1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910464448503321

Autore

Burns Dylan M

Titolo

Apocalypse of the alien god : Platonism and the exile of Sethian gnosticism / / Dylan M. Burns

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : , : University of Pennsylvania Press, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

0-8122-0922-2

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (342 p.)

Collana

Divinations : Rereading Late Ancient Religion

Disciplina

299/.932

Soggetti

Apocalyptic literature - History and criticism

Gnostic literature - History and criticism

Gnosticism

Neoplatonism

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- 1. Culture Wars -- 2. Plotinus Against His Gnostic Friends -- 3. Other Ways of Writing -- 4. The Descent -- 5. The Ascent -- 6. The Crown -- 7. Between Judaism, Christianity, and Neoplatonism -- Appendix: Reading Porphyry on the Gnostic Heretics and Their Apocalypses -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Acknowledgments

Sommario/riassunto

In the second century, Platonist and Judeo-Christian thought were sufficiently friendly that a Greek philosopher could declare, "What is Plato but Moses speaking Greek?" Four hundred years later, a Christian emperor had ended the public teaching of subversive Platonic thought. When and how did this philosophical rupture occur? Dylan M. Burns argues that the fundamental break occurred in Rome, ca. 263, in the circle of the great mystic Plotinus, author of the Enneads. Groups of controversial Christian metaphysicians called Gnostics ("knowers") frequented his seminars, disputed his views, and then disappeared from the history of philosophy—until the 1945 discovery, at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, of codices containing Gnostic literature, including versions of the books circulated by Plotinus's Christian opponents.



Blending state-of-the-art Greek metaphysics and ecstatic Jewish mysticism, these texts describe techniques for entering celestial realms, participating in the angelic liturgy, confronting the transcendent God, and even becoming a divine being oneself. They also describe the revelation of an alien God to his elect, a race of "foreigners" under the protection of the patriarch Seth, whose interventions will ultimately culminate in the end of the world. Apocalypse of the Alien God proposes a radical interpretation of these long-lost apocalypses, placing them firmly in the context of Judeo-Christian authorship rather than ascribing them to a pagan offshoot of Gnosticism. According to Burns, this Sethian literature emerged along the fault lines between Judaism and Christianity, drew on traditions known to scholars from the Dead Sea Scrolls and Enochic texts, and ultimately catalyzed the rivalry of Platonism with Christianity. Plunging the reader into the culture wars and classrooms of the high Empire, Apocalypse of the Alien God offers the most concrete social and historical description available of any group of Gnostic Christians as it explores the intersections of ancient Judaism, Christianity, Hellenism, myth, and philosophy.



2.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910783538603321

Autore

Birdsall Nancy

Titolo

Toward universal primary education : investments, incentives, and institutions / / Lead authors: Nancy Birdsall and Amina Ibrahim (Coordinators), Ruth Levine

Pubbl/distr/stampa

London ; ; Sterling, Va. : , : Earthscan, , 2005

ISBN

1-136-55007-0

1-280-47631-1

9786610476312

1-84977-357-2

600-00-0095-2

1-4237-0902-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (203 p.)

Classificazione

81.74

Altri autori (Persone)

IbrahimAmina

LevineRuth <1959->

Disciplina

372.0115

372.91724

Soggetti

Education, Elementary - Developing countries

Education, Primary - Developing countries

Education - Developing countries

Educational equalization - Developing countries

2

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

"Achieving the Millennium Development Goals"--Cover.

Sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme on behalf of the UN Development Group.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-183).

Nota di contenuto

Toward universal primary education: investments, incentives, and institutions; Copyright; Foreword; Contents; Task force members; Preface; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Millennium Development Goals; Executive summary; Part 1 Setting the stage; Chapter 1 The task force's contribution; Task force methods; Audience and organization of the report; The contribution of the task force; Chapter 2 Education and society: multiple benefits, unrealized potential; Education is society's main instrument for reproducing itself and can be a key ingredient for



social change

Education is an end in itself and has tremendous benefits for individuals and societyThe benefits of education are conditioned by the context; Chapter 3 The Goals and the history of goal-setting in education; Chapter 4 Trends in primary education and gender parity; A host of factors affect enrollment and retention rates; Learning achievement needs to be measured; Conclusions and future prospects; Part 2 Education systems in developing countries: income, institutions, and incentives; Chapter 5 Education systems in developing countries

High-performing educational systems can achieve results even with limited resourcesCountries with low-performing systems need to address a variety of governance problems; Conclusion; Chapter 6 Strategies for creating more and better educational opportunities; Strategy 1: get out-of-school children into school; Strategy 2: create better institutions, increase transparency, and provide better incentives; Chapter 7 Financing the education Goals; Part 3 Forging an international compact for education: roles and responsibilities of donors and developing countries

Chapter 8 A global compact for basic educationChapter 9 What donors should do; Recommendation 1: support bold political leadership and provide firm financial commitments to make Education for All and the Fast Track Initiative work; Recommendation 2: reform the donor business; Recommendation 3: use a transparent accountability framework for reporting; Recommendation 4: invest in genuine evaluation; Chapter 10 A call to action; Appendixes; Appendix 1. Commissioned papers for educational report

Appendix 2. Summary of the civil society e-discussion on the education report of the Task Force on Education and Gender EqualityAppendix 3. Success stories in policy interventions toward high quality universal primary education; Appendix 4. Data issues; Appendix 5. Major initiatives that promote the Millennium Development Goals on education and gender equality; Appendix 6. Need for postprimary education; Notes; References

Sommario/riassunto

The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, are the world's targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015?income poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter?while promoting gender equality, education, health and environmental sustainability. These bold goals can be met in all parts of the world if nations follow through on their commitments to work together to meet them.  Achieving the Millennium Development Goals offers the prospect of a more secure, just, and prosperous world for all.  The UN Mi