Among the casualties of the western intervention in Iraq and the recent activities of ISIS are the Mandaeans of southern Iraq. Keepers of an ancient minority religious tradition, these peace-loving people may now be found in small numbers in such unlikely locations as Sydney, New Jersey, or Manchester. They have a claim to being the last Gnostics, The Mandaeans place weekly river baptisms at the centre of their religious life, and the primary exemplar, though not the founder, of their religion is claimed to be none other than John the Baptist. Could this really be true? Could an obscure middle-eastern ethnic religion really stretch all the way back to the Gnostics and John the Baptist?What is the real history of this mysterious and long-lived sect. What is their relationship to other ancient minority religions such as the Yazidis and Druze? Could they have influenced the Knights Templar? Do they preserve traces of ancient Babylonian religion? Could they really have a link with John the Baptist, and who was that mysterious figure? Was Jesus himself an apostate Mandaean?

Noreas bok er en samling av drommer og bilder. Gjennom fire fabler fortelles det om menneskets fall. Et frivillig fall som forer til skapelse, liv og dod. "Begrensningen er ditt eget verk. Slik du skaper ditt eget monstrum, slik vil du bli styrt av det."

In the second century, Valentinians and other gnosticizing Christians used numerical structures and symbols to describe God, interpret the Bible, and frame the universe. In this study of the controversy that resulted, Joel Kalvesmaki shows how earlier neo-Pythagorean and Platonist number symbolism provided the impetus for this theology of arithmetic, and describes the ways in which gnosticizing groups attempted to engage both the Platonist and Christian traditions. He explores the rich variety of number symbolism then in use, among both gnosticizing groups and their orthodox critics, demonstrating how those critics developed an alternative approach to number symbolism that would set the pattern for centuries to come. Arguing that the early dispute influenced the very tradition that inspired it, Kalvesmaki explains how, in the late third and early fourth centuries, numbers became increasingly important to Platonists, who engaged in arithmological constructions and disputes that mirrored the earlier Christian ones.

El Segundo Libro de Enoc (usualmente abreviado como 2 Enoc, y conocido tambien como Enoc eslavo o Los secretos de Enoc y "El Libro de Los Secretos de Enoc II" es un texto apocaliptico seudoepigrafico de fecha incierta y autoria desconocida. No esta relacionado con el mas antiguo 1 Enoc ni con otros dos libros de Enoc (3 y 4); la numeracion fue puesta por los estudiosos para distinguir los dos textos. Solo se ha conservado en eslavo eclesiastico, pero se sabe con certeza que es una traduccion de un original en griego. Se piensa que la version griega (desconocida) podria proceder a su vez de un original hebreo o arameo. Se han propuesto fechas de elaboracion que van desde el siglo I hasta el siglo X de nuestra era, aunque la mas aceptada es la primera. Fue descubierto por el profesor Matvej I. Sokolov en 1886 en los archivos de la Biblioteca Publica de Belgrado. Algunos comentaristas de la obra han hallado ciertas influencias cristianas, aunque no esta claro si corresponden al texto original o a sus posteriores traducciones y reelaboraciones. El libro comienza con el relato de Henoc, en primera persona, de un viaje a traves de los diez Cielos que culmina en un encuentro con Yahveh. Sigue una discusion sobre la creacion del mundo, y las instrucciones de Dios a Enoc para que regrese a la Tierra y difunda lo que ha aprendido. Las ensenanzas de Enoch duran treinta dias; a su termino Enoc regresa al Cielo y se transforma en el angel Metatron. A partir de este momento, la narracion pasa a la tercera persona y cuenta las historias de Matusalen, Nir (el hermano pequeno de Noe) y Melquisedec.

This book provides an anthology of sources highlighting Manichaeism, a gnostic religion which flourished largely clandestinely in the Near East, Central Asia, and China until the beginning of the seventeenth century. It translates and discusses the importance of a number of Arabic, Syriac, and Hebrew testimonies for a proper understanding of the cultural importance of what most scholars consider to be the first 'world religion.' Many of these sources are translated here into English for the first time.

