INTRODUCTION TO GNOSTICISM
Subtitle: ANCIENT VOICES, CHRISTIAN WORLDS
By: Nicola Denzey Lewis, Brown University
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 305
ISBN-13: 9780199755318
Copyright date: 2013
Subjects: Textbooks; 11.19 ancient religions: other; Gnosticism; Gnosis; Nag Hammadi codices
Description: "In this outstanding book, Nicola Denzey Lewis provides a clear and lively introduction to the wide diversity of texts and religious views found in the Nag Hammadi collection. She explains the biblical and philosophical contexts of these writings, clarifies their complex myths and esoteric terminology, and shows how they speak to the perennial religious questions of God, death, and the meaning of the universe. Readers will be grateful to have this book by their side as they explore these fascinating texts."--David Brakke, The Ohio State University.

Discovered in Egypt in 1945, the fascinating and challenging Nag Hammadi writings forever changed our understanding of early Christianity. State-of-the-art and the only volume of its kind, Introduction to "Gnosticism": Ancient Voices, Christian Worlds guides students through the most significant of the Nag Hammadi texts. Employing an exceptionally lucid and accessible writing style, Nicola Denzey Lewis groups the texts by theme and genre, places them in the broader context of the ancient world, and reveals their most inscrutable mysteries.

Ideal for use in courses in Early Christianity/Origins of Christianity, Christianity to 1500, Gnostic Gospels, Gnosticism, Early Christian Writings, Orthodoxy and Heresy, and New Testament Studies, Introduction to "Gnosticism" is enhanced by numerous pedagogical features, including images of the manuscripts, study and discussion questions, annotated bibliographies, tables, diagrams, maps, and a glossary --Book Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: A fourth-century Christian library: the Nag Hammadi codices; title: The problem with gnosticism; title: The Roman Empire: religious landscapes; title: Christianity in the second-century empire: an overview; title: Gnostic prayer: Prayer of the Apostle Paul and Prayer of thanksgiving; title: Valentinus and the Valentinians; title: Some Valentinian writings from Nag Hammadi: Tripartite Tractate, Interpretation of knowledge, and A Valentinian exposition; title: Two Valentinian gospels: the Gospel of Truth and the Gospel of Philip; title: The Thomas literature: the Gospel of Thomas and the Book of Thomas the Contender; title: Sethian gnosticism: three steles of Seth; title: In the beginning: two creation myths: Hypostasis of the Archons and On the origin of the world; title: A classic text: the Apocryphon of John; title: A classic liturgical text: Gospel of the Egyptians (Book of the great invisible spirit); title: Dealing with death: the First apocalypse of James, the Second apocalypse of James, the Apocryphon of James, and Treatise on the Resurrection; title: Deconstructing the divine feminine: thunder: Perfect mind and Trimorphic Protennoia; title: What are pagan texts doing in a Christian library? Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth, Asclepius, and Plato's Republic; title: Apostolic traditions in conflict: Letter of Peter to Philip, Acts of Peter and the twelve disciples, and the Apocalypse of Peter; title: Apocalypse! Visions of the end: Apocalypse of Paul and Apocalypse of Adam; title: The Sethian platonizing apocalypses: Zostrianos, Allogenes, and Marsanes; title: Beyond Nag Hammadi: The Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene.