The selections made in this volume shed light on these esoteric doctrines revealing intimate conversations between Jesus and his Disciples. The Gospel of Mary Magdalene throws new light on his relationship with this favourite disciple. The Gospel of Thomas contains concentrated mini-parables, containing deep inward and symbolic meaning, many of which are not found in the New Testament. The texts chosen are relevant to many of the perplexities of contemporary life and deal with the questions of good and evil, sin and suffering and the path to salvation.

Alan Jacobs has made a lifelong study of mysticism and is a regularly published author and poet. He is the editor of Poetry for the Spirit and Tales from Rumi and the beautiful poetic translations of The Upanisads also in this series. The Reverend Doctor Vrej Nersessian is the curator of the Christian Middle East section at the British Library. He is a senior priest at the Armenian Apostolic Church, holds a doctorate in Theology from Kings College London and is a world authority on Christian Middle East as well as an author of a number of significant works.