Christopher Tuckett (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199212132
- eISBN:
- 9780191705922
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212132.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This book, which is the first in a series providing authoritative texts of key non-canonical gospel writings, comprises a critical edition, with full translations, of all the extant manuscripts of ...
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This book, which is the first in a series providing authoritative texts of key non-canonical gospel writings, comprises a critical edition, with full translations, of all the extant manuscripts of the Gospel of Mary. In addition, an extended Introduction discusses the key issues involved in the interpretation of the text, as well as locating it in its proper historical context, while a Commentary explicates points of detail. The gospel has been important in many recent discussions of non-canonical gospels, of early Christian Gnosticism, and of discussions of the figure of Mary Magdalene. This book should provoke future discussions of this important early Christian text.Less
This book, which is the first in a series providing authoritative texts of key non-canonical gospel writings, comprises a critical edition, with full translations, of all the extant manuscripts of the Gospel of Mary. In addition, an extended Introduction discusses the key issues involved in the interpretation of the text, as well as locating it in its proper historical context, while a Commentary explicates points of detail. The gospel has been important in many recent discussions of non-canonical gospels, of early Christian Gnosticism, and of discussions of the figure of Mary Magdalene. This book should provoke future discussions of this important early Christian text.
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195153859
- eISBN:
- 9780199834051
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195153855.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
The Mandaeans are a Gnostic sect that arose in the Middle East around the same time as Christianity. Although it is one of the few religious traditions that can legitimately claim a 2000‐year ...
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The Mandaeans are a Gnostic sect that arose in the Middle East around the same time as Christianity. Although it is one of the few religious traditions that can legitimately claim a 2000‐year literary history, there has been very little written about them in English. What little study of the religion there has been has focused on the ancient Mandaeans and their relationship to early Christianity. This book examines the lives and religion of contemporary Mandaeans, who live mainly in Iran and Iraq but also in diaspora communities throughout the world, including New York and San Diego (USA). The author seeks to cross the boundaries between the traditional history‐of‐religions study of the Mandaean religion (which ignores the existence of living Mandaeans) and the beliefs and practices of contemporary Mandaeans. She provides a comprehensive introduction to the religion, examining some of its central texts, mythological figures, and rituals, and looking at surviving Mandaean communities – showing how their ancient texts inform the living religion, and vice versa. The book is arranged in three parts: Beginnings; Rituals; and Native hermeneutics. A glossary and extensive endnotes are included.Less
The Mandaeans are a Gnostic sect that arose in the Middle East around the same time as Christianity. Although it is one of the few religious traditions that can legitimately claim a 2000‐year literary history, there has been very little written about them in English. What little study of the religion there has been has focused on the ancient Mandaeans and their relationship to early Christianity. This book examines the lives and religion of contemporary Mandaeans, who live mainly in Iran and Iraq but also in diaspora communities throughout the world, including New York and San Diego (USA). The author seeks to cross the boundaries between the traditional history‐of‐religions study of the Mandaean religion (which ignores the existence of living Mandaeans) and the beliefs and practices of contemporary Mandaeans. She provides a comprehensive introduction to the religion, examining some of its central texts, mythological figures, and rituals, and looking at surviving Mandaean communities – showing how their ancient texts inform the living religion, and vice versa. The book is arranged in three parts: Beginnings; Rituals; and Native hermeneutics. A glossary and extensive endnotes are included.
Christopher Tuckett
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199212132
- eISBN:
- 9780191705922
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199212132.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
This chapter examines the Gnostic nature of the Gospel of Mary. It argues that despite the lack of any explicit detailed account of a creation myth, or an explicit reference to the creation of the ...
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This chapter examines the Gnostic nature of the Gospel of Mary. It argues that despite the lack of any explicit detailed account of a creation myth, or an explicit reference to the creation of the world by a demiurge figure, there appears to be sufficient correlations with Gnostic themes and motifs — both in terms of general ideas and in terms of smaller details — to suggest that the Gospel of Mary is indeed Gnostic text, or at least sufficiently close to texts such as the Apocryphon of John to make a comparison between the texts fruitful and positive. However, whether we can be any more precise (e.g., assign the Gospel of Mary to a ‘Sethian’ or ‘Valentinian’ form of Gnosticism) remains uncertain.Less
This chapter examines the Gnostic nature of the Gospel of Mary. It argues that despite the lack of any explicit detailed account of a creation myth, or an explicit reference to the creation of the world by a demiurge figure, there appears to be sufficient correlations with Gnostic themes and motifs — both in terms of general ideas and in terms of smaller details — to suggest that the Gospel of Mary is indeed Gnostic text, or at least sufficiently close to texts such as the Apocryphon of John to make a comparison between the texts fruitful and positive. However, whether we can be any more precise (e.g., assign the Gospel of Mary to a ‘Sethian’ or ‘Valentinian’ form of Gnosticism) remains uncertain.
Terrance W. Klein
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199204236
- eISBN:
- 9780191708039
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199204236.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter takes up the biblical roots of grace, noting that grace begins its life as an act, specifically the human perception of being favoured by God. All revealed religions view their adherents ...
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This chapter takes up the biblical roots of grace, noting that grace begins its life as an act, specifically the human perception of being favoured by God. All revealed religions view their adherents as graced, or favoured by God, even if the purpose of this favouring is ultimately a more universal election for all peoples. In its encounter with non-biblical thought, specifically Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, the Galilean religion would be forced to defend what could be called ‘the emergence of history from nature’ and its proclamation of historical predilection on the part of God. St Augustine of Hippo will appear as grace's champion in this struggle, defending salvation history by recasting it as a great dialogical drama of love. It is argued that the passion driving Augustine was a personal, nuptial relationship, one inadequately expressed by the concept of nature, demanding instead that history be seen as the foundational horizon for grace.Less
This chapter takes up the biblical roots of grace, noting that grace begins its life as an act, specifically the human perception of being favoured by God. All revealed religions view their adherents as graced, or favoured by God, even if the purpose of this favouring is ultimately a more universal election for all peoples. In its encounter with non-biblical thought, specifically Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, the Galilean religion would be forced to defend what could be called ‘the emergence of history from nature’ and its proclamation of historical predilection on the part of God. St Augustine of Hippo will appear as grace's champion in this struggle, defending salvation history by recasting it as a great dialogical drama of love. It is argued that the passion driving Augustine was a personal, nuptial relationship, one inadequately expressed by the concept of nature, demanding instead that history be seen as the foundational horizon for grace.
Paul L. Gavrilyuk
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- November 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199269822
- eISBN:
- 9780191601569
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199269823.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The christological hymns and creedal statements of the first three centuries are characterized by a tension between Christ’s divine status and his subjection to human suffering. The Docetic attempt ...
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The christological hymns and creedal statements of the first three centuries are characterized by a tension between Christ’s divine status and his subjection to human suffering. The Docetic attempt to remove this tension was systematically opposed by the church. The reality of Christ’s suffering was especially emphasized in theological reflections upon the experience of martyrdom.Less
The christological hymns and creedal statements of the first three centuries are characterized by a tension between Christ’s divine status and his subjection to human suffering. The Docetic attempt to remove this tension was systematically opposed by the church. The reality of Christ’s suffering was especially emphasized in theological reflections upon the experience of martyrdom.
J. Kameron Carter
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195152791
- eISBN:
- 9780199870578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195152791.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
This chapter engages Irenaeus of Lyons's 2nd‐century critique of ancient Gnosticism in order to shed light on the inner workings of modernity's racial imagination, which is Gnostic in character. ...
