Gnosticism
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Gnosticism, a religious sect associated with early Christianity.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Gnosticism, a sect associated with early Christianity. The Gnostics divided the universe into two domains: the visible world and the spiritual one. They believed that a special sort of knowledge, or gnosis, would enable them to escape the evils of the physical world and allow them access to the higher spiritual realm. The Gnostics were regarded as heretics by many of the Church Fathers, but their influence was important in defining the course of early Christianity. A major archaeological discovery in Egypt in the 1940s, when a large cache of Gnostic texts were found buried in an earthenware jar, enabled scholars to learn considerably more about their beliefs.
With:
Martin Palmer
Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture
Caroline Humfress
Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London
Alastair Logan
Honorary University Fellow of the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter
Producer: Thomas Morris.
Last on
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
听
听
听
听
听
听
READING LIST:
听
Willis Barnstone and Marvin Meyer, The Gnostic Bible: Gnostic Texts of Mystical Wisdom from the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (New Seeds Books, 2003)
听
David Brakke, The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual and Diversity in Early Christianity (Harvard University Press, 2010)
听
Giovanni Filoramo, A History of Gnosticism (Blackwell, 1992)
听
Hans-Joachim Klimkeit, Gnosis on the Silk Road (HarperCollins, 1993)
听
Bentley Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures: A New Translation with Annotations and Introductions (Doubleday, 1987)
听
Alastair Logan, The Gnostics: Identifying an Early Christian Cult (T&T Clark, 2006)
听
Christoph Markschies, Gnosis: An Introduction (T&T Clark, 2003)
听
Marvin Meyer and James M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The Revised and Updated Translation of Sacred Gnostic Texts (HarperOne, 2009)
听
Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (Phoenix, 2006)
听
Martin Palmer, The Jesus Sutras: Rediscovering the Lost Scrolls of Taoist Christianity (Wellspring/Ballantine, 2001)
听
Birger A. Pearson, Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature (Fortress Press, 2007)
听
James M. Robinson (ed.), The Nag Hammadi Library (HarperOne, 1990)
听
Riemer Roukema, Jesus, Gnosis and Dogma (T&T Clark, 2010)
听
Kurt Rudolph, Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism (HarperOne, 1987)
听
Michael A. Williams, Rethinking 鈥淕nosticism鈥�: An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category (Princeton University Press, 1999)
听
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Producer | Thomas Morris |
| Producer | Thomas Morris |
| Producer | Victoria Brignell |
| Producer | Victoