Gnostic Anthropology

What is the origin of this humanity on planet Earth? What is the origin of all of the races, of Nature, of all which has been, is, and shall be? "There are facts, cosmic and geological events, that are worthwhile to study in these treatises of Gnostic anthropology. There is no doubt that Gnostic, scientific anthropology unveils all veils related with the origin of the human being and the universe." Moving far beyond the limitations of conventional thought, this book presents a view of this planet which is harmonious with all of our most ancient traditions, and indicates the path towards the resolution of our most fundamental problems.

Preliminary material /R. Van Den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren -- LIST OF PROFESSOR QUISPEL'S PUBLICATIONS /R. Van Den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren -- TRACES OF AN ALEXANDRIAN ORPHIC THEOGONY IN THE PSEUDO-CLEMENTINES /J. VAN AMERSFOORT -- THE RELIGIO-HISTORICAL RELEVANCE OF LK 20:34-36 /UGO BIANCHI -- THE CREATION OF ADAM'S PSYCHIC BODY IN THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN /R. VAN DEN BROEK -- DAĒNĀ, LICHTJUNGFRAU, ZWEITE GESTALT /CARSTEN COLPE -- THE ANGELS OF THE NATIONS AND THE ORIGINS OF GNOSTIC DUALISM /IOAN P. CULIANU -- GNOSTISCHE SPUREN BEI PLUTARCH /H. DÖRRIE -- ODES OF SOLOMON AND PSALMS OF MANI /H. J. W. DRIJVERS -- ELEMENTS GNOSTIQUES DANS L'ŒUVRE DE MACROBE /JACQUES FLAMANT -- SAMARITAN DEMIURGICAL TRADITIONS AND THE ALLEGED DOVE CULT OF THE SAMARITANS /JARL FOSSUM -- CHARGES OF “IMMORALITY” AGAINST VARIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS IN ANTIQUITY /ROBERT M. GRANT -- THE PROBLEM OF THE ANTI-GNOSTIC POLEMIC IN RABBINIC LITERATURE /ITHAMAR GRUENWALD -- LES SÉMITISMES DANS L'ÉVANGILE SELON THOMAS ESSAI DE CLASSEMENT /ANTOINE GUILLAUMONT -- POINTES ANTIGNOSTIQUES D'ORIGÈNE: LE QUESTIONNEMENT IMPIE DES ÉCRITURES /MARGUERITE HARL -- AN ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF THE STORY OF THE FLOOD IN THE APOCALYPSE OF ADAM /A. F. J. KLIJN -- LE LIVRE D'ADAM GEORGIEN /JEAN-PIERRE MAHÉ -- BAD WORLD AND DEMIURGE: A 'GNOSTIC' MOTIF FROM PARMENIDES AND EMPEDOCLES TO LUCRETIUS AND PHILO /JAAP MANSFELD -- CATALOGUES OF SINS AND VIRTUES PERSONIFIED (NHC 11,5) /GERARD MUSSIES -- JEWISH ELEMENTS IN CORPUS HERMETICUM I (POIMANDRES) /BIRGER A. PEARSON -- HELLENISTIC MAGIC: SOME QUESTIONS OF DEFINITION /ALAN F. SEGAL -- INTERPRETAZIONI GNOSTICHE E MISTERIOSOFICHE DEL MITO DI ATTIS /GIULIA SFAMENI GASPARRO -- ABERAMENTHŌ /MICHEL TARDIEU -- L'ICONOGRAPHIE D'ATTIS MOURANT /MAARTEN J. VERMASEREN -- UNE ANAPHORE INCOMPLÈTE? /H.A.J. WEGMAN -- GNOSIS AND THE MYSTERIES /R. MeL. WILSON -- “TERRA AUTEMSTUPIDA QUADAM ERAT ADMIRATIONE” /J.C.M. VAN WINDEN -- JEWISH GNOSTICISM? /EDWIN M. YAMAUCHI -- “THE TEACHINGS OF SILVANUS” (NHC VII,4) AND JEWISH CHRISTIANITY /J. ZANDEE -- INDEX OF SOURCES /Roel B. Van Den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren -- INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS /Roel B. Van Den Broek and M. J. Vermaseren.