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This chapter engages Irenaeus of Lyons's 2nd‐century critique of ancient Gnosticism in order to shed light on the inner workings of modernity's racial imagination, which is Gnostic in character. According to Irenaeus, central to ancient Gnosticism was its intellectual effort to oust all things Jewish from the Christian imagination. Ancient Gnosis, Irenaeus argued, was driven by an anti‐Jewish supersessionism that had come to infect Christian identity. The chapter's central contention is that the effort to supersede Judaism is what binds the vision of race at work in the forms and systems of thought marking modernity and the anthropology or vision of the human at work in those marking the ancient Gnostic movements.The chapter makes the claim that Irenaeus's Christological response to the ancient Gnostic problem is a critical resource for this book's contemporary theological response to the neo‐Gnosticism of race generally and whiteness in particular.Less
This chapter engages Irenaeus of Lyons's 2nd‐century critique of ancient Gnosticism in order to shed light on the inner workings of modernity's racial imagination, which is Gnostic in character. According to Irenaeus, central to ancient Gnosticism was its intellectual effort to oust all things Jewish from the Christian imagination. Ancient Gnosis, Irenaeus argued, was driven by an anti‐Jewish supersessionism that had come to infect Christian identity. The chapter's central contention is that the effort to supersede Judaism is what binds the vision of race at work in the forms and systems of thought marking modernity and the anthropology or vision of the human at work in those marking the ancient Gnostic movements.The chapter makes the claim that Irenaeus's Christological response to the ancient Gnostic problem is a critical resource for this book's contemporary theological response to the neo‐Gnosticism of race generally and whiteness in particular.
Bernard Schweizer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199751389
- eISBN:
- 9780199894864
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199751389.003.0000
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The introduction clarifies three main points about misotheism: a) the birth of modern misotheism with the romantic writers Blake and Shelley; b) the self-concealment of misotheism; and c) the fact ...
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The introduction clarifies three main points about misotheism: a) the birth of modern misotheism with the romantic writers Blake and Shelley; b) the self-concealment of misotheism; and c) the fact that misotheism does not imply amorality. The introduction further establishes misotheism’s relationship to Gnosticism, atheism, agnosticism, anti-clericalism, and deicide. Next, a rationale is given for choosing the term “misotheism” to denote God-hatred, while alternative terms such as theostuges, passionate atheism, and metaphysical rebellion are discussed. The work of Albert Camus, notably his ideas about metaphysical rebellion, is discussed in order to distinguish Camus’s from the author’s approach to God-hatred. The author further clarifies three different types of misotheism: absolute (deicide), agonistic (God wrestling), and political (anarchism) forms of misotheism. The introduction reiterates the claim that literature is the primary conduit for manifestations of misotheism.Less
The introduction clarifies three main points about misotheism: a) the birth of modern misotheism with the romantic writers Blake and Shelley; b) the self-concealment of misotheism; and c) the fact that misotheism does not imply amorality. The introduction further establishes misotheism’s relationship to Gnosticism, atheism, agnosticism, anti-clericalism, and deicide. Next, a rationale is given for choosing the term “misotheism” to denote God-hatred, while alternative terms such as theostuges, passionate atheism, and metaphysical rebellion are discussed. The work of Albert Camus, notably his ideas about metaphysical rebellion, is discussed in order to distinguish Camus’s from the author’s approach to God-hatred. The author further clarifies three different types of misotheism: absolute (deicide), agonistic (God wrestling), and political (anarchism) forms of misotheism. The introduction reiterates the claim that literature is the primary conduit for manifestations of misotheism.
Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195153859
- eISBN:
- 9780199834051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195153855.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
Starts by tracing the origin of the Mandaeans to the Jordan/Palestine area (from whence they emigrated, in the first to third centuries CE, to Iran and Iraq), and gives a brief history to the ...
