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The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity by David Brakke is a history book available to read on EtoBox.

What is The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity about?

This book argues for a particular approach to the study of ancient "Gnosticism" and its rejection by "the Church." As the traditional story goes, a multiform religious movement, Gnosticism, arose in the first two centuries CE either as a mutation of Christianity or Judaism or as an independent religion that rapidly became intertwined with Christianity- Gnosticism-whether Sethian Gnosticism or Valentinianism or, later, Manichaeism-posed a serious threat to the Church, which was influenced by but eventually rejected it. The rejection of Gnosticism proved to be as crucial to the Church's developing orthodox character as its balanced acceptance and rejection of elements of "paganism" and Judaism.In recent years both of the key characters in this story, Gnosticism and the Church, have received heightened scrutiny from historians. As for "Gnosticism," some scholars argue that there was no single religious phenomenon that we can identify as Gnosticism in antiquity, and so the category itself is seriously flawed and should be discarded. Others continue to think that Gnosticism either provides an important and useful way to categorize a variety of religious movements or names an actual reli

Who reads The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity?

Author

David Brakke

Published

2011

Language

EN

Category

history

Subjects

History, Humanities

Rating

3.96 / 5 (47 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-13