Re: I would recommend other books above this one.
everynametaken Send a noteboard - 28/12/2009 05:15:36 PM
Calling the Bogomils Gnostics is like calling Baha'is Christians. Additionally, it sounds as though Smith is one of those people who got caught up in actually following Gnosticism as a means of reinterpreting Christianity to suit what they were looking for Christianity to say.
The study of gnosticism has come a long way since the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices made it fashionable. Michael Allen Williams' Rethinking "Gnosticism" is probably one of the best recent books on the subject. He analyses how the entire category "gnosticism" was invented by early Church fathers (particularly Irenaeus) as a catch-all phrase that was used to lump together divergent and in many cases contradictory branches of early Christianity. This is evident in the way that Gnostics are on the one hand said to be completely ascetic, and on the other hand, hedonistic.
Elaine Pagels is a great source of Gnostic information, with The Gnostic Gospels and The Gnostic Paul (the latter presupposes an understanding of the subject matter before reading). Freke & Gandy's controversial hypothesis in The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess should be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism as they have an attachment to Gnosticism as the "Answer". Still, it is a fun read.
Ultimately, even Ehrman's Lost Christianities is an acceptable reading choice on Gnosticism, though I don't like his pro-orthodox stance (note: "orthodox", not "Orthodox"). However, I think the best book on the subject is Fideler's Jesus Christ, Sun of God.
The study of gnosticism has come a long way since the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices made it fashionable. Michael Allen Williams' Rethinking "Gnosticism" is probably one of the best recent books on the subject. He analyses how the entire category "gnosticism" was invented by early Church fathers (particularly Irenaeus) as a catch-all phrase that was used to lump together divergent and in many cases contradictory branches of early Christianity. This is evident in the way that Gnostics are on the one hand said to be completely ascetic, and on the other hand, hedonistic.
Elaine Pagels is a great source of Gnostic information, with The Gnostic Gospels and The Gnostic Paul (the latter presupposes an understanding of the subject matter before reading). Freke & Gandy's controversial hypothesis in The Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Lost Goddess should be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism as they have an attachment to Gnosticism as the "Answer". Still, it is a fun read.
Ultimately, even Ehrman's Lost Christianities is an acceptable reading choice on Gnosticism, though I don't like his pro-orthodox stance (note: "orthodox", not "Orthodox"). However, I think the best book on the subject is Fideler's Jesus Christ, Sun of God.
I used Pagel's Gnostic Gospels as a source for my paper as well but I wasn't that impressed with it. I knew this review would spark a look by you and that you would probably have more recommendations and I appreciate you sharing them.
While it is doubtful that the Bogomils (or even the Cathars for that matter) were Christians in any real sense they still merit mention when it comes to Gnosticism, but he spends very little time (maybe two pages) on them. The Cathars are a much better documented belief system.
I do not know the depth of the other books you mentioned but one of the reasons I enjoyed this book as much as I did is because it was straightforward about the core beliefs of the different Gnostic groups. For example, I found another book in the library that had a detailed discussion of the tiered structure of the Aeons that the Valentinans believed in (one group of them anyways). It was quite complex, probably enough to scare a new reader on the subject away from further investigation. This book not only explained concepts like the Aeons well but it didn't go too far; it had just enough info to explain the core belies but not get too complex.
The discussion of the invention of orthodoxy does merit discussion but it wasn't really the purpose of this book. It sounds like several of the authors you mention go down that road in much more depth. It is definitely something I find interesting and I could "feel" Smith wanting to pursue it in a few places but he didn't and I can appreciate that, as I said it would have taken away from the gist of this book which was to explain the core beliefs of different Gnostic groups through history.
The book by Williams that you recommended sounded very good, it is something I will add to the old "list" for sure. Thanks for the response to the review.
But wine was the great assassin of both tradition and propriety...
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
-Brandon Sanderson, The Way of Kings
The Gnostics by Andrew Phillip Smith ( 2008 )
- 28/12/2009 04:36:34 AM
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I would recommend other books above this one.
- 28/12/2009 04:04:29 PM
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Re: I would recommend other books above this one.
- 28/12/2009 05:15:36 PM
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Even before I clicked on this response, I knew you'd mention Pagels 
- 29/12/2009 01:47:49 AM
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- 29/12/2009 01:47:49 AM
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*NM*