Author: Bentley Layton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Gnosticism
Languages : de
Pages : 456

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Author: Bentley Layton
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9789004061767
Category : Gnosticism
Languages : en
Pages : 452

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Author: John Douglas Turner
Publisher: Presses Université Laval
ISBN: 9782763778341
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 868

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Author: Dylan M. Burns
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
ISBN: 0812245792
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
In the second century, Platonist and Judeo-Christian thought were sufficiently friendly that a Greek philosopher could declare, "What is Plato but Moses speaking Greek?" Four hundred years later, a Christian emperor had ended the public teaching of subversive Platonic thought. When and how did this philosophical rupture occur? Dylan M. Burns argues that the fundamental break occurred in Rome, ca. 263, in the circle of the great mystic Plotinus, author of the Enneads. Groups of controversial Christian metaphysicians called Gnostics ("knowers") frequented his seminars, disputed his views, and then disappeared from the history of philosophy—until the 1945 discovery, at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, of codices containing Gnostic literature, including versions of the books circulated by Plotinus's Christian opponents. Blending state-of-the-art Greek metaphysics and ecstatic Jewish mysticism, these texts describe techniques for entering celestial realms, participating in the angelic liturgy, confronting the transcendent God, and even becoming a divine being oneself. They also describe the revelation of an alien God to his elect, a race of "foreigners" under the protection of the patriarch Seth, whose interventions will ultimately culminate in the end of the world. Apocalypse of the Alien God proposes a radical interpretation of these long-lost apocalypses, placing them firmly in the context of Judeo-Christian authorship rather than ascribing them to a pagan offshoot of Gnosticism. According to Burns, this Sethian literature emerged along the fault lines between Judaism and Christianity, drew on traditions known to scholars from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Enochic texts, and ultimately catalyzed the rivalry of Platonism with Christianity. Plunging the reader into the culture wars and classrooms of the high Empire, Apocalypse of the Alien God offers the most concrete social and historical description available of any group of Gnostic Christians as it explores the intersections of ancient Judaism, Christianity, Hellenism, myth, and philosophy.

Author: Richard T. Wallis
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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“Neoplatonism, a development of Plato’s metaphysical and religious teaching, whose best-known representatives were Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus, was the dominant philosophical school of the later Roman Empire and has been a major influence on European and Near Eastern thought and culture ever since. Yet, though Plotinus has gained fame as a mystic and Porphyry as a formidable opponent of the early Church, the school’s philosophy has been little studied in modern times, largely because of the difficulty of the Neoplatonists’ writings and the lack of a good summary exposition. This defect Dr Wallis seeks to remedy in this, the first full-length study of the school by a single author to appear for over half a century.Dr Wallis’ aim has been to assist readers of the Neoplatonists’ works by an analysis of their leading ideas, based on the most recent scholarship and explaining clearly both what they said and why they said it. Particular attention is given to doctrinal disagreements within the school, and special sections deal with the Neoplatonists’ treatment of Platonic and Aristotelian texts, their attitude to Christianity and their later influence. It is shown how from one point of view Neoplatonism marks a synthesis of Classical Greek thought, whereas from another it applies that synthesis to problems of religious experience and man’s inner life which had been relatively little discussed by its predecessors. It is this application of reason to inner experience, the author suggests, that gives Neoplatonism a continuing importance and special relevance to our own day.”- Publisher

Author: A. H. B. Logan
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 9780567097330
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Author: Tuomas Rasimus
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9047426703
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
This book offers a new understanding of Sethianism and the origins of Gnosticism by examining the mythology in and social reality behind a group of texts to which certain leaders of the early church occasionally attached the label ‘Ophite.’ In the unique Ophite mythology, which rewrites the Genesis paradise story and is attested, for example, in Irenaeus’ Adversus haereses 1.30, The Apocryphon of John and On the Origin of the World, the snake’s advice to eat of the tree of knowledge is considered positive, the creator and his angels are turned into demonic beasts and the true Godhead is presented as an androgynous heavenly projection of Adam and Eve. It is argued that Hans-Martin Schenke’s influential model of the ‘Sethian system’ only reveals part of a larger whole to which the Ophite material belongs as an important and organic component.

Author: R. van den Broek
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107031370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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

Author: Birger A. Pearson
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 9781451404340
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
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

Author: Edwin M. Yamauchi
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1592443966
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
One of the most important issues facing New Testament scholarship today is the issue of Gnosticism. So wrote the author in 1973 in the first edition. With the publication since then of the entire Nag Hammadi library, this observation has become even more incisive. Was there a pre-Christian Gnosticism? Did Gnosticism directly or indirectly influence nascent Christianity? Many modern scholars argue that Gnosticism preceded the emergence of New Testament Christianity and constituted the raw material from which the apostles formed their message about Jesus. The author here analyzes the evidence used to support this thesis. He notes a series of methodological fallacies in the use of this evidence and concludes that clearly Gnostic materials are late and pre-Christian materials are not clearly Gnostic. A new chapter in this paperback edition brings the discussion up to date.