Esoteric teaching in the Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria /
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The Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria (c.150-215 CE) has received much scholarly debate over whether it can be accorded the role of the third and highest phase of his pedagogy. This was a treatise that promised an account of the true philosophy of Christ set down for Christians seeking higher knowledge of doctrine. This book takes a new approach to deciphering the nature and purpose of these enigmatic books concentrating on the close relationship between method and doctrine, and the number and sequence of the texts as they have come down to us. The outcome is a concise summary of current scholarship on Clement's method and a fresh picture of how he applies it to the transmission of esoteric doctrines.
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1 online resource (xviii, 233 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-228) and index. :
9789047428282 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
From Judaism to Christianity : tradition and transition : a festschrift for Thomas H. Tobin, S.J., on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday /
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As a far reaching tribute to the distinguished career of Thomas H. Tobin, S.J., a team of outstanding biblical scholars has joined to offer essays on the religious milieu of the ancient Mediterranean region. Challenged by Hellenistic and Greco-Roman cultural and political domination, the religious struggles of Jewish and, later, Christian communities sought to maintain tradition as well as mitigate transition. Jewish responses to a Hellenistic world are revealed anew in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the works of Artapanus and Philo. Also, Christian views on the transitory world of the early centuries of the Common Era are brought to light in the New Testament literature, apocryphal texts, and Patristic writings. Professors and students alike will benefit from the depth and breadth of this fresh scholarship.
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Includes a biographical note on Thomas H. Tobin and a bibliography of his works (p. [xvii]-xxxii). :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-311) and indexes. :
9789004214859 :
0167-9732 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Practicing Gnosis : ritual, magic, theurgy, and liturgy in Nag Hammadi, Manichaean and other ancient literature : essays in honor of Birger A. Pearson /
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Ritual, magic, liturgy, and theurgy were central features of Gnosticism, and yet Gnostic practices remain understudied. This anthology is meant to fill in this gap and address more fully what the ancient Gnostics were doing. While previously we have studied the Gnostics as intellectuals in pursuit of metaphysical knowledge, the essays in this book attempt to understand the Gnostics as ecstatics striving after religious experience, as prophets seeking revelation, as mystics questing after the ultimate God, as healers attempting to care for the sick and diseased. These essays demonstrate that the Gnostics were not necessarily trendy intellectuals seeking epistomological certainities. They were after religious experiences that relied on practices. The book is organized comparatively in a history-of-religions approach with sections devoted to Initiatory, Recurrent, Therapeutic, Ecstatic, and Philosophic Practices. This book celebrates the brilliant career of Birger A. Pearson.
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1 online resource (ix, 571 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004248526 :
0929-2470 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Femme, Gnose et Manichéisme : De l'espace mythique au territoire du réel /
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The present volume offers twelve studies dealing with feminine figures in Gnosticism and Manichaeism. In Part One ("Images et symboles"), the Author unveils the hidden meaning of some feminine figures having played a role on the mythical scene of those trends. Some of these figures, borrowed from other traditions, have been deeply reworked by Gnostics or Manichees assuming thereby a new significance. An intermezzo ("Passages") investigates the presence of women names in titles preserved in the Nag Hammadi Library and the relationship between a female protagonist and a specific literary genre. Part Two ("Histoire et réalité") reconstructs the portraits of some women, especially Manichaean, to whom the historical inquiry gives life again, thanks to a fresh reading of first hand sources, as well of heresiological or archeological testimonies. Some of these studies have been previously published and have now been significantly updated and expanded. Some others are lectures on Feminine in Gnosticism and Manichaeism given by the Author in Sorbonne, Paris, since 1994. *** Les douze études que rassemble ce volume abordent sous différentes facettes le personnage de la femme dans la gnose et dans le manichéisme. Dans la première partie (« Images et symboles »), l'Auteur dévoile la signification cachée de quelques figures féminines qui ont joué un rôle sur la scène du mythe. Si les auteurs gnostiques et manichéens ont emprunté certaines d'entre elles à d'autres traditions, ils ont toutefois remodelé ces figures en profondeur en les chargeant d'une nouvelle signification. La deuxième partie (« Passages ») s'interroge sur la présence de noms féminins dans les titres conservés de la bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi et sur la relation éventuelle entre une protagoniste féminine et le choix d'un genre littéraire. La troisième partie (« Histoire et réalité ») reconstruit les portraits de quelques femmes, surtout manichéennes, dont les traits effacés se précisent grâce à une lecture originale de la documentation directe et des sources hérésiologiques, grâce aussi à l'apport de l'archéologie. Une partie de ces études, publiée auparavant, paraît ici sous une forme largement amplifiée. D'autres reprennent les thèmes de conférences sur la femme dans le manichéisme, données par l'Auteur à la Sorbonne entre 1997 et 2002.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047404019
9789004114524
Women and knowledge in early Christianity /
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Women and knowledge are interconnected in several ways in late ancient and early Christian discourses, not least because wisdom (Sophia) and spiritual knowledge (Gnosis) were frequently personified as female entities. Ancient texts deal with idealized women and use feminine imagery to describe the divine but they also debate women's access to and capacity of gaining knowledge. Combining rhetorical analysis with social historical approaches, the contributions in this book cover a wide array of source materials, drawing special attention to the so-called Gnostic texts. The fourteen essays, written by prominent experts of ancient Christianity, are dedicated to Professor Antti Marjanen (University of Helsinki).
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1 online resource (x, 379 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004344938 :
0920-623X ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.