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Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Chapter One Hundred Thirteen, in which Discoveries are made

If you have not yet heard of the Absent Classics, we urge you to take a look and become familiar with some literary masterworks that have been, for a variety of reasons, swept under the rug. Though their appeal may be limited, they stand at the heights of their genres, and any well-rounded course of education (as typified by the Renaissance man) will include at least a working knowledge of these books.

Ella's presentation of these classics pre-dated the recent National Geographic presentation of the Lost Gospel of Judas. Though presented as a stunning new discovery, the gospel actually turned up in the early 1970s. This was likely one of the first banned books of history, and presents a somewhat different version of what most people now know as Jesus' betrayal. The Absent Classics and revelations of suppressed gospels both attest to a wealth of other knowledge available to the discerning mind, but which have been generally relegated to the dustbin of history.

Last week the World Organization for Manuscript Preservation (WOMP) announced the upcoming release of The Lost Blogs: From Jesus to Jim Morrison, billed as "the most significant epistolary archive of ancient digital documents ever to be made public." Once again will be revealed knowledge that was presumed not to exist, or, if it did, to be heretical. This book is also based upon recent discoveries, such as this image (from WOMP) of a piece of what is now referred to as the "blog of Christ."

The popularity of a book like The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, shows us that the public is eager for and intruged by new information and previously hidden knowledge. Vociferous opposition, such as the Catholic church has made against Brown's entire premise, only serves to lend credability to such "heretical" claims. What the Collected Essays on Moose, the lost Gospel of Judas, and the blog of Christ all show is the true democratic power of knowledge, and its inherent ability to overcome suppression. The world is full of more truths than we can ever know, and those who claim to know them all, or the One Truth, are denying each of us our rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

3 comments:

  1. Some great recommendations, thanks.

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  2. I am endlessly flattered to be in the same post as the WOMP. I putter around with my projects, but they are doing real, cutting-edge research.

    Thanks for the link, Jeff!

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