This book addresses different theories related to the origin of Gnosticism. The author comes to the conclusion that, if we set aside the Christian substance, in Gnostic literature - besides Platonist philosophy - the most numerous influences come from Judaism. As they have, partially, reached Gnostic literature independent from Christianity, it could validate the theory according to which we should be searching for the origin of Gnosticism in certain Judaist circles. The author analyses the use of lore from the Old Testament and Judaism in Gnostic literature. Even though this does not prove that Gnosticism has evolved from Judaism, it still shows how extensively the Judaist world of thought influenced Gnosticism and how it gives us a reason to ask whether we should consider more thoroughly the theory according to which we should be searching for the founders of Gnostic lore within certain Judaist circles of antiquity. UEber den Ursprung der antiken Gnosis gibt es verschiedene Theorien, aber noch heute herrscht in dieser Frage in der Forschung kein Konsens. Der Autor dieses Buches betrachtet unterschiedliche Ursprungstheorien der Gnosis und kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass (abgesehen vom christlichen Stoff) neben den Einflussen des Mittelplatonismus der alttestamentliche und judische Stoff in der gnostischen Literatur die wichtigste Rolle spielt. Da der judische Stoff teilweise durch die Vermittlung des Christentums in die Gnosis gekommen ist, koennte das die alte Hypothese unterstutzen, dass die Gnosis innerhalb des Christentums entstanden sei. Doch gibt es eine Vielzahl gnostischer Texte, die vom Christentum nicht beeinflusst sind, in denen aber der alttestamentliche und judische Stoff eine sehr wichtige Rolle spielt. Diese Tatsache koennte nun die zweite alte Theorie unterstutzen, nach der die Wurzeln der Gnosis im antiken Judentum liegen. Der Autor der vorliegenden Arbeit analysiert den Gebrauch der alttestamentlichen und judischen UEberlieferungen und Motive in der gnostischen Literatur und kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass es nicht letztgultig bewiesen ist, dass die Gnosis aus dem Judentum heraus entstand. Doch zeigt die Untersuchung, wie grosse Bedeutung die alttestamentlichen und judischen Motive in der Gnosis gehabt haben. Dies gibt Anlass zu fragen, ob wir dennoch die Theorie ernsthaft zu erwagen haben, nach der der Ursprung der Gnosis in Kreisen des antiken Judentums zu suchen sei.

A distinctive Christian heresy? A competitor of burgeoning Christianity? A pre-Christian folk religion traceable to "Oriental syncretism"? How do we account for the disparate ideas, writings, and practices that have been placed under the Gnostic rubric? To do so, Karen King says, we must first disentangle modern historiography from the Christian discourse of orthodoxy and heresy that has pervaded--and distorted--the story.

Exciting discoveries of previously unknown ancient writings--especially the forty-six texts found at Nag Hammadi in 1945--are challenging historians of religion to rethink not only what we mean by Gnosticism but also the standard account of Christian origins. "The Gospel of Mary" and "The Secret Book of John," for example, illustrate the variety of early Christianities and are witness to the struggle of Christians to craft an identity in the midst of the culturally pluralistic Roman Empire. King shows how historians have been misled by ancient Christian polemicists who attacked Gnostic beliefs as a "dark double" against which the new faith could define itself. Having identified past distortions, she is able to offer a new and clarifying definition of Gnosticism. Her book is thus both a thorough and innovative introduction to the twentieth-century study of Gnosticism and a revealing exploration of the concept of heresy as a tool in forming religious identity.

Defining the term Gnosis and its relationship to Gnosticism, this book indicates why Gnosis may be preferable and sketches out the main problems. It then treats the sources, both those in the church fathers and heresiologists, and the more recent Nag Hammadi finds. It goes on to discuss early forms of Gnosis in antiquity, Jewish and Christian (New Testament) and the early Gnostics; the main representatives of Gnosis, especially Valentinus and Marcion; Manichaeism as the culmination and end-point of Gnosis; ancient communities of Gnostics; and finally Gnosis in antiquity and the present.

In this highly original work, Elaine Pagels demonstrates how evidence from gnostic sources may challenge the assumption that Paul writes his letters to combat "gnostic opponents" and to repudiate their claims to secret wisdom. Drawing upon evidence from the gnostic exegesis of Paul, including several Nag Hammadi texts, the author examines how gnostic exegetes cite and interpret key passages in the letters they consider Pauline-1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Hebrews. Besides offering new insight into controversies over Paul in the second century, this analysis of gnostic exegesis suggests a new perspective for Pauline study, challenging students and scholars to recognize the presuppositions-hermenuetical and theological-involved in their own reading of Paul's letters. Elaine H. Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. She is the author of The Gnostic Gospels, which won the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Johannie Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis, Adam, Eve, and the Serpent, and the best-selling Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas.

This volume is a pioneer study focused on a corpus of 89 fragments of exquisitely illuminated manuscripts that were produced under the patronage of the Turkic-speaking Uygurs in the Turfan region of East Central Asia between the 8th and 11th centuries CE. Through detailed analyses and interpretations aided by precise computer drawings, the author introduces an important group of primary sources for future comparative research in Central Asian art, mediaeval book illumination, and Manichaean studies.

An Incendiary Wake-Up Call to the World
What if the Old Testament is a work of fiction, Jesus never existed, and Muhammad was a mobster?
What if the Bible and the Qur'an are works of political propaganda created by Taliban-like fundamentalists to justify the sort of religious violence we are witnessing in the world today?
What if there is a big idea that could free us from the us-versus-them world created by religion and make it possible for us to truly love our neighbors--and even our enemies?
What if it is possible to awaken to a profound state of oneness and love, which the Gnostic Christians symbolized by the enigmatic figure of the laughing Jesus?
Discover for Yourself Why the Gnostic Jesus Laughs