Gnosticism and the history of religions

Authored by David G. Robertson translated by Mohamed Abdullah Ghnousiyah and the history of religions author: David G. Robertson an overview introduction and index translation Mohamed Abdullah Ghnousiyah Gnosis is not a new subject in the Arab library; and until not long ago, most of our perceptions of Gnosis were derived from the defensive writings classified by the Church Fathers in response to Gnostic heresy. These writings contain summaries of the Gnostic beliefs, their books, and their prominent figures, while the texts of the Gnostics themselves were considered lost until recently. There was nothing new to add to what was in those defensive writings due to the lack of other sources. The motivation to translate this book is its addition to the Arab library, for two reasons: the first: its observation of the systematic split occurring within academic circles and how it reflected on the study of Gnosis; in this regard, the author repeatedly emphasizes the doctrinal rift in the study of Gnosis, which established “two Gnosises” and not one Gnosis; the first is Gnosis as a historical religion, and the second is what he called “Gnosis” or Gnostic knowledge; which some researchers considered as an “eternal” core beyond history, or rather a kind of esoteric religious practice that can exist at any time and place. The second: the author’s tracking of a number of contemporary Gnostic groups that appeared in the West, trying to trace the ways in which these groups connect themselves to the early Gnostics. Details number of pages: 366 book size: 17×24 publisher: Afaq Al-Ma’arifa