Translated by R. McL. WilsonA full-scale study based on the documents of the Coptic Gnostic library found at Nag Hammadi providing a comprehensive survey of the nature, the teachings, the history and the influence of this religion.

Gnosticism developed alongside Judeo-Christianity over two thousand years ago, but with an important difference: It emphasizes, not faith, but direct perception of God--Gnosticism being derived from the Greek word gnosis, meaning "knowledge." Given the controversial premise that one can know God directly, the history of Gnosticism is an unfolding drama of passion, political intrigue, martyrdom, and mystery. Dr. Hoeller traces this fascinating story throughout time and shows how Gnosticism has inspired such great thinkers as Voltaire, Blake, Yeats, Hesse, Melville, and Jung.

The monologue of Romans 7 has proved central to the Christian West, where interpreters such as Augustine and Martin Luther have made the text into a paradigm for the plight of mankind, torn between the demands of God's goodness and its own sinful nature. Emma Wasserman argues that the monologue can be better contextualized within certain intellectual discourses alive in Paul's day. In light of certain Platonic traditions about the soul, the monologue emerges as the voice of reason or mind describing its defeat at the hands of passions and desires represented as sin. Especially as developed by Philo of Alexandria, Platonic traditions of representing extreme cases of immorality account for a number of difficult features of the text. Such traditions can account for the metaphors of enslavement, imprisonment, warfare, and death; the representation of the passions as sin and the association with the body, members, and flesh; the Platonic language about mind and the speaker's role in reasoning, reflecting, and judging; the problem of the law in the first part of the monologue (verses 7-13) and the plight of self-contradiction in the second (14-25). The reading thus finds that the speaker is reason or mind, recounting its discovery that it cannot put any of its good judgments into action because of the dominance of the passions.

“Lash is capable of explaining the mind-bending concepts of Gnosticism and pagan mystery cults with bracing clarity and startling insight. . . . [His] arguments are often lively and entertaining.”—Los Angeles Times Fully revised and with a new preface by the author, this timely update is perfect for readers of The Immortality Key. Since its initial release to wide acclaim in 2006, Not in His Image has transformed the lives of readers around the world by presenting the living presence of the Wisdom Goddess as never before revealed, illustrating that the truth of an impactful Gnostic message cannot be hidden or destroyed. With clarity, author John Lamb Lash explains how a little-known messianic sect propelled itself into a dominant world power, systematically wiping out the great Gnostic spiritual teachers, the Druid priests, and the shamanistic healers of Europe and North Africa. Early Christians burned libraries and destroyed temples in an attempt to silence the ancient truth-tellers and keep their own secrets. Not in His Image delves deeply into ancient Gnostic writings to reconstruct the story early Christians tried to scrub from the pages of history, exploring the richness of the ancient European Pagan spirituality—the Pagan Mysteries, the Great Goddess, Gnosis, the myths of Sophia and Gaia. In the 15th Anniversary Edition, Lash doubles down on his original argument against redemptive ideology and authoritarian deceit. He shows how the Gnostics clearly foresaw the current program of salvation by syringe, and places the Sophianic vision of life centrally in the battle to expose and oppose the evil agenda of transhumanism, making this well-timed update more relevant than ever. “Sometimes a book changes the world. Not in His Image is such a book. It is clear, stimulating, well-researched, and sure to outrage the experts. . . . Get it. Improve not just your own life, but civilization’s chances for survival.”—Roger Payne, author of Among Whales

In this penetrating and provocative assessment of the current state of religion and its effects on society at large, Philip J. Lee criticizes conservatives and liberals alike as he traces gnostic motifs to the very roots of American Protestantism. With references to an extraordinary spectrum of writings from sources as diverse as John Calvin, Martin Buber, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, and Emily Dickinson, he probes the effects of gnostic thinking on a wide range of issues. Calling for the restoration of a dialectical faith and practice, the book points to positive ways of restoring health to endangered Protestant churches.