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Gnosticism
Gnosticism
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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1997
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© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions 1997, originally published by Oxford University Press 1997. (Hide copyright information)
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Gnosticism. A complex of religious movements, having at least some of its roots in Jewish and pagan thought but appearing in developed form as a Christian
heresy in the 2nd cent. Among the systems of that time, those of
Valentinus,
Basilides, and (somewhat apart from the rest)
Marcion are the best known.
Among points of difference from mainstream Christianity are (i) the distinction between the remote supreme Divine Being and the inferior
Demiurge or creator god responsible for the imperfect and perverted material world; (ii) the importance of
gnōsis (‘knowledge’) as a means of redemption for at least some people (sometimes called the
pneumatikoi, ‘spiritual ones’); and (iii) a
christology of Jesus as the emissary of the supreme God in
docetic human form.
The
Manichaeans,
Mandeans, and
Cathars may be in various ways descendants of the gnostics. The autobiography of C. G.
Jung shows the influence of gnosticism on his thought.
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A History of Gnosticism.
Magazine article from: The Christian Century; 11/8/1995; ; 700+ words
; ...through whom he linked paganism to Gnosticism. Satinover claimed that in its striving for wholeness Gnosticism accommodates matter as well as spirit...to transcend conventional morality, Gnosticism relativizes morality. Finally, in...
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What Is Gnosticism?
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 4/1/2005; ; 700+ words
; KAREN L. KING, What Is Gnosticism? (Cambridge/London: Belknap...neither a history nor a definition of Gnosticism, as one might expect from the title...that created the faulty category "Gnosticism." King's purpose is "to contribute...
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Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature.(Book review)
Magazine article from: Biblical Theology Bulletin; 2/1/2009; ; 700+ words
; Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature. By Birgir...familiar to anyone working in the field of Gnosticism and Nag Hammadi Studies. Produced...the past thirty years about ancient Gnosticism, much of it has been fairly impenetrable...
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Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature
Magazine article from: The Catholic Biblical Quarterly; 4/1/2008; ; 700+ words
; BIRGER A. PEARSON, Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature (Minneapolis...sources and testimonia. Ancient Gnosticism is a first-rate introduction...salient chapters entitled "What Is Gnosticism?" and "Gnostic Biblical Interpretation...
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What Is Gnosticism?(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Theological Studies; 9/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; WHAT IS GNOSTICISM? By Karen L. King. Cambridge, Mass...characteristics, there is no such thing as gnosticism. As a construct used to define the...normative Christianity, however, gnosticism thrives. The problem, K. argues...
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Shorter reviews -- Gnosticism and the New Testament by Pheme Perkins
Magazine article from: Interpretation; 1/1/1996; ; 700+ words
; Gnosticism and the New Testament, by Pheme Perkins...Perkins, an accomplished student of Gnosticism and of the New Testament, does just...narrative of the origins and development of Gnosticism, but to construct a mosaic of various...
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Gnostic Truth and Christian Heresy: A Study in the History of Gnosticism
Magazine article from: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society; 9/1/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...Christian Heresy: A Study in the History of Gnosticism. By Alastair H. B. Logan. Peabody...to reverse the current consensus on gnosticism's origin and development. Against...Stroumsa, he argues that "Sethian Gnosticism" is "basically a Christian phenomenon...
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Gnosticism and the New Testament.
Magazine article from: Theological Studies; 3/1/1995; ; 700+ words
; ...collections of essays on the relation of Gnosticism and the New Testament, this is the...P. treats the relationship between Gnosticism and the NT in three parts. "Gnostic...investigates the question of a non-Christian Gnosticism that may have emerged prior to or concurrently...
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Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition
Magazine article from: Journal of Biblical Literature; 10/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition, by John...no stranger to students of ancient Gnosticism. Indeed, he has been one of the leading...Codices as well as his work on Sethian Gnosticism. In this monumental and exhaustive...
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What is Gnosticism?
Magazine article from: Anglican Theological Review; 10/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; What is Gnosticism? By Karen L. King. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard...survey of twentieth-century scholarship on Gnosticism critiquing the scholarly construct of the category "Gnosticism" within the larger category of identity formation...
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Gnosticism
Dictionary entry from: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
GNOSTICISM. Gnosticism is a modern category used for defining a set of second-and third...Hebrew kabbalah, or Islamic esoteric traditions. However, in the Gnosticism of the second century c.e. a complex historical reality occurred...
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Main Leaders of Gnosticism
Encyclopedia entry from: Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained
Main Leaders of Gnosticism S imon Magus: The earliest known...Valentinus: Founder of the largest Gnosticism school which lasted into the fourth...able to return to God. Source: "gnosticism: ancient and modern." [online...
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Monism
Dictionary entry from: New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
...and plurality and difference are an illusion. Gnosticism. Gnosticism is the name given to various doctrines of salvation...religions as possible roots of Gnostic thought. Gnosticism came into contact with Judaism and early Christianity...
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Colossians, Paul's letter to the
Book article from: A Dictionary of the Bible
...Christians? Or loyal Jews? Although Gnosticism was most fully manifest in the 2nd cent...to the Colossians seems to reflect. Gnosticism was an eclectic mixture of speculation...pleroma (Col. 1: 19) as references to Gnosticism. On the other hand, the epistle does...
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Heresy
Book article from: -Ologies and -Isms
...they revered, had been maligned. Cf. Gnosticism . —Cainite , n. Catharism...Constantinople, who held extreme Arian views. Gnosticism the beliefs and practices of pre-Christian...orthodox Christian standards. Cf. Gnosticism . —Manichean , n., adj...
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