Description
Book SynopsisRevealing the origins of today’s spirituality in the Gnostic tradition.
Trade ReviewA paradigm shift in our understanding of religion, breaking new ground in scholarship on Gnosticism. -- Birger A. Pearson, author of
Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and LiteratureAnyone interested in New Age spirituality in all its diversity and fullness will savor the pages of DeConick's latest masterpiece. Her portraits of ancient 'Gnostic' movements are provocative and compelling; finding connections between these ancient worldviews and our own through popular culture and movies is a stroke of absolute genius. -- Nicola Denzey Lewis, author of
Introduction to Gnosticism: Hidden Voices, Ancient WorldsDeConick has produced a fascinating, provocative, and readable interpretation of the Gnostic and Gnosticism. She emphasizes the transgressive nature of Gnostic spirituality, which confronted typical ancient spiritualities that made human beings subservient to the gods. Her book is a brave new salvo in the ongoing Gnostic Wars. -- Brent Landau, author of
Revelation of the Magi: The Lost Tale of the Wise Men's Journey to BethlehemScholarship on the histories of Gnosticism, esotericism, and mysticism has long glowed at the radioactive core of the comparative study of religion. April D. DeConick's work shines in this lineage. She demonstrates in rich detail how a new spiritual orientation that looks to a transcendent hidden God and engages in a radical criticism of ecclesial religion was first articulated in the ancient period and then resonated through the centuries to the present day, where it can best be seen in contemporary popular culture, film, and New Age thought, revelation, and experience. Enter the Gnostic New Age. -- Jeffrey J. Kripal, author of
The Serpent's Gift: Gnostic Reflections on the Study of ReligionDeConick offers a valuable corrective to the recent reluctance of many scholars to use the term Gnosticism. For her, Gnosticism is not so much an identifiable religion as it is a form of late-antique spirituality, an attempt to consciously realize that the essential human self is nothing less than the supreme divinity's very own life essence lying dormant and unrecognized within the core human self, waiting to be awakened and reunite with its divine source. DeConick illustrates this spirituality as analogous to various modern New Age movements reflected in contemporary literature and cinema. -- John D. Turner, coauthor of
Plato's Parmenides and Its Heritage, vol. 1: History and Interpretation from the Old Academy to Later Platonism and GnosticismDeConick has forcefully and elegantly thrown herself into the current scholarly debate on the Gnostics. In a book that is both rich in historical detail and passionate for deeper understanding, she argues not only that Gnostic spirituality provided a transformative and liberating experience for ancient devotees but also, even more, that it can challenge and subvert the views of religious questers of the present, illuminating the modern search for spiritual truth. -- Bart Ehrman, author of
Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the SaviorA readable and engaging overview of ancient Gnostic beliefs and practices (in all their wild diversity) and a clear, meaningful guide for making sense of the often-chaotic source materials. . . . [
The Gnostic New Age] is sure to become a reference point for scholarly debate. * Choice *
DeConick’s work is carefully researched, convincingly argued, and refreshingly accessible. * Reading Religion *
The indisputable merit of DeConick’s approach is that it allows us to grasp shifts that have been taking place in the articulations of gnosticism over long periods of time. -- Fryderyk Kwiatkowski * Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies *
In this engaging and provacative book, April D. DeConick enters the continuing discussion of how to define and interpret Gnosticism. -- David Brakke * Journal of Religion *
The author has performed a great service by showing the historical and continuing role of transgressive spirituality based on personal experience and representing a massive Gnostic awakening in our time. * Paradigm Explorer *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Matrix of Ancient Spirituality
2. The Gnostic True Man
3. Superpowers and Monsters
4. Paul and Gnostic Dogma
5. John and the Dark Cosmos
6. Gnostic Altered States
7. Hell Walks and Star Treks
8. Spiritual Avatars
9. The Pi of Politics
10. Pleasantville Religions
11. Gnosticism Out on a Limb
Bibliography
English Translation of Gnostic SourcesFilmographyIndex
