Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times (SUNY Series in Western Esoteric Traditions)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.22 (717 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0791436128 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 438 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-08-10 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
He has also written The Myth of the Phoenix: According to Classical and Early Christian Traditions and Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity.Also at the University of Utrecht, Wouter J. Roelof van den Broek is Emeritus Professor of the History of Christianity at the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. Hanegraaff is a Research Fellow in the Study of Religions. He is the author of New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought.
It traces the historical development of those religious traditions which have rejected a world view based on the primacy of pure rationality or doctrinal faith, emphasizing instead the importance of inner enlightenment or gnosis: a revelatory experience which was typically believed to entail an encounter with one's true self as well as with the ground of being, God. The contributors to this book demonstrate this perspective as fundamental to a variety of interconnected traditions. The development of this tradition is described from Renaissance hermeticists and practitioners of spiritual alchemy to the emergence of Rosicrucianism and Christian theosophy in the seventeenth century, and from post-enlightenment aspects of Romanticism and occultism to the present-day New Age movement.. Starting with the Italian humanist Renaissance, hermetic philosophy became of central importance to a new religious synthesis that can be referred to as Western Esotericism". In Antiquity, one finds the gnostics and hermetics; in the Middle Ages several Christian sects. This vo
These often confused and misperceived phenomena have been delineated crisply, in a way that permits this collection to serve nicely as a general introduction to the field. This book articulates a new standard of precision and clarity." -- Dan Merkur, author of Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of Mystical Visions and Unions "This work meets the current demand for scholarly, empirico-historical research in what the editors rightly denominate the 'third current' (the others are biblical faith and Greek rationality) of Occidental thought, i.e., Western Esotericism."-- Ralph Slotten, Dickinson College . "This collection presents in a clear and concise way a series of critical distinctions that collectively map the field: Hermetism, Gnosticism, gnosis, Manichaeism, Hermeticism, Catharism, Esotericism, Romanticism, and the New Age
Review the book not the edition Justin Lawson Im reviewing bc the other review is not of the book. The book is great and has very worthwhile essays about the role of hermeticism in many different contexts throughout history and in certain societies. hanegraaff kills it (in a good way) as usual. Damn near essential reading for any student of hermeticism or historian of esoteric religion(s).