The Gospel of Peace of Jesus Christ

"My wife (Liz) and I attended Saddleworth Folk Festival in Lancashire,England one weekend the Summer we decided to become vegetarian. Fortunately, Saddleworth has some second hand bookshops so we indulged ourselves and came away with some 15 or more books (not unusual for us). One tiny book I bought attracted my attention as it claimed to have some of Christ's teachings which were not in the bible and it was beautifully written. The following week I read chunks of the book in bed each night. I annoyed Liz by reading out the more interesting sections of it. When I came to a section in which Christ said that "thou shalt not kill" applied to all living creatures and that we should all be vegetarian, Liz felt intuitively that the message it contained was right. She suffers from multiple sclerosis and she felt that dropping meat might also improve her health. Rather than have her cook two different meals I also agreed to try vegetarianism. However that very next week we were due to fly to Ballyshannon in Ireland for yet another folk festival and I knew that my hostess, Sharon, served the most amazing full Irish sausage and bacon breakfasts - so I couldn't see my resolve lasting that week.

The first morning Sharon suggested I try one of her special Omelettes though and it was so delicious I survived the temptation. It was in the middle of the week that Sharon asked if two ladies could see our room (we had the best room having booked a year in advance and they just wanted to see what it was like). We hit if off with them straight away and soon I was chatting away to one of them about my strange book collection. She then mentioned that her friend (who was chatting to my wife) was the daughter of Edmond Szekely who had written a book about the Essenes. I said that a few years back I had bought a wonderful book called Gospel of the Essenes which had been very special to me. I described the cover and she said yes that is the one. I couldn't believe it - I mean what were the odds against it - but her friend gave me her name address and contact details so I resolved to check it out when I got back.

Lying in bed that night I realised that the Essene Gospel book, which purported to be about the community in which Christ lived, didn't mention vegetarianism. I reasoned that if It was the same book and if when I got back home and checked, it didn't contain any reference to vegetarianism, then that would be a sign that the weird little vegetarian book was totally wrong. After all the synchronicity was telling me that the Gospel of the Essenes book had authority and not my book from Saddleworth. Also, wasn't Christ a fisherman?

The moment I got home I looked for my copy of the "Gospel of the Essenes" and, sure enough, it was indeed the very same book written by Sarah's father. I was stunned. I sat down and speed read the pages for any signs of vegetarianism and my recollection was right - nothing at all. I was just about to put the book away and go out for a steak when I noticed a little note in the front of the book which explained that the "Gospel of the Essenes" was books 2 and 3. Book 1 had apparently been translated many years earlier and Mr Szekely had been put off from doing any more having been criticised by his friend Aldous Huxley for failing to translate the texts imaginatively. I decided that I'd have to track down book one on the internet before I could grab that steak.

We went to bed. It was getting late. First night back from Ballyshannon. I lazily dropped my hand to the side of the bed and alighted upon that weird little book from Saddleworth that I had been reading before I flew to Ballyshannon.

I opened it up and inside the cover it read "Gospel of Peace of Jesus Christ: By the Disciple John by Edmond Bordeaux Edmond Szekely Purcell Weaver. So I had found book one after all!

It had been published in 1937 in a very limited edition and my second-hand copy was one from that limited edition. So to recap, having spent the week after I bought it reading it out loud I had immediately flown to Ireland and met up with his daughter apparently by pure chance.

We have both been strictly vegetarian ever since. Synchronicities like that are just too powerful to ignore."
~ Written on 2008-09-13

"This book is a direct translation, from Aramaic, of 'The Gospel of Peace of Jesus Christ' written by Jesus' disciple John. I found it a breath of fresh air to finally read the true words of Jesus, which have been so twisted and distorted over the years. This is a truly powerful little book and a definite must for anyone intersted in Jesus and who he REALLY was and what his actual message was- you may (or may not!) be very surprised to see just how different this is to what is written in the Bible. The book is only about 60 pages long so it doesnt take long to read. As soon as I finished it I was desperate for more, so have ordered 'The Gospel of the Essenes' by the same author, which expands on the 'Gospel of the Peace of Jesus Christ'. I am excited to live in a time when Jesus' truth is finally coming to light again, after 2000 years of suppression and misinterpretation. "
~ Written on 2006-12-05

"This was the most simple and graceful book with
beautitude hard to describe. It has a Zen like simplicity
and leaves a calmness and tranquility of mind."
~ Written on 2006-06-12