From Jewish Magic to Gnosticism
by Attilio Mastrocinque
Attilio Mastrocinque examines the intriguing connection between magic and Gnosticism. Both Christian Gnostics and other heirs to Hellenistic Jewish Gnosis were committed to the study of astrology and what were known as magic arts and doctrines. Heretical Jews in Egypt envisaged the creator god as a snake producing the Nile flood and destroying the giants; in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC the Jews of the Leontopolite temple believed in the manifestation of God as a divine lion-headed man, a young god, a Son of God, whose name was Jaldabaoth. In the 2nd cent. CE the Christians condemned these two heretical figures and developed new forms of Gnosis, which were described and again condemned by orthodox Christian heresiologists. The orthodox Christian Church came to identify the religion of the Gnostics with magic, and even now our concept of magic is strongly influenced by ancient Christian ideology concerning Gnosis.
Attilio Mastrocinque examines the intriguing connection between magic and Gnosticism. Both Christian Gnostics and other heirs to Hellenistic Jewish Gnosis were committed to the study of astrology and what were known as magic arts and doctrines. Heretical Jews in Egypt envisaged the creator god as a snake producing the Nile flood and destroying the giants; in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC the Jews of the Leontopolite temple believed in the manifestation of God as a divine lion-headed man, a young god, a Son of God, whose name was Jaldabaoth. In the 2nd cent. CE the Christians condemned these two heretical figures and developed new forms of Gnosis, which were described and again condemned by orthodox Christian heresiologists. The orthodox Christian Church came to identify the religion of the Gnostics with magic, and even now our concept of magic is strongly influenced by ancient Christian ideology concerning Gnosis.
- By (author) Attilio Mastrocinque
Other Titles in this Series
The Gospel of Judas
Coptic Text, Translation, and Historical Interpretation of 'the Betrayer's Gospel'
Volume 64
Ignatius of Antioch and the Second Sophistic
A Study of an Early Christian Transformation of Pagan Culture
Visio mystica im Spannungsfeld fruhchristlicher Uberlieferungen
Die Lehre der sogenannten Antoniusbriefe von der Gottes- und Engelschau und das Problem unterschiedlicher spiritueller Traditionen im fruhen agyptischen Monchtum
Volume 52
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
Die Theologie des Kreuzes beim fruhen Cyrill von Alexandria
Dargestellt an seiner Schrift 'De adoratione et cultu in spiritu et veritate'
Volume 29
Der Libellus Carminum des Eugenius von Toledo
Poesie als Lebensbewaltigung und spirituelle Praxis
Volume 133
Kommunikation in der Kirche des 3. Jahrhunderts
Bischofe und Gemeinden zwischen Konflikt und Konsens im Imperium Romanum
Volume 92
Das Konzept des geistlichen Gehorsams bei Johannes Sinaites
Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte eines Elements orthodoxer Konfessionskultur
Volume 37
Die “Erzählung des Aphroditian”
Thema und Variationen einer Legende im Spannungsfeld von Christentum und Heidentum
Volume 53
Jakob von Sarug im Kontext der Entwicklung des syrischen Mönchtums
Mit einer Edition, Übersetzung und Kommentar seines Werks 'Über die Einsiedler'
Krankheit und ihre Behandlung
Studien zu Sophronios von Jerusalems Wundern der Heiligen Kyros und Johannes
Volume 118
Der Mensch zwischen Weltflucht und Weltverantwortung
Lebensmodelle der paganen und der judisch-christlichen Antike
Volume 87
Das offentliche Auftreten des Christentums im spatantiken Antiochia
Eine Studie unter besonderer Berucksichtigung der Agonmetaphorik in ausgewahlten Martyrerpredigten des Johannes Chrysostomos
Volume 109
Die Wurzel allen Ubels
Vorstellungen uber die Herkunft des Bosen und Schlechten in der Philosophie und Religion des 1.-4. Jahrhunderts. Ratio Religionis Studien III
Volume 91
Mia Energeia
Untersuchungen zur Einigungspolitik des Kaisers Heraclius und des Patriarchen Sergius von Constantinopel
Volume 66
Similar Books
Ars Prophetica
Theology in the Poetry of Twentieth-Century Hebrew Poets Avraham Halfi, Shin Shalom, Amir Gilboa, and T. Carmi
As Messianism Turns to Heresy
The Regenstein Chair Lectures On Lurianic Kabbalah and Shabbatai Tzevi at Hebrew Union College - Cincinnati
Connecting the Dots: Counting, Writing, and the Beginnings of Civilization
The Secret Lives of Clay Tokens: A Memoir
Curating the Prehistoric Past
Studies on West Asian Archaeology and Beyond in Honour of Yoshihiro Nishiaki
Exploring Gender Dynamics across the Ancient Near East
Collected Essays of Gender and Methodology in the Ancient Near East (GeMANE) 4 and 5
Volume 7
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
Ḫattušaš utnē išḫameški
Hittite and Other Ancient Near Eastern Studies Presented to Piotr Taracha on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday
Kultur – Kontakt – Kultur
Beiträge anlässlich der 66. Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale in Frankfurt/Main und Mainz, 25.–29. Juli 2022
Volume 35
Lobbying for Equality
Jacques Godard and the Struggle for Jewish Equality during the French Revolution
Money of Mercenaries in the Cimmerian Bosporus
From the Mithridatic Wars to the Roman-Bosporan War of AD 45-49
Volume 45
New Research on Old Collections in Southwest Asian Archaeology
Proceedings of the Workshop Held at the British Museum, London, 31 July – 2 August, 2023