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| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Philosophy Tobias Churton, 2003 |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Gospels Elaine Pagels, 1989-09-19 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE WINNER • SELECTED BY THE MODERN LIBRARY AS ONE OF THE 100 BEST NONFICTION BOOKS • The landmark study exploring alternative perspectives of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts that could have shaped the religion differently if included in the Christian canon • [Pagels] is always readable, always deeply informed, always richly suggestive of pathways her readers may wish to follow out for themselves.—Harold Bloom, The Washington Post “[Pagels] writes with the instincts of a novelist, the skill of a scholar, and the ability to sort out significances that many writers lack.”—Chicago Tribune • “An intellectually elegant, concise study . . . The economy with which [Pagels] evokes the world of early Christianity is a marvel.”—The New Yorker The Gnostic Gospels is a work of luminous scholarship and wide popular appeal. First published in 1979 to critical acclaim, winning the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Gnostic Gospels has continued to grow in reputation and influence. It is now widely recognized as one of the most brilliant and accessible histories of early Christian spirituality published in our time. In 1945 an Egyptian peasant unearthed what proved to be the Gnostic Gospels, thirteen papyrus volumes that expounded a radically different view of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ from that of the New Testament. In this spellbinding book, renowned religious scholar Elaine Pagels elucidates the mysteries and meanings of these sacred texts both in the world of the first Christians and in the context of Christianity today. With insight and passion, Pagels explores a remarkable range of recently discovered gospels, including the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, to show how a variety of “Christianities” emerged at a time of extraordinary spiritual upheaval. Some Christians questioned the need for clergy and church doctrine, and taught that the divine could be discovered through spiritual search. Many others, like Buddhists and Hindus, sought enlightenment—and access to God—within. Such explorations raised questions: Was the resurrection to be understood symbolically and not literally? Was God to be envisioned only in masculine form, or feminine as well? Was martyrdom a necessary—or worthy—expression of faith? These early Christians dared to ask questions that orthodox Christians later suppressed—and their explorations led to profoundly different visions of Jesus and his message. Brilliant and stunning in its implications, The Gnostic Gospels is a radical, eloquent reconsideration of the origins of the Christian faith. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: What is Gnosticism? Karen L. King, 2003 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. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Gnosis Kurt Rudolph, 2001-06-20 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. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic World Garry W. Trompf, Gunner B. Mikkelsen, Jay Johnston, 2018-10-03 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. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Jung and the Seven Sermons to the Dead Stephan A Hoeller, 2012-12-13 Jungian psychology based on a little known treatise he authored in his earlier years. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Rebuilding the Foundations Paul Pavao, 2023-10 Most evangelical Christians believe that the smallest sin will cause eternal condemnation. This horrific falsehood and others underlie a Christian belief system that is imposed on the Bible rather than received from it. Paul Pavao uses the plain statements of Scripture to uproot the old foundations, lay out and establish the foundations clearly described in the Bible, and rebuild the basics of the faith. Verse after verse, called difficult by traditional teachers, click neatly into place when put into the Christian system taught by the apostles and once believed by all churches. J.T. Tancock, Welsh apologist, author, and Bible college teacher calls Rebuilding the Foundations explosive. He writes, It upsets apple carts, slays sacred cows, and demands that we 'go back to the Bible'. For all of those reasons all of us must read it.God shaped Paul's life, personality, circumstances, and spiritual upbringing to prepare him to write this book. I wrote Decoding Nicea to prove I could deal honestly with the facts and make solid historical sources available to the average Christian. That book was written as much to prove that I am qualified to write this book as for any other reason.Thousands of churches have hundreds of different theological systems. Converts to all branches of modern Christianity fall away in droves, most not even attending a church years down the road. Pastors know the majority of their congregants have little or no zeal for the things of Christ. A foundation of errors can only produce more errors, both theologically and practically. Building on what the apostle Paul called God's firm foundation can deliver us from those errors. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Valentinian Christianity , 2020-07-21 Valentinus, an Egyptian Christian who traveled to Rome to teach his unique brand of theology, and his followers, the Valentinians, formed one of the largest and most influential sects of Christianity in the second and third centuries. But by the fourth century, their writings had all but disappeared suddenly and mysteriously from the historical record, as the newly consolidated imperial Christian Church condemned as heretical all forms of what has come to be known as Gnosticism. Only in 1945 were their extensive original works finally rediscovered, and the resurrected “Gnostic Gospels” soon rooted themselves in both the scholarly and popular imagination. Valentinian Christianity: Texts and Translations brings together for the first time all the extant texts composed by Valentinus and his followers. With accessible introductions and fresh translations based on new transcriptions of the original Greek and Coptic manuscripts on facing pages, Geoffrey S. Smith provides an illuminating, balanced overview of Valentinian Christianity and its formative place in Christian history. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff, 1998-01-01 This volume introduces what has sometimes been called the third component of western culture. It traces the historical development of those religious traditions which have rejected a world view based on the primacy of pure rationality or doctrinal faith, emphasizing instead the importance of inner enlightenment or gnosis: a revelatory experience which was typically believed to entail an encounter with one's true self as well as with the ground of being, God. The contributors to this book demonstrate this perspective as fundamental to a variety of interconnected traditions. In Antiquity, one finds the gnostics and hermetics; in the Middle Ages several Christian sects. The medieval Cathars can, to a certain extent, be considered part of the same tradition. Starting with the Italian humanist Renaissance, hermetic philosophy became of central importance to a new religious synthesis that can be referred to as Western Esotericism. The development of this tradition is described from Renaissance hermeticists and practitioners of spiritual alchemy to the emergence of Rosicrucianism and Christian theosophy in the seventeenth century, and from post-enlightenment aspects of Romanticism and occultism to the present-day New Age movement. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Religion Hans Jonas, 1992 |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: A Dictionary of Gnosticism Andrew Phillip Smith, 2014-03-17 A Dictionary of Gnosticism is a scholarly yet accessible guide that covers the people, mythology, movements, scripture, and technical terms related to this pre-Christian Western religion. It contains nearly 1700 entries, from Aachiaram, an angel in the 'Secret Book of John to Zostrianos', a third-century Gnostic text, and is a reliable reference for the Nag Hammadi library and other Gnostic texts. An introduction explains who the Gnostics were and provides a whirlwind tour through the history of this captivating movement. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Gnostic Philosophy Tobias Churton, 2005-01-25 An extensive examination of the history of gnosticism and how its philosophy has influenced the Western esoteric tradition • Explains how the Gnostic understanding of self-realization is embodied in the esoteric traditions of the Rosicrucians and Freemasons • Explores how gnosticism continues to influence contemporary spirituality • Shows gnosticism to be a philosophical key that helps spiritual seekers remember their higher selves Gnosticism was a contemporary of early Christianity, and its demise can be traced to Christianity's efforts to silence its teachings. The Gnostic message, however, was not destroyed but simply went underground. Starting with the first emergence of Gnosticism, the author shows how its influence extended from the teachings of neo-Platonists and the magical traditions of the Middle Ages to the beliefs and ideas of the Sufis, Jacob Böhme, Carl Jung, Rudolf Steiner, and the Rosicrucians and Freemasons. In the language of spiritual freemasonry, gnosis is the rejected stone necessary for the completion of the Temple, a Temple of a new cosmic understanding that today's heirs to Gnosticism continue to strive to create. The Gnostics believed that the universe embodies a ceaseless contest between opposing principles. Terrestrial life exhibits the struggle between good and evil, life and death, beauty and ugliness, and enlightenment and ignorance: gnosis and agnosis. The very nature of physical space and time are obstacles to humanity's ability to remember its divine origins and recover its original unity with God. Thus the preeminent gnostic secret is that we are God in potential and the purpose of bona fide gnostic teaching is to return us to our godlike nature. Tobias Churton is a filmmaker and the founding editor of the magazine Freemasonry Today. He studied theology at Oxford University and created the award-winning documentary series and accompanying book The Gnostics, as well as several other films on Christian doctrine, mysticism, and magical folklore. He lives in England. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Nag Hammadi Library in English James McConkey Robinson, 1984 |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Judas and the Gospel of Jesus Nicholas Thomas Wright, 2006 N.T. Wright, an ancient historian, biblical scholar, and bishop, offers a Christian response to the discovery (and the sensation surrounding that discovery) of the Gospel of Judas. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Gnostic Trends in the Local Church Michael Philliber, 2011-10-17 Gnostic Trends in the Local Church lays out the basic tenets of ancient and modern Gnosticism. Though there are various authors who have written about Gnosticism over the past two decades, many of them deal with New Age teaching, or in a more limited manner, to answer the momentary surge of The Da Vinci Code and the Gospel of Judas. Instead of going in those directions, Gnostic Trends in the Local Church focuses on the more likely place one will meet Gnosticism: in their own home congregation. Michael W. Philliber shows what the trends look like within a congregation and offers ways to remedy them, while abstaining from alarmism. This is an important book for pastors and other congregational leaders for providing them with tools (modern, ancient, and biblical) that will help them guide their people more firmly into the historic Christian faith. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Bible Willis Barnstone, Marvin W. Meyer, 2009 This expanded edition of The Gnostic Bible includes the Gospel of Judas'the recently discovered and translated gnostic text that was an instant best seller on its original appearance in 2006-in its most accessible translation yet. Also included are such important and topical texts as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Gospel of Thomas. Religious thinkers engaged in the quest for wisdom and knowledge, the gnostics proclaimed that salvation could be found through mystical knowledge and intuition. Dating from the first to the thirteenth centuries, the texts in The Gnostic Bible represent Jewish, Christian, Hermetic, Mandaean, Manichaean, Islamic, and Cathar forms of gnostic spirituality, and they derive from Egypt, the Greco-Roman world, the Middle East, Syria, Iraq, China, France, and elsewhere. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Christless Christianity Michael Horton, 2008-11-01 Is it possible that we have left Christ out of Christianity? Is the faith and practice of American Christians today more American than Christian? These are the provocative questions Michael Horton addresses in this thoughtful, insightful book. He argues that while we invoke the name of Christ, too often Christ and the Christ-centered gospel are pushed aside. The result is a message and a faith that are, in Horton's words, trivial, sentimental, affirming, and irrelevant. This alternative gospel is a message of moralism, personal comfort, self-help, self-improvement, and individualistic religion. It trivializes God, making him a means to our selfish ends. Horton skillfully diagnoses the problem and points to the solution: a return to the unadulterated gospel of salvation. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Islamic Antichrist Joel Richardson, 2009 In 'The Islamic Antichrist', Richardson exposes Western readers to the traditions of Islam and predicts that the end times may not be far away. His book will stun readers unaware of the similarities between the Antichrisst and the Islamic Jesus. His research on the relationship between Christian end-time prophecy and Islamic expectations of world domination will shock readers and shape the debate over radical Islam for years to come. This is the book to read to understand Islam's potential role in fulfilling the prophecies of the Bible--Page 2 of cover. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Modern Gnosis and Zionism Yotam Hotam, 2013 This book explores the connections between Zionism and Life Philosophy, and argues that Life Philosophy represents a modern secularized version of gnostic dualism between God and world, and that this was a particular secular impulse that lay at the core of the Zionist political mission. Consisting of two main sections, the book first shows the manner in which Life Philosophy should be understood as a modern, secularized, gnostic theology, before concluding by discussing its political Zionist interpretation. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Not in His Image John Lash, 2006 Fully revised and with a new preface by the author, this timely update is perfect for readers of The Immortality Key. Since its initial release to wide acclaim in 2006, Not in His Image has transformed the lives of readers around the world by presenting the living presence of the Wisdom Goddess as never before revealed, illustrating that the truth of an impactful Gnostic message cannot be hidden or destroyed. With clarity, author John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. Early Christians burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets. Not in His Image delves deeply into ancient Gnostic writings to reconstruct the story early Christians tried to scrub from the pages of history, exploring the richness of the ancient European Pagan spirituality-the Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaia. In the 15th Anniversary Edition, Lash doubles down on his original argument against redemptive ideology and authoritarian deceit. He shows how the Gnostics clearly foresaw the current program of salvation by syringe, and places the Sophianic vision of life centrally in the battle to expose and oppose the evil agenda of transhumanism, making this well-timed update more relevant than ever--Publisher's description. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostics David Brakke, 2011 Brakke writes a pioneering study of the way the demon role relates to religious thinking and to cultural anxieties. The author's sources include biographies of exceptional monks, collections of monastic sayings and stories, letters from ascetic teachers to their disciples, sermons, community rules, and biblical commentaries. When monks imagined the resistance that they had to overcome in cultivating their selves or the temptation that offered an easier path, they saw supernatural beings that could take the shapes of animals, women, boys, and false angels in their attempts to seduce monks away from their devotion to God. And when they considered the inclinations in their own selves that opposed their best intentions, they concluded that demons introduced such problematic thoughts to their minds. Although the last twenty years has seen an explosion of scholarship on early Christian asceticism, producing brilliant explorations of the body, sexual renunciation, fasting, and gender, combat with demons has been left relatively unexplored. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gospel According to John , 1999 The publication of the King James version of the Bible, translated between 1603 and 1611, coincided with an extraordinary flowering of English literature and is universally acknowledged as the greatest influence on English-language literature in history. Now, world-class literary writers introduce the book of the King James Bible in a series of beautifully designed, small-format volumes. The introducers' passionate, provocative, and personal engagements with the spirituality and the language of the text make the Bible come alive as a stunning work of literature and remind us of its overwhelming contemporary relevance. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: After the New Testament Bart D. Ehrman, 1999 The remarkable diversity of Christianity during the formative years of the first three centuries has become a plain, even natural, fact for most ancient historians. However, until now there has been no source book of primary texts that reveals the many varieties of Christian beliefs, practices, ethics, experiences, confrontations, and self-understandings. To help readers recognize and experience the rich diversity of the early Christian movement, After the New Testament provides a wide range of texts, both orthodox and heterodox. It includes such works as the Apostolic Fathers, the writings of Nag Hammadi, early pseudepigrapha, martyrologies, anti-Jewish tractates, heresiologies, canon lists, church orders, Liturgical texts, and theological treatises. In addition, rather than including only fragments of texts, this collection provides substantial sections -- entire documents wherever possible -- organized under social and historical rubrics. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Against the Valentinians Tertullian of Carthage, 2019-05-15 Adversus Valentinianos, or Against the Valentinians, is a famous refutation of Valentinianism by Tertullian, an orthodox contemporary of the Gnostics and one of the first to investigate them |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Gnostic America Peter M. Burfeind, 2014-08-29 Gnostic America is a reading of current American culture, politics, and religious life according to the ancient movement known as Gnosticism. In it, Peter M Burfeind builds off the foundations of Hans Jonas, Denis de Rougement, Norman Cohn, William Voegelin, Carl Jung, and Harold Bloom, each of whom saw the effects of Gnosticism in contemporary American (and Western) life. He explores the spiritual mechanisms going on behind everything from transgenderism to so-called contemporary worship, from the deconstructionist movement to the role pop music and media have in our culture, from progressive politics to the Emergent Church. Particularly challenging is Burfeind's claim that both progressivism and Neo-evangelicalism -- seemingly at odds in the culture wars -- actually share the same Gnostic roots. Burfeind's book is a tour de force through contemporary rock, pop, movies, television, politics, and religion showing how many of the values driving these cultural elements are