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Starts by tracing the origin of the Mandaeans to the Jordan/Palestine area (from whence they emigrated, in the first to third centuries CE, to Iran and Iraq), and gives a brief history to the present. Next, the characteristics of the religion are outlined: Mandaeans are the only still surviving group of Gnostics; their religion has an extensive literature with multifarious mythological traditions and intricate rituals; and their world is essentially three‐tiered, with an upper (heavenly) Lightworld on which much emphasis is placed, a middle earthly human world (Tibil), and a gloomy Underworld (which does not receive much attention). An overview is given of ancient Mandaean literature (the Ginza; the liturgies; the Book of John; ritual commentaries; and other works). There is then a brief note on European traditional Mandaean scholarship, which also covers the work of Lady Ethel S. Drower (1879–1972), who broke traditional scholarly moulds and did much of her work on the Mandaeans in the field. Lastly, the parameters and purpose of the book are described.Less
Starts by tracing the origin of the Mandaeans to the Jordan/Palestine area (from whence they emigrated, in the first to third centuries CE, to Iran and Iraq), and gives a brief history to the present. Next, the characteristics of the religion are outlined: Mandaeans are the only still surviving group of Gnostics; their religion has an extensive literature with multifarious mythological traditions and intricate rituals; and their world is essentially three‐tiered, with an upper (heavenly) Lightworld on which much emphasis is placed, a middle earthly human world (Tibil), and a gloomy Underworld (which does not receive much attention). An overview is given of ancient Mandaean literature (the Ginza; the liturgies; the Book of John; ritual commentaries; and other works). There is then a brief note on European traditional Mandaean scholarship, which also covers the work of Lady Ethel S. Drower (1879–1972), who broke traditional scholarly moulds and did much of her work on the Mandaeans in the field. Lastly, the parameters and purpose of the book are described.
Vesna A. Wallace
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195122114
- eISBN:
- 9780199834808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195122119.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
This chapter looks at the Kālacakratantra and the Kālacakra tradition as a Buddhist gnostic system. To do this it examines the various ways in which the tantric system interprets gnosis and its ...
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This chapter looks at the Kālacakratantra and the Kālacakra tradition as a Buddhist gnostic system. To do this it examines the various ways in which the tantric system interprets gnosis and its functions, and delineates the practices for actualizing it. The different sections of the chapter discuss the individual in relation to gnosis; gnosis as the all‐pervading mind and as the four bodies of the Buddha; gnosis and mental afflictions; gnosis and karma; and gnosis and sexual bliss.Less
This chapter looks at the Kālacakratantra and the Kālacakra tradition as a Buddhist gnostic system. To do this it examines the various ways in which the tantric system interprets gnosis and its functions, and delineates the practices for actualizing it. The different sections of the chapter discuss the individual in relation to gnosis; gnosis as the all‐pervading mind and as the four bodies of the Buddha; gnosis and mental afflictions; gnosis and karma; and gnosis and sexual bliss.
Mary Orr
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199258581
- eISBN:
- 9780191718083
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199258581.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
The concluding chapter of Part One as Flaubert's fantastical examination of the ‘history of nineteenth‐century French religion(s)’ by analogy turns to the famous ‘tableau of the heresies’. Seznec ...
