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."

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.

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.

This study traces the influence of Gnosis in European culture. Gnostic roots can be traced to the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch and William Blake, the romanticism of Novalis, the symbolic poetry of Gerard de Nerval, the dualistic writings of Herman Hesse, and to Heideggerean existentialism. Gnostic alternations between grace and damnation permeate the work of Luis Bunuel, and many others.;The idea that the body is the prison of the soul was expounded by Pythagoras, Plato, and the Orphics. Yet with the Gnostics the dualism of soul-spirit/body-matter became complete. Objects and lifeforms were created by an evil deity, whereas the souls embedded in them are particles chipped from an alien, boundless and eternal divinity. This book is interdisciplinary, combining personality theory, mythology and theology. It integrates ontological/ideological philosophy in bio-psycho-sociology. The claim is that Gnosis, Kabbala and Existentialism are the specific disciplines linking the dualities of human existence. Finally, an anthropocentric theory of religion is presented, which links history and transcendence through the mediation of the human.

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