic Texts which explain the gnostic concept of the spiritual esurrection. He criticizes gnosticism for ignoring "sin" and then himself ignores the gnostic redemption. Plus he collapses the systems (equating Sophia w. Barbelo, ignoring the Basilidean and Valentinian apocalypses in favor of the flashier On the Origin of the World). To his credit he give one of the more coherent explanations of Gospel of Thomas Logion 114 (I think) wherein Jesus recommends that women bacome male in order to enter heaven. Jones actually explains what this means, as reverse-creation, the rib going back into Adam. Good Job there. Unfortunately, Jones also pushes the ridiculous interpretation that the archetype of the divine androgyne can be literally and directly equated with homosexuality and the gay rights movements. WHile it is true that gnostics are a tolerant group, the idea that andro (male) + gyne (female)= homosexual (same + sex) is absurd on the face of it. The gnostic concept of balancing - and even cancelling - the opposites - light and dark, good & evil, etc - of course includes sexual difference - so too do certain schools of tantric buddhiusm, which depict this "alchemical wedding" as a seated (male) god with the shakti power (dakini - sky travelling goddes) sitting on his lap in flagrante delicto! Clearly this has less to do w. homoeroticism than joining the opposites, exactly as the word "androgyne" would imply. The stuff about the Minesotta Re-Imagining conference and the resemblace of the gnostic hermaneutic to reader-response theory was pretty interesting. Maybe I should write this guy a letter and find out a good place to go to divinity school.
Rating: 
Summary: Burden For Spiritual Discernment
Review: Dr. Jones provides the faithful with a thorough analysis of a growing portion of the apostacy away from the church which is a fall back to paganism. Especially, he takes note of the Sophia movement and Wicca, both associated with the feminist agenda of righting the ship of patriarchal dominated Scriptures. This valuable resource documents from the apostate sources their increasing candor in preaching clearly what they believe, a gnostic inspired, new revelation which if anything is just a new appearance of the old lies. The growing concern here, as the book points out, is the inroads this has made into the church (or what formerly was church). Jones concludes: "The God of the Bible locked in mortal combat for the souls of men with the goddess of revived pagainism--who would have imagined such a scenario in civilized, Christian America at the end of the twentieth century?" One only has to look at ELCA and other bodies, where the feminists have power gobbled up much, and seek more. What they have eroded and distorted with their deceptions is traced in this well written, researched work. It will serve many to contend for the faith without being contentious.
Rating: 
Summary: Intolerance wrapped up in a book
Review: here I thought it was the "Land of the free". Fallacies and inaccuracies throughout. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Transforming Society
Review: It's true as they say that there is nothing new under the sun, and in this book Peter Jones shows that this is so by connecting much of the emphases of New Age spirituality with the Greco-Roman Gnosticism which so plagued the early Christian Church. Such seemingly disparate movements as Wicca and feminism all have roots in this ancient philosophy of man-centered secret knowledge. Jones reveals the interconnections and the dangers as political correctness moves to tolerate all shades of belief save for Biblical Christianity in our modern society. Jones' study suffers somewhat from a shrillness surprising for a professor from Westminster Theological Seminary (Escondido) and a poorly published and proofread manuscript which is reminiscent of those Chick-published pamphlets. Nonetheless the message is clear. Jones tells us, "A recent poll of baby-boomers who were confirmed in...the Sixties shows that seventy-five per cent left the Church at age twenty-one, half of them never to return. Sixty-eight per cent of those who did (middle-aged parents who traditionally wield power in the Church) do not believe that a person can be saved only through Jesus Christ. The orthodoxy of their children will be even less robust." We should not be surprised that unbelievers do not believe the truth and therefore teach falsehood. The wake-up call here is to the Church, which, somewhere along the line, abrogated its roles as salt and light in society and custodian of the gospel to the succeeding generations.
Rating:
Summary: Hitting the Nail on the Head
Review: Peter Jones correctly and painstakenly documents the root of many of problems afflicting our modern society. In Spirit Wars, Dr. Jones shines the light of truth on the agenda of the pro-choice/homosexual/radical feminism agenda and ties them together in a neat little knot. He does this by exposing the very words spoken and written by the leaders of such groups, uncovering their true agenda. Indeed, the book is heavily footnoted and documented. In short, Spirit Wars helps to identify what lies at the root of todays "man centered" way of thinking that was brought into the mainstream by the Me Generation. It is no wonder that his targets howl and attack the messenger. They cannot dispute the content of Spirit Wars because to do so, they would dispute their own words, actions and deeds.
Rating:
Summary: Hitting the Nail on the Head
Review: Peter Jones correctly and painstakenly documents the root of many of problems afflicting our modern society. In Spirit Wars, Dr. Jones shines the light of truth on the agenda of the pro-choice/homosexual/radical feminism agenda and ties them together in a neat little knot. He does this by exposing the very words spoken and written by the leaders of such groups, uncovering their true agenda. Indeed, the book is heavily footnoted and documented. In short, Spirit Wars helps to identify what lies at the root of todays "man centered" way of thinking that was brought into the mainstream by the Me Generation. It is no wonder that his targets howl and attack the messenger. They cannot dispute the content of Spirit Wars because to do so, they would dispute their own words, actions and deeds.
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