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The concluding chapter of Part One as Flaubert's fantastical examination of the ‘history of nineteenth‐century French religion(s)’ by analogy turns to the famous ‘tableau of the heresies’. Seznec first coined this designation in erudite essays published in the 1940s on Flaubert's sources in this tableau. No critic since has challenged Seznec's work, until now. Thanks to Hilarion's departure, Antoine's visions in this tableau are shown to offer the reader a ‘literal’ picture of the universal ‘church’, compartmentalised into Gnostic churches of many hues, all seeking true ‘knowledge’ (gnosis) and all with their angles on visionary experience. By re-reading Seznec and remapping the holy in the land of new religions (4th‐century Egypt and 19th‐century France), this chapter argues that Flaubert is re‐examining the Illuminist/Enlightenment sects and their leaders in his own times as comparable to the ‘heresiarchs’ and Gnostic churches of the time of Saint Anthony the Great.Less
The concluding chapter of Part One as Flaubert's fantastical examination of the ‘history of nineteenth‐century French religion(s)’ by analogy turns to the famous ‘tableau of the heresies’. Seznec first coined this designation in erudite essays published in the 1940s on Flaubert's sources in this tableau. No critic since has challenged Seznec's work, until now. Thanks to Hilarion's departure, Antoine's visions in this tableau are shown to offer the reader a ‘literal’ picture of the universal ‘church’, compartmentalised into Gnostic churches of many hues, all seeking true ‘knowledge’ (gnosis) and all with their angles on visionary experience. By re-reading Seznec and remapping the holy in the land of new religions (4th‐century Egypt and 19th‐century France), this chapter argues that Flaubert is re‐examining the Illuminist/Enlightenment sects and their leaders in his own times as comparable to the ‘heresiarchs’ and Gnostic churches of the time of Saint Anthony the Great.
Peter C. Hodgson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199273614
- eISBN:
- 9780191602443
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199273618.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The specifically Christian idea of God is as absolute spirit, which means that the divine life takes on a trinitarian structure: immediacy or self-identity, self-differentiation or positing of ...
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The specifically Christian idea of God is as absolute spirit, which means that the divine life takes on a trinitarian structure: immediacy or self-identity, self-differentiation or positing of otherness, and self-return or consummation. This is the life-process of spirit itself. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity articulates this insight in representational language that introduces numbers (three-in-one) and persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). In Hegel’s speculative reconstruction, God is to be understood not as three persons but as infinite personality or subjectivity, which constitutes distinctions within itself but suspends these distinctions and remains in unity with itself. Life, love, and friendship all exhibit this dialectical structure. Traces and anticipations of the Trinity are to be found in everything and everywhere—an insight grasped by a heterodox tradition going back to Pythagoreans, Neoplatonists, Gnostics, and German mystics such as Boehme.Less
The specifically Christian idea of God is as absolute spirit, which means that the divine life takes on a trinitarian structure: immediacy or self-identity, self-differentiation or positing of otherness, and self-return or consummation. This is the life-process of spirit itself. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity articulates this insight in representational language that introduces numbers (three-in-one) and persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit). In Hegel’s speculative reconstruction, God is to be understood not as three persons but as infinite personality or subjectivity, which constitutes distinctions within itself but suspends these distinctions and remains in unity with itself. Life, love, and friendship all exhibit this dialectical structure. Traces and anticipations of the Trinity are to be found in everything and everywhere—an insight grasped by a heterodox tradition going back to Pythagoreans, Neoplatonists, Gnostics, and German mystics such as Boehme.
Jeffrey A. Trumbower
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195140996
- eISBN:
- 9780199834747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195140990.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Examines those early Christians who believed that posthumous progress for the soul was possible. For some, this belief resulted in a view that ultimately, all human beings, perhaps even all rational ...
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Examines those early Christians who believed that posthumous progress for the soul was possible. For some, this belief resulted in a view that ultimately, all human beings, perhaps even all rational beings (including the devil) would be saved. The first text explored is one of the central texts of Christian Gnosticism, the Apocryphon of John, which espouses a doctrine of reincarnation for most souls until they achieve salvation. Next up are Origen of Alexandria (third century) and Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century), the two most famous exponents of universal salvation (a.k.a. “universalism”) in the early Church.Less
Examines those early Christians who believed that posthumous progress for the soul was possible. For some, this belief resulted in a view that ultimately, all human beings, perhaps even all rational beings (including the devil) would be saved. The first text explored is one of the central texts of Christian Gnosticism, the Apocryphon of John, which espouses a doctrine of reincarnation for most souls until they achieve salvation. Next up are Origen of Alexandria (third century) and Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century), the two most famous exponents of universal salvation (a.k.a. “universalism”) in the early Church.
Mark Sedgwick
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195152975
- eISBN:
- 9780199835225
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195152972.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter continues the early biography of Ren” Gu”non from 1909. It covers his membership in the Universal Gnostic Church and his Masonic contacts with Oswald Wirth, and ends with the dissolution ...
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This chapter continues the early biography of Ren” Gu”non from 1909. It covers his membership in the Universal Gnostic Church and his Masonic contacts with Oswald Wirth, and ends with the dissolution of the Belle Epoque occultist milieu during the First World War. The chapter also examines the influence on Gu”non of the ideas of the imperialist Albert de Pouvourville and of the Sufi Ivan Agu”li, and the origins of de Pouvourville’s and Agu”li’s ideas. It finally compares Agu”li with two other early Western Sufis, Isabelle Eberhardt and Rudolf von Sebottendorff, and examines the nature of their conversions to Islam.Less
This chapter continues the early biography of Ren” Gu”non from 1909. It covers his membership in the Universal Gnostic Church and his Masonic contacts with Oswald Wirth, and ends with the dissolution of the Belle Epoque occultist milieu during the First World War. The chapter also examines the influence on Gu”non of the ideas of the imperialist Albert de Pouvourville and of the Sufi Ivan Agu”li, and the origins of de Pouvourville’s and Agu”li’s ideas. It finally compares Agu”li with two other early Western Sufis, Isabelle Eberhardt and Rudolf von Sebottendorff, and examines the nature of their conversions to Islam.
Joel James Shuman and Keith G. Meador
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195154696
- eISBN:
- 9780199784714
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019515469X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
In the past 30 years, physicians and social scientists have begun to study the salutary effects of religious belief and practice on mental and physical health, concluding in general that a ...
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In the past 30 years, physicians and social scientists have begun to study the salutary effects of religious belief and practice on mental and physical health, concluding in general that a correlation exists between religiosity and health. Recently, some of these researchers have written for popular audiences, books and articles advocating religiosity for its health benefits. Generally speaking, these authors assume the existence of religion as such and of a universal human capacity for religiosity. This chapter suggests that the religion of this contemporary rapprochement is a distinctly modern phenomenon, a product of contemporary culture's cult of the self‐interested individual and a variant of the ancient Christian heresy called Gnosticism.Less
In the past 30 years, physicians and social scientists have begun to study the salutary effects of religious belief and practice on mental and physical health, concluding in general that a correlation exists between religiosity and health. Recently, some of these researchers have written for popular audiences, books and articles advocating religiosity for its health benefits. Generally speaking, these authors assume the existence of religion as such and of a universal human capacity for religiosity. This chapter suggests that the religion of this contemporary rapprochement is a distinctly modern phenomenon, a product of contemporary culture's cult of the self‐interested individual and a variant of the ancient Christian heresy called Gnosticism.
A. D. Nuttall
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184621
- eISBN:
- 9780191674327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184621.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, Drama
Those who look at Blake's picture of God the Father usually conclude that he was not a Christian. The Father for Blake is a jealous tyrant. This chapter suggests that long before William Blake, ...
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Those who look at Blake's picture of God the Father usually conclude that he was not a Christian. The Father for Blake is a jealous tyrant. This chapter suggests that long before William Blake, Gnosticism implies an alternative Trinity in which the Son opposes the Father.Less
Those who look at Blake's picture of God the Father usually conclude that he was not a Christian. The Father for Blake is a jealous tyrant. This chapter suggests that long before William Blake, Gnosticism implies an alternative Trinity in which the Son opposes the Father.
A. D. Nuttall
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198184621
- eISBN:
- 9780191674327
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198184621.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, Drama
This chapter looks at a strange tragedy by the Elizabethan Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe's Dr Faustus — the story of the magician who sold his soul to the Devil for knowledge and power — looks at ...
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This chapter looks at a strange tragedy by the Elizabethan Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe's Dr Faustus — the story of the magician who sold his soul to the Devil for knowledge and power — looks at first sight like the text for the Old Historicist. Much of the drama of the period is nervous about theology, too conscious of its own secular frivolity to engage with the deepest elements in the Christian world-view; but Marlowe's play is frankly — thunderously — theological. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a clearer case of a theocratic drama than this, in which the hero is taught the folly and wickedness of his presumption by being cast at the end into the fire of hell. Gnosticism and its connection with Marlowe's play are also discussed.Less
This chapter looks at a strange tragedy by the Elizabethan Christopher Marlowe. Marlowe's Dr Faustus — the story of the magician who sold his soul to the Devil for knowledge and power — looks at first sight like the text for the Old Historicist. Much of the drama of the period is nervous about theology, too conscious of its own secular frivolity to engage with the deepest elements in the Christian world-view; but Marlowe's play is frankly — thunderously — theological. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine a clearer case of a theocratic drama than this, in which the hero is taught the folly and wickedness of his presumption by being cast at the end into the fire of hell. Gnosticism and its connection with Marlowe's play are also discussed.
Bryan Shelley
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198122845
- eISBN:
- 9780191671562
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198122845.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
As Shelley had observed, no religion or nation can surpass each other without borrowing certain ideas from the other. This notion thus serves as the underlying principle of Shelley's own ...
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As Shelley had observed, no religion or nation can surpass each other without borrowing certain ideas from the other. This notion thus serves as the underlying principle of Shelley's own interpretation of imagery, biblical phraseology, and symbols. Shelley's ‘The Assassins’ attempts to describe a facet of Christianity that leaves out certain supernaturalist dogmas. First, Shelley confused a primitive Christian community with a heretical Islamic sect. Compared to the Ismaili sect who obey their Imam, Shelley's Assassins patronized individual reason. Also, Shelley believed that the Christian Assassins' views were similar to that of the Gnostics. One of the fundamental features of Gnosticism is its revisionist perspective toward Christian and Jewish Scriptures. As such, this chapter utilizes this viewpoint in analyzing Shelley's religious thought.Less
As Shelley had observed, no religion or nation can surpass each other without borrowing certain ideas from the other. This notion thus serves as the underlying principle of Shelley's own interpretation of imagery, biblical phraseology, and symbols. Shelley's ‘The Assassins’ attempts to describe a facet of Christianity that leaves out certain supernaturalist dogmas. First, Shelley confused a primitive Christian community with a heretical Islamic sect. Compared to the Ismaili sect who obey their Imam, Shelley's Assassins patronized individual reason. Also, Shelley believed that the Christian Assassins' views were similar to that of the Gnostics. One of the fundamental features of Gnosticism is its revisionist perspective toward Christian and Jewish Scriptures. As such, this chapter utilizes this viewpoint in analyzing Shelley's religious thought.
Bernard Pottier
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199552870
- eISBN:
- 9780191731037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199552870.003.0017
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Gifted with an exceptional temperament, a capacity for hard work, and a bold personality, Cardinal Daniélou published more than 60 books and 200 articles. As a young Jesuit, he founded the Sources ...
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Gifted with an exceptional temperament, a capacity for hard work, and a bold personality, Cardinal Daniélou published more than 60 books and 200 articles. As a young Jesuit, he founded the Sources chrétiennes series and contributed to the first volume of the journal, Dieu vivant. His favourite theologian was Gregory of Nyssa, and he drew out Gregory's understanding of epektasis, as well as writing a monumental three‐volume work on the first three Christian centuries. A peritus at Vatican II, he was, above all, a teacher and apostle. His ability to build links between very diverse ideas enabled him to formulate a new definition of Judeao‐Christianity and to draw out the influences of Middle Platonism. His work demonstrates the beauty of a panoramic learning, placed at the service of faith, prayer and liturgy.Less
Gifted with an exceptional temperament, a capacity for hard work, and a bold personality, Cardinal Daniélou published more than 60 books and 200 articles. As a young Jesuit, he founded the Sources chrétiennes series and contributed to the first volume of the journal, Dieu vivant. His favourite theologian was Gregory of Nyssa, and he drew out Gregory's understanding of epektasis, as well as writing a monumental three‐volume work on the first three Christian centuries. A peritus at Vatican II, he was, above all, a teacher and apostle. His ability to build links between very diverse ideas enabled him to formulate a new definition of Judeao‐Christianity and to draw out the influences of Middle Platonism. His work demonstrates the beauty of a panoramic learning, placed at the service of faith, prayer and liturgy.
Nevill Drury
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199750993
- eISBN:
- 9780199894871
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199750993.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and ...
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Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. It also draws on Classical Graeco-Roman mythology, Celtic cosmology, Kundalini yoga, Tantra, shamanism, Chaos theory, and the various spiritual traditions associated in many different cultures with the Universal Goddess. This book traces the rise of various forms of magical belief and practice from the influential late nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn through to the emergence in more recent times of Wicca and Goddess worship as expressions of contemporary feminine spirituality. It also explores Chaos Magick and the occult practices of the so-called Left-Hand Path, as well as tenty-first-century magical forays into cyberspace. Key figures profiled here include Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Austin Osman Spare, Rosaleen Norton, Gerald Gardner, Starhawk, Z. Budapest, Anton LaVey, Michael Aquino, Michael Bertiaux, H.R. Giger, Carlos Castaneda, Michael Harner, Peter J. Carroll, and Terence McKenna; all have contributed in different ways to the increasing fascination with mythic consciousness and archaic spirituality.Less
Twentieth-century Western magic has been shaped by many diverse influences, including Gnosticism and the Hermetica, the medieval Kabbalah, Tarot, and Alchemy, and more recently, Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. It also draws on Classical Graeco-Roman mythology, Celtic cosmology, Kundalini yoga, Tantra, shamanism, Chaos theory, and the various spiritual traditions associated in many different cultures with the Universal Goddess. This book traces the rise of various forms of magical belief and practice from the influential late nineteenth-century Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn through to the emergence in more recent times of Wicca and Goddess worship as expressions of contemporary feminine spirituality. It also explores Chaos Magick and the occult practices of the so-called Left-Hand Path, as well as tenty-first-century magical forays into cyberspace. Key figures profiled here include Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Austin Osman Spare, Rosaleen Norton, Gerald Gardner, Starhawk, Z. Budapest, Anton LaVey, Michael Aquino, Michael Bertiaux, H.R. Giger, Carlos Castaneda, Michael Harner, Peter J. Carroll, and Terence McKenna; all have contributed in different ways to the increasing fascination with mythic consciousness and archaic spirituality.
Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195320992
- eISBN:
- 9780199852062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195320992.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, World Religions
This chapter examines the ancient Hellenistic origins of Western esotericism. It explains that Western esoteric traditions have their basis in certain distinct patterns of thinking about the divine, ...
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This chapter examines the ancient Hellenistic origins of Western esotericism. It explains that Western esoteric traditions have their basis in certain distinct patterns of thinking about the divine, man, and the universe which stretch back into classical antiquity. These patterns of thoughts can be can be such ancient teachings as Alexandrian Hermetism, Neoplatonism, theurgy, and to a limited extent in Gnosticism, which all originated in the eastern Mediterranean area during the first few centuries A.D.Less
This chapter examines the ancient Hellenistic origins of Western esotericism. It explains that Western esoteric traditions have their basis in certain distinct patterns of thinking about the divine, man, and the universe which stretch back into classical antiquity. These patterns of thoughts can be can be such ancient teachings as Alexandrian Hermetism, Neoplatonism, theurgy, and to a limited extent in Gnosticism, which all originated in the eastern Mediterranean area during the first few centuries A.D.
