Gnosticism and Its Metamorphoses
Dynamics of Development and Reworking of Gnostic Texts and Motifs from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century
Edited by Andrea Annese Edited by Francesco Berno
The essays gathered in this volume study selected examples of the development and reworking of Gnostic texts and ideas from antiquity to the twentieth century
The complex and multifaceted religious phenomenon called Gnosticism (a heuristic category) continues to fascinate both specialists and the wider audience. This volume explores the “metamorphoses” of Gnosticism, through the analysis of selected examples. Late antique Gnostic groups and schools of thought developed and even changed their ideas when interacting with other religious groups and with various sources. Confrontation and polemics with the so-called “Great Church” and with other Christian groups were crucial to doctrinal elaboration (of all parties involved). On a different side, one can trace the metamorphoses of Gnostic ideas through the centuries, as these ideas influenced, and were reinterpreted by, other religious and cultural traditions and currents, from Manichaeism to medieval dualistic movements, modern esotericism, and even contemporary literature. The essays gathered in this volume focus on two main topics, namely how ancient Gnostic groups developed their doctrines by interpreting and reworking their wide range of sources (Jewish, early Christian, Platonic ones, etc.), and how ancient Gnostic ideas and motifs survived – with new forms – in later philosophical, religious, and literary works, up to the twentieth century. The volume consists of three sections, the first being dedicated to early anti-Gnostic controversy in texts embedding Jewish-Christian and Petrine traditions and using Gnostic motifs for polemical purposes; the second to some treatises from the Nag Hammadi corpus and other Gnostic manuscripts (plus Epiphanius’ Panarion) so as to provide fresh insights into late antique Gnostic texts and groups; and the third to three case studies of the modern reception and reworking of Gnostic writings and ideas.
- Edited by Andrea Annese
- Edited by Francesco Berno
Other Titles in this Series
La ‘sacerdotalisation’ dans les premiers ecrits mystiques juifs et chretiens
Actes du colloque international tenu a l'Universite de Lausanne du 26 au 28 octobre 2015
Volume 22
‘Who is Sitting on Which Beast?’
Interpretative Issues in the Book of Revelation: Proceedings of the International Conference held at Loyola University, Chicago, March 30-31, 2017
Volume 29
Origines du christianisme. Recherche et enseignement a la Section des sciences religieuses de l’Ecole pratique des Hautes etudes, 1991-2017
Volume 14
Autorite et memoire
La reception de l'autorite epistolaire de Paul de Tarse du Ier au IIe siecle
Volume 18
Sacred Texts & Sacred Figures
The Reception and Use of Inherited Traditions in Early Christian Literature: A Festschrift in Honor of Edmondo F. Lupieri
Volume 25
Apocryphites
Etudes sur les textes et les traditions scripturaires du judaisme et du christianisme anciens
Volume 7
Regards croises sur la pseudepigraphie dans l’Antiquite / Perspectives on Pseudepigraphy in Antiquity
Volume 30
Texts, Practices, and Groups. Multidisciplinary approaches to the history of Jesus’ followers in the first two centuries
First Annual Meeting of Bertinoro (2-4 October 2014)
Volume 10
Les recits de la destruction de Jerusalem (70 ap. J.-C.)
contextes, representations et enjeux
Volume 19
Cristiani, ebrei e pagani
il dibattito sulla Sacra Scrittura tra III e VI secolo - Christians, Jews and Heathens: the Debate on the Holy Scripture between the Third and the Sixth Century
Volume 12
Du createur biblique au demiurge gnostique
Trajectoire et reception du motif du blaspheme de l'Archonte
Volume 15
Jewish-Christianity and the Origins of Islam
Papers presented at the Colloquium held in Washington DC, October 29-31, 2015 (8th ASMEA Conference)
Volume 13
L’invention du protomartyr Etienne
Saintete, pouvoir et controverse dans l'Antiquite (Ier-VIe s.)
Volume 21
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