The Gnostics

The Gnostics

Author: David Brakke

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 181

ISBN-13: 0674058895

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Who were the Gnostics? And how did the Gnostic movement influence the development of Christianity in antiquity? Is it true that the Church rejected Gnosticism? This book offers an illuminating discussion of recent scholarly debates over the concept of “Gnosticism” and the nature of early Christian diversity. Acknowledging that the category “Gnosticism” is flawed and must be reformed, David Brakke argues for a more careful approach to gathering evidence for the ancient Christian movement known as the Gnostic school of thought. He shows how Gnostic myth and ritual addressed basic human concerns about alienation and meaning, offered a message of salvation in Jesus, and provided a way for people to regain knowledge of God, the ultimate source of their being. Rather than depicting the Gnostics as heretics or as the losers in the fight to define Christianity, Brakke argues that the Gnostics participated in an ongoing reinvention of Christianity, in which other Christians not only rejected their ideas but also adapted and transformed them. This book will challenge scholars to think in news ways, but it also provides an accessible introduction to the Gnostics and their fellow early Christians.


Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism, and Early Christianity

Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism, and Early Christianity

Author: Charles W. Hedrick

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2005-10-17

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1597524026

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[This] book acquaints the beginner with the topic of gnosticism and early Christianity and presents to the specialist some of the new frontiers their colleagues are exploring. For the beginner there is a concise introduction to gnosticism. It covers the issues of origin, literature, leading ideas, and possible links with early Christianity. Each contributor has prepared a preface to his or her paper that points to its salient features and explains how the essay fits into the overall subject of the book. --from the Preface


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.


Gnosis and Faith in Early Christianity

Gnosis and Faith in Early Christianity

Author: Riemer Roukema

Publisher: Burns & Oates

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13:

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In this introductory handbook, Riemer Roukema explores the meaning of the "gnosis" phenomenon and sets forth the relationship between Gnosticism and the church.


Backgrounds of Early Christianity

Backgrounds of Early Christianity

Author: Everett Ferguson

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 676

ISBN-13: 9780802822215

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New to this expanded & updated edition are revisions of Ferguson's original material, updated bibliographies, & a fresh dicussion of first century social life, the Dead Sea Scrolls & much else.


Pistis Sophia

Pistis Sophia

Author: G. R. S. Mead

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-02-20

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 1625584970

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Pistis Sophia is an important Gnostic text. It relates the Gnostic teachings of the transfigured Jesus to the assembled disciples including his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha. Pisti Sophia recounts that Jesus remained on earth after the resurrection for 11 years. In it the complex structures and hierarchies of heaven familiar in Gnostic teachings are revealed.


Introduction to "Gnosticism"

Introduction to

Author: Nicola Denzey Lewis

Publisher: OUP USA

Published: 2013-02-14

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780199755318

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Introduction to "Gnosticism": Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds is the first textbook on Gnosticism, guiding students through the most significant of the Nag Hammadi texts, grouping them by theme and genre, and revealing to the uninitiated their most inscrutable mysteries.


Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity

Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity

Author: Roelof van den Broek

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-10-26

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 9004439684

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The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library (1945) has given an enormous impetus not only to the study of ancient Gnosticism but also to that of early Christianity in general. Most of the studies contained in this volume deal with mythological conceptions and theological ideas found in various Nag Hammadi writings. The gnostic views on the nature of God and on creation and salvation receive particular attention, ranging from Philo to the medieval Cathars. The Nag Hammadi Library also shed new light on the development of early Alexandrian Christianity and its theology. The book contains six studies which explicitly deal with these topics. This volume is of interest to students of Gnosticism, early Christianity and Graeco-Roman religious and philosophical ideas in general.