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The Gnostics
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Download or read book The Gnostics written by David Brakke and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2012-09-03 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 ÒGnosticismÓ and the nature of early Christian diversity. Acknowledging that the category ÒGnosticismÓ 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.
Download or read book The Gnostics written by Tobias Churton and published by Barnes & Noble Publishing. This book was released on 1997 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Greek word 'gnosis' means knowledge; the Gnostics themselves used it to refer to the spiritual knowledge they believed would redeem them from what they regarded as the inherent evil of the material universe. As a mystical alternative tradition within Christianity, Gnosticism suffered the hostility of the official church and, as a result, remains largely unknown or misunderstood to this day.
Book Synopsis The Essence of the Gnostics by : Bernard Simon
Download or read book The Essence of the Gnostics written by Bernard Simon and published by Arcturus Publishing. This book was released on 2005-03-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For what is it that the All lacked, if not the knowledge of the Father?' - Gnostic text from the Gospel of Truth Long before there was a system of belief called Gnosticism there were those who reached for a special intimate knowledge of God and His mysterious ways. The possession of such knowledge, they believed, would bring salvation from suffering. All religious traditions acknowledged that the world is imperfect. Where they differ is in the explanations they offer for this imperfection - and in what they suggest might be done about it. While many religionists hold that humans are to be blamed for these imperfections, the Gnostics believed that the world is flawed because it was created in a flawed manner, thereby implicating the creator. Such a perspective was regarded as blasphemous by fellow-Christians at the dawn of the new religion, and led to the sect's persecution. Equally concerning were the Gnostics' liberal views regarding sex, the role of women, and toleration of other faiths. In The Essence of the Gnostics Bernard Simon offers a fascinating insight into this ancient and yet in many ways surprisingly contemporary faith, and explores the reasons for its current renaissance.
Book Synopsis A Gnostic Book of Hours by : June Singer
Download or read book A Gnostic Book of Hours written by June Singer and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Nag Hammadi Library with the different times of day and days of the week. She reveals for us the macrocosm of human experience in the microcosm of the passing hours and days. Reverent introspection in the moment yields recognition of the sacredness and eternity of who we are and what our lives mean. Book jacket.
Download or read book Gnostics written by Sean Martin and published by Oldacastle Books. This book was released on 2010-08-01 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnosticism is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ, nearly becoming the dominant form of Christianity, but was eventually branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. The long and diverse history of Gnosticism is recounted here, as well as reasons for its continued relevance today. Although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity, others examined here include that the world is imperfect because it was created by an evil god who was constantly at war with the true, good God; that Christ and Satan were brothers; that reincarnation exists; and that women are the equal of men. Also covered is the influence Gnostics had on the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, psychologist Carl Jung, the Existentialists, the New Age movement, and writers as diverse as William Blake, W. B. Yeats, Albert Camus, and Philip K. Dick.
Book Synopsis The Gnostic Gospels by : Elaine Pagels
Download or read book The Gnostic Gospels written by Elaine Pagels and published by Vintage. This book was released on 1989-09-19 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A provocative study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts.
Book Synopsis What is Gnosticism? by : Karen L. King
Download or read book What is Gnosticism? written by Karen L. King and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis The Gnostics by : Jacques Lacarriere
Download or read book The Gnostics written by Jacques Lacarriere and published by Peter Owen Publishers. This book was released on 2014-08-01 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnostics have always sought to “know” rather than to accept dogma and doctrine, often to their peril. This inquiry into Gnosticism examines the character, history, and beliefs of a brave and vigorous spiritual quest that originated in the ancient Near East and continues into the present day.Lawrence Durrell writes, “This is a strange and original essay, more a work of literature than of scholarship, though its documentation is impeccable. It is as convincing a reconstruction of the way the Gnostics lived and thought as D.H. Lawrence’s intuitive recreation of the vanished Etruscans.”
Book Synopsis Introduction to "Gnosticism" by : Nicola Denzey Lewis
Download or read book Introduction to "Gnosticism" written by Nicola Denzey Lewis and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2013-02-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis Against the Protestant Gnostics by : Philip J. Lee
Download or read book Against the Protestant Gnostics written by Philip J. Lee and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1993-08-19 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this penetrating and provocative assessment of the current state of religion and its effects on society at large, Philip J. Lee criticizes conservatives and liberals alike as he traces gnostic motifs to the very roots of American Protestantism. With references to an extraordinary spectrum of writings from sources as diverse as John Calvin, Martin Buber, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, and Emily Dickinson, he probes the effects of gnostic thinking on a wide range of issues. Calling for the restoration of a dialectical faith and practice, the book points to positive ways of restoring health to endangered Protestant churches.
Book Synopsis The Gnostic New Age by : April D. DeConick
Download or read book The Gnostic New Age written by April D. DeConick and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-27 with total page 515 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Book Synopsis The Nag Hammadi Library in English by : James McConkey Robinson
Download or read book The Nag Hammadi Library in English written by James McConkey Robinson and published by Brill Archive. This book was released on 1984 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis The Secret History of the Gnostics by : Andrew Phillip Smith
Download or read book The Secret History of the Gnostics written by Andrew Phillip Smith and published by Watkins Media Limited. This book was released on 2015-11-24 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Secret History of the Gnostics offers long-awaited illumination on the mystical movement that teaches 'gnosis' - knowledge of God as opposed to unquestioning faith. Acclaimed author Andrew Phillip Smith delves into the myths and practices of this ancient movement, exploring its popularity during 2nd century AD, its subsequent decline under the weight of orthodoxy in the Church, and its present-day resurgence. Gnosticism has travelled a fascinating path - from the Manichaeans in Modern Persia between the 3rd and 7th centuries AD, to the triumphs and tragedies of the Cathars in Southern Europe between the 12th and 14th centuries, to, finally, today's Mandaeans in Iraq. However, as the author points out, the revival of Gnosticism extends further than these narrow sects, offering inspiration to a legion of literary figures, including Dan Brown and Philip Pullman. Gnosticism's emphasis on personal over organized religion, in keeping with the doctrine of the early Christian era during which it thrived, has found particular resonance with today's multicultural world. The Secret History of the Gnostics is not simply an authoritative account of one sect's practical beliefs and customs - it is, in effect, a manifesto, an appeal to those inspired by or drawn to the Gnostic faith not to forget its origins.
Book Synopsis Knowledge of the Heart by : June Singer
Download or read book Knowledge of the Heart written by June Singer and published by Element Books, Limited. This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text is based on one of the great religious literary discoveries; the finding of the Gnostic Gospels in Upper Egypt in 1945. Following an introduction to the Gnostic tradition, June Singer chooses 56 excerpts from the gospels offering them as a focus for meditation or worship.
Book Synopsis The Gnostic World by : Garry W. Trompf
Download or read book The Gnostic World written by Garry W. Trompf and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-03 with total page 716 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gnostic World is an outstanding guide to Gnosticism, written by a distinguished international team of experts to explore Gnostic movements from the distant past until today. These themes are examined across sixty-seven chapters in a variety of contexts, from the ancient pre-Christian to the contemporary. The volume considers the intersection of Gnosticism with Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Indic practices and beliefs, and also with new religious movements, such as Theosophy, Scientology, Western Sufism, and the Nation of Islam. This comprehensive handbook will be an invaluable resource for religious studies students, scholars, and researchers of Gnostic doctrine and history.
Download or read book Gnosis written by Kurt Rudolph and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2001-06-20 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Translated by R. McL. WilsonA full-scale study based on the documents of the Coptic Gnostic library found at Nag Hammadi providing a comprehensive survey of the nature, the teachings, the history and the influence of this religion.
Download or read book Gnosticism written by Stephan A Hoeller and published by Quest Books. This book was released on 2012-12-13 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gnosticism developed alongside Judeo-Christianity over two thousand years ago, but with an important difference: It emphasizes, not faith, but direct perception of God--Gnosticism being derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Given the controversial premise that one can know God directly, the history of Gnosticism is an unfolding drama of passion, political intrigue, martyrdom, and mystery. Dr. Hoeller traces this fascinating story throughout time and shows how Gnosticism has inspired such great thinkers as Voltaire, Blake, Yeats, Hesse, Melville, and Jung.
