Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity
Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity

Author: Birger A. Pearson

Publisher: Fortress Press

Published:

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 9781451404340

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In this important contribution to the scholarly study of Egyptian Gnosticism, Pearson situates Gnosticism in its historical context and describes its manifold relationships to Judaism, early Christianity, and ancient Platonism. Birger Pearson gives special attention to the controversial issue of the impact of Gnosticism on early Egyptian Christianity up to the Muslim conquest of the seventh century. "Pearson is one of the most thorough and perceptive scholars in Gnostics studies today. The topics he deals with here are current and important, and no doubt will remain so for some time. This volume is a must for everyone in the field." ——Douglas M. Parrott, University of California, Riverside "Uniformly excellent contributions on the subject.... Students and teachers will benefit from Pearson's insightful and creative observations." ——Marvin Meyer, Chapman College

The Wisdom of Egypt
The Wisdom of Egypt

Author: Anthony Hilhorst

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2018-12-10

Total Pages: 574

ISBN-13: 9047407679

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This collection of essays, published on the occasion of Gerard Luttikhuizen’s retirement, highlights the Egyptian subject-matter, background or provenance of many Jewish, Early Christian, and Gnostic texts. It covers a broad spectrum of themes, genres, and traditions. It shows that Egypt was a vibrant point of reference, sometimes even a focal point and cradle for Jews, Christians, and Gnostics and their thought. The first part of this book examines various aspects of the relation between Judaism and Egypt, mainly in the Graeco-Roman period. The second part deals with several connections between early Christianity and Egypt, whereas the third part considers Egypt as the place where many Gnostic texts were found. This collection pays homage to Gerard Luttikhuizen’s life-long interest in Egypt and Gnosticism.

Gnostic Religion in Antiquity
Gnostic Religion in Antiquity

Author: R. van den Broek

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-01-24

Total Pages: 267

ISBN-13: 1107031370

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An examination of Gnostic religion in Late Antiquity within its historical and religious context, using Greek, Latin and Coptic sources.

Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christian Contexts
Orthodoxy and Heresy in Early Christian Contexts

Author: Paul A. Hartog

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2015-01-30

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 163087955X

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Eighty years ago, Walter Bauer promulgated a bold and provocative thesis about early Christianity. He argued that many forms of Christianity started the race, but one competitor pushed aside the others, until this powerful "orthodox" version won the day. The victors re-wrote history, marginalizing all other perspectives and silencing their voices, even though the alternatives possessed equal right to the title of normative Christianity. Bauer's influence still casts a long shadow on early Christian scholarship. Were heretical movements the original forms of Christianity? Did the heretics outnumber the orthodox? Did orthodox heresiologists accurately portray their opponents? And more fundamentally, how can one make any objective distinction between "heresy" and "orthodoxy"? Is such labeling merely the product of socially situated power? Did numerous, valid forms of Christianity exist without any validating norms of Christianity? This collection of essays, each written by a relevant authority, tackles such questions with scholarly acumen and careful attention to historical, cultural-geographical, and socio-rhetorical detail. Although recognizing the importance of Bauer's critical insights, innovative methodologies, and fruitful suggestions, the contributors expose numerous claims of the Bauer thesis (in both original and recent manifestations) that fall short of the historical evidence. With contributions from: Rodney Decker Carl Smith William Varner Rex Butler Bryan Litfin Brian Shelton David Alexander Edward Smither Glen Thompson

A Guide to Early Jewish Texts and Traditions in Christian Transmission
A Guide to Early Jewish Texts and Traditions in Christian Transmission

Author: Alexander Kulik

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 559

ISBN-13: 0190863072

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The Jewish culture of the Hellenistic and early Roman periods established a basis for all monotheistic religions, but its main sources have been preserved to a great degree through Christian transmission. This Guide is devoted to problems of preservation, reception, and transformation of Jewish texts and traditions of the Second Temple period in the many Christian milieus from the ancient world to the late medieval era. It approaches this corpus not as an artificial collection of reconstructed texts--a body of hypothetical originals--but rather from the perspective of the preserved materials, examined in their religious, social, and political contexts. It also considers the other, non-Christian, channels of the survival of early Jewish materials, including Rabbinic, Gnostic, Manichaean, and Islamic. This unique project brings together scholars from many different fields in order to map the trajectories of early Jewish texts and traditions among diverse later cultures. It also provides a comprehensive and comparative introduction to this new field of study while bridging the gap between scholars of early Judaism and of medieval Christianity.

What is Gnosticism?
What is Gnosticism?

Author: Karen L. King

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9780674017627

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A study of gnosticism examines the various ways early Christians strove to define themselves in a pluralistic Roman society, while questioning the traditional ideas of heresy and orthodoxy that have previously influenced historians.

The Gnostic New Age
The Gnostic New Age

Author: April D. DeConick

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2016-09-27

Total Pages: 515

ISBN-13: 0231542046

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Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today. In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism's next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.