informed by the ancient esoteric teachings of Gnosticism. Burfeind marshals a ton of surprising evidence to make his case, taking us through ancient and Medieval history, through the Enlightenment and Romantic periods, to today. Those willing to grapple with the philosophical and spiritual positions of the fathers of contemporary American life will be rewarded. Gnostic America is a must read for those who sense a new spiritual but not religious religion has arisen in America, but who can't put their finger on what exactly this religion is. Burfeind commits the sacrilege of defining a religion that claims to be beyond definition. More importantly, he poses the question, if the spiritual trends of contemporary culture are indeed a religion, what First Amendment safeguards remain for those who haven't evolved with the emerging new consciousness, but choose to remain stuck in supposedly retrograde paradigms of thought? |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Secret History of the Gnostics Andrew Phillip Smith, 2015-11-24 Learn more about the myths, practices, history, and recent resurgence of Gnosticism as a Gnostic scholar seeks to answer why this Christian mystical movement has inspired the likes of Dan Brown and Philip Pullman 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. In addition to discussing the Gnostic gospels and the sect’s practical beliefs and customers, The Secret History of the Gnostics is also, in effect, a manifesto, an appeal to those inspired by or drawn to the Gnostic faith not to forget its origins. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Pauline Canon Stanley E. Porter, 2013-12-14 The Pauline letters continue to provoke scholarly discussion. This volume includes papers that raise a variety of questions regarding the canon of the Pauline writings. Some of the essays are more narrowly focused in their intent, sometimes concentrating upon a single dimension related to the Pauline canon, and sometimes upon even a single letter. Others of the essays are more broadly conceived and deal with how one assesses or accounts for the process that resulted in the letters as a collection, rather than analyzing individual letters. There are also mediating positions that attempt to overcome the disjunction between authenticity and inauthenticity by exploring the complex notion of interpolation. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Illusion of "Truth" Thomas Nehrer, 2014-02-28 The Illusion of Truth is a multifaceted look at Jesus of Nazareth, his message and religions created, not from his insights into reality, but on fantasy and lore concocted about him. Tom Nehrer builds on scholarly research through personal level of consciousness, exposing myths to find the real Yeshua who trod dusty roadways of first-century Judea. Understanding Jesus’ “Kingdom of Heaven within” requires extensive perspective. This book explores: Historical, social, political and traditional settings for Jesus appearance; The mindset of ancients – how superstitious peasants imagined divine manipulation; Modern man’s mindset – how causality is projected not only onto gods, but onto real world forces, luck, chance and fate, all illusory processes; How life really works – metaphysical connection of Self to Reality, an inner-outer flow; How beliefs create illusions – masking Reality’s flow with shared notions of “Truth” which isn’t.; Many caveats to accepting Gospel accounts as reliable reports of any substance; The real life of Jesus – how the man grew from first-century Jewish thinking to fully visionary status, aware of the Self as driving force in life; The Parables whose rich stories reveal Jesus’ awareness of the functional Oneness of Consciousness/Reality; A deeply critical look at Christianity – its early growth, smothering of alternate explanations and claims to represent true traditions back through the apostles to Jesus. That claim is shown as bogus, when Gospel writers only show apostles as unable to grasp Jesus’ Kingdom illustrations. The Illusion of “Truth” reveals not only how life works and how Jesus was fully aware of its meaning-based flow – but how Christianity grew from ancient notions and layered myth about Jesus, rather than insights from him. , |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Devil's Redemption : 2 Volumes Michael J. McClymond, 2018-06-05 2018 Book Award Winner, The Gospel Coalition (Academic Theology) A Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2019 Will all evil finally turn to good, or does some evil remain stubbornly opposed to God and God's goodness? Will even the devil be redeemed? Addressing a theological issue of perennial interest, this comprehensive book (in two volumes) surveys the history of Christian universalism from the second to the twenty-first century and offers an interpretation of how and why universalist belief arose. The author explores what the church has taught about universal salvation and hell and critiques universalism from a biblical, philosophical, and theological standpoint. He shows that the effort to extend grace to everyone undermines the principle of grace for anyone. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Paul Elaine Pagels, 1992-03-01 In this highly original work, Elaine Pagels demonstrates how evidence from gnostic sources may challenge the assumption that Paul writes his letters to combat gnostic opponents and to repudiate their claims to secret wisdom. Drawing upon evidence from the gnostic exegesis of Paul, including several Nag Hammadi texts, the author examines how gnostic exegetes cite and interpret key passages in the letters they consider Pauline-1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews. Besides offering new insight into controversies over Paul in the second century, this analysis of gnostic exegesis suggests a new perspective for Pauline study, challenging students and scholars to recognize the presuppositions-hermenuetical and theological-involved in their own reading of Paul's letters. Elaine H. Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She is the author of The Gnostic Gospels, which won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Johannie Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, and the best-selling Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Modern Revival of Gnosticism and Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus Kirsten J. Grimstad, 2002 This study explores the reappearance of Gnostic themes across the landscape of European literature and thought and in major works by Thomas Mann |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Interruption of Eternity Carl A. Raschke, 1980 |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostics Sean Martin, 2012-02-03 Gnosticism - derived from the Greek word gnosis, to know - is the name given to various religious schools that proliferated in the first centuries after Christ and, at one time, it almost became the dominant form of Christianity. Yet some Gnostic beliefs derive from the older Mystery traditions of Greece and Rome, and the various Gnostic schools came to be branded as heretical by the emerging Christian church. Indeed, although some Gnostic beliefs are close to mainstream Christianity Gnosticism also held that the world is imperfect as 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 were the equal of men As a result, the Gnostics held the Feminine Aspect of God - whom they addressed as Sophia, or Wisdom - in very high regard. They also stressed that we each have a spark of the Divine inside us which, when recognised and developed, will ultimately liberate us from the prison of the material world. Although largely stamped out by the Church by the sixth century, Gnosticism survived underground through groups such as the Bogomils and the Cathars, and influenced the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the 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. In this book, Sean Martin recounts the long and diverse history of Gnosticism, and argues for its continued relevance today. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Oxford Bibliographies Ilan Stavans, An emerging field of study that explores the Hispanic minority in the United States, Latino Studies is enriched by an interdisciplinary perspective. Historians, sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists, demographers, linguists, as well as religion, ethnicity, and culture scholars, among others, bring a varied, multifaceted approach to the understanding of a people whose roots are all over the Americas and whose permanent home is north of the Rio Grande. Oxford Bibliographies in Latino Studies offers an authoritative, trustworthy, and up-to-date intellectual map to this ever-changing discipline.--Editorial page. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The American Religion Harold Bloom, 2006 La 4ème de couv. indique : In this fascinating work of religious criticism, Harold Bloom examines a number of American-born faiths: Pentecostalism, Mormonism, Seventh-day Adventism, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Southern Baptism and Fundamentalism, and African American spirituality. He traces the distinctive features of American religion while asking provocative questions about the role religion plays in American culture and in each American's concept of his or her relationship to God. Bloom finds that our spiritual beliefs provide an exact portrait of our national character. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Complete Set Tyndale, Charles R. Swindoll, 2020-07 The complete 16-volume set of Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary draws on 13-time Christian Book Award winner Chuck Swindoll's more than 50 years of studying and preaching God's Word. Each volume includes both the NLT and NASB translations of the Bible, verse-by-verse commentary, charts, maps, photos, key terms, and background articles with practical application. A must-have for pastors, teachers, and anyone else who is seeking a deeply practical resource for exploring God's Word. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World John Piper, David F. Wells, D. A. Carson, Voddie Baucham Jr., Timothy Keller, 2007 Believers who wish to thrive in a postmodern world must cling to the joy, truth, and love that comes only from understanding Christ and his ultimate purpose in this world. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Discoveries Marvin W. Meyer, 2005-11-08 On the 60th anniversary of the discovery of ancient Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi, a leading scholar explains the historical significance and continuing influence of these alternative views of Christianity suppressed by the early church. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: The Gnostic Scriptures Bentley Layton, 1995 Ancient wisdom for the new age in gnostic scriptures which have been newly translated with annotations and commentary. |
| modern gnosticism beliefs: Against the Gnostics Plotinus, 2017-04-14 At least two modern conferences within Hellenic philosophy fields of study have been held in order to address what Plotinus stated in his tract Against the Gnostics and whom he was addressing it to, in order to separate and clarify the events and persons involved in the origin of the term Gnostic. From the dialogue, it appears that the word had an origin in the Platonic and Hellenistic tradition long before the group calling themselves Gnostics--or the group covered under the modern term Gnosticism--ever appeared. It would seem that this shift from Platonic to Gnostic usage has led many people to confusion. The strategy of sectarians taking Greek terms from philosophical contexts and re-applying them to religious contexts was popular in Christianity, the Cult of Isis and other ancient religious contexts including Hermetic ones (see Alexander of Abonutichus for an example).Plotinus and the Neoplatonists viewed Gnosticism as a form of heresy or sectarianism to the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy of the Mediterranean and Middle East. He accused them of using senseless jargon and being overly dramatic and insolent in their distortion of Plato's ontology. Plotinus attacks his opponents as untraditional, irrational and immoral and arrogant. He also attacks them as elitist and blasphemous to Plato for the Gnostics despising the material world and its maker.The Neoplatonic movement (though Plotinus would have simply referred to himself as a philosopher of Plato) seems to be motivated by the desire of Plotinus to revive the pagan philosophical tradition. Plotinus was not claiming to innovate with the Enneads, but to clarify aspects of the works of Plato that he considered misrepresented or misunderstood. Plotinus does not claim to be an innovator, but rather a communicator of a tradition. Plotinus referred to tradition as a way to interpret Plato's intentions. Because the teachings of Plato were for members of the academy rather than the general public, it was easy for outsiders to misunderstand Plato's meaning. However, Plotinus attempted to clarify how the philosophers of the academy had not arrived at the same conclusions (such as misotheism or dystheism of the creator God as an answer to the problem of evil) as the targets of his criticism. |
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Modern Optical
At Modern Optical, we believe all families deserve fashionable, affordable eyewear. Founded in 1974 by my father, Yale Weissman, Modern remains family-owned and operated as well as a …
MODERN Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
The meaning of MODERN is of, relating to, or characteristic of the present or the immediate past : contemporary. How to use modern in a sentence.
MODERN | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
MODERN definition: 1. designed and made using the most recent ideas and methods: 2. of the present or recent times…. Learn more.
Modern - Wikipedia
Modernity, a loosely defined concept delineating a number of societal, economic and ideological features that contrast with "pre-modern" times or societies Late modernity Art
Modern - definition of modern by The Free Dictionary
Characteristic or expressive of recent times or the present; contemporary or up-to-date: a modern lifestyle; a modern way of thinking. 2. a. Of or relating to a recently developed or advanced …
MODERN definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
modern is applied to those things that exist in the present age, esp. in contrast to those of a former age or an age long past; hence the word sometimes has the connotation of up-to-date …
Modern Muse Salon | Collierville TN - Facebook
Modern Muse Salon, Collierville, TN. 434 likes · 31 talking about this · 99 were here. Luxury hair salon located in Collierville at the corner of Poplar & Houston Levee!
What does modern mean? - Definitions.net
Modern typically refers to the present or recent times as opposed to the past. It commonly relates to developments or characteristics regarded as representative of contemporary life, or the …
MODERN Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
Modern means relating to the present time, as in modern life. It also means up-to-date and not old, as in modern technology. Apart from these general senses, modern is often used in a …
Modern Definition & Meaning - YourDictionary
Modern definition: Of, relating to, or being a living language or group of languages.
