About the Contributor(s): Geo Widengren (1907-1996) was a Swedish Orientalist and scholar of religion. He concentrated on the religions of the ancient Near East, and specifically of Iran. He also studied Judaism, Islam, and religious phenomenology. Birger A. Pearson is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Professor and Interim Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Even as public interest is attracted to this esoteric religion, Escholars have debated its origins, its relationship to Judaism and Christianity, and even whether one distinctive and separate Gnostic "religion" ever existed. Birger Pearson's expert and accessible introduction brings the reader into the debate. Directly addressing the nettling questions of origins and definition, Pearson situates the advent of Gnosticism within the Greco-Roman religious world and critically appraises the sources. With illustrations, maps, timeline, and bibliography, Pearson's volume facilitates the pursuit of gnosis, at least historically, by general readers, students and scholars alike.