LEADER 07567nam 2201921 a 450 001 9910783190303321 005 20230801210033.0 010 $a1-4008-0853-7 010 $a9786612753190 010 $a1-282-75319-3 010 $a1-4008-2221-1 010 $a1-4008-1383-2 024 7 $a10.1515/9781400822218 035 $a(CKB)1000000000006876 035 $a(EBL)617295 035 $a(OCoLC)705527025 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000441770 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11290759 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000441770 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10408437 035 $a(PQKB)10257781 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000237090 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11199938 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000237090 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10189035 035 $a(PQKB)11686116 035 $a(OCoLC)51479005 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse36030 035 $a(DE-B1597)446101 035 $a(OCoLC)979749078 035 $a(DE-B1597)9781400822218 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL617295 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10031936 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL275319 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC617295 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000006876 100 $a19960212d1996 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurun#---|u||u 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aRethinking "Gnosticism" $ean argument for dismantling a dubious category /$fMichael Allen Williams 205 $aCourse Book 210 $aPrinceton, N.J. $cPrinceton University Press$dc1996 215 $a1 online resource (356 pages) 311 0 $a0-691-00542-7 311 0 $a0-691-01127-3 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [311]-327) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tCONTENTS --$tFIGURES AND TABLES --$tPREFACE --$tABBREVIATIONS --$tINTRODUCTION --$tCHAPTER ONE. What Kind of Thing Do Scholars Mean by "Gnosticism"?. A LOOK AT FOUR CASES --$tCHAPTER TWO. "Gnosticism" as a Category --$tCHAPTER THREE. Protest Exegesis? or Hermeneutical Problem-Solving? --$tCHAPTER FOUR. Parasites? or Innovators? --$tCHAPTER FIVE. Anticosmic World-Rejection? or Sociocultural Accommodation? --$tCHAPTER SIX. Hatred of the Body? or the Perfection of the Human? --$tCHAPTER SEVEN. Asceticism . . . ? --$tCHAPTER EIGHT . . . or Libertinism? --$tCHAPTER NINE. Deterministic Elitism? or Inclusive Theories of Conversion? --$tCHAPTER TEN. Where They Came From . . . --$tCHAPTER ELEVEN . . . and What They Left Behind --$tCONCLUSION --$tNOTES --$tMODERN WORKS CITED --$tINDEX 330 $aMost anyone interested in such topics as creation mythology, Jungian theory, or the idea of "secret teachings" in ancient Judaism and Christianity has found "gnosticism" compelling. Yet the term "gnosticism," which often connotes a single rebellious movement against the prevailing religions of late antiquity, gives the false impression of a monolithic religious phenomenon. Here Michael Williams challenges the validity of the widely invoked category of ancient "gnosticism" and the ways it has been described. Presenting such famous writings and movements as the Apocryphon of John and Valentinian Christianity, Williams uncovers the similarities and differences among some major traditions widely categorized as gnostic. He provides an eloquent, systematic argument for a more accurate way to discuss these interpretive approaches. The modern construct "gnosticism" is not justified by any ancient self-definition, and many of the most commonly cited religious features that supposedly define gnosticism phenomenologically turn out to be questionable. Exploring the sample sets of "gnostic" teachings, Williams refutes generalizations concerning asceticism and libertinism, attitudes toward the body and the created world, and alleged features of protest, parasitism, and elitism. He sketches a fresh model for understanding ancient innovations on more "mainstream" Judaism and Christianity, a model that is informed by modern research on dynamics in new religious movements and is freed from the false stereotypes from which the category "gnosticism" has been constructed. 606 $aGnosticism 607 $aRome$xReligion 610 $aAgainst the Galilaeans. 610 $aAgrippa Castor. 610 $aAnchorite. 610 $aAnthropomorphism. 610 $aAnti-Judaism. 610 $aAntinomianism. 610 $aAntipope. 610 $aApocalypse. 610 $aApocrypha. 610 $aApocryphon. 610 $aApostasy. 610 $aAsceticism. 610 $aBlasphemy. 610 $aBorborites. 610 $aCainites. 610 $aCatharism. 610 $aCelibacy. 610 $aCerdo (gnostic). 610 $aCerinthus. 610 $aChristian Identity. 610 $aChristian fundamentalism. 610 $aChristianity. 610 $aChurch Fathers. 610 $aClement of Alexandria. 610 $aConsubstantiality. 610 $aContra Celsum. 610 $aCreation myth. 610 $aDemiurge. 610 $aDemonization. 610 $aDialogue with Trypho. 610 $aDivine Spark. 610 $aDoctrine. 610 $aElohim. 610 $aEpiphanes (gnostic). 610 $aEpistle to the Laodiceans. 610 $aErnst Troeltsch. 610 $aExegesis. 610 $aExorcism. 610 $aFalse prophet. 610 $aGnosticism. 610 $aGod. 610 $aGood and evil. 610 $aGospel of Eve. 610 $aGospel of Philip. 610 $aHeresy of the Free Spirit. 610 $aHeresy. 610 $aHeterodoxy. 610 $aHoly Book of the Great Invisible Spirit. 610 $aIdeal type. 610 $aIncorruptibility. 610 $aInfidel. 610 $aIrenaeus. 610 $aJews. 610 $aJudaism. 610 $aJudas Iscariot. 610 $aJustification (theology). 610 $aJustin Martyr. 610 $aManichaeism. 610 $aMarcion of Sinope. 610 $aMarcionism. 610 $aMartyr. 610 $aMetempsychosis. 610 $aNew religious movement. 610 $aNicolaism. 610 $aOrthodox Judaism. 610 $aPlotinus. 610 $aPredestination. 610 $aProblem of evil. 610 $aPseudo-Philo. 610 $aPuritans. 610 $aPythagoreanism. 610 $aReform Judaism. 610 $aReligion. 610 $aReligious text. 610 $aRenunciation. 610 $aSacred prostitution. 610 $aSatan. 610 $aSect. 610 $aSecularization. 610 $aSelf-denial. 610 $aSethianism. 610 $aSexual Desire (book). 610 $aSexual abstinence. 610 $aSimon Magus. 610 $aSkepticism. 610 $aSophia (Gnosticism). 610 $aSpiritual marriage. 610 $aSpirituality. 610 $aSuperiority (short story). 610 $aTertullian. 610 $aThe Other Hand. 610 $aTheodicy. 610 $aTheodotus of Byzantium. 610 $aTheology. 610 $aThou shalt not commit adultery. 610 $aThou shalt not covet. 610 $aTractate. 610 $aWickedness. 610 $aWriting. 610 $aZostrianos. 615 0$aGnosticism. 676 $a299/.932 700 $aWilliams$b Michael A$087085 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910783190303321 996 $aRethinking "Gnosticism"$93844953 997 $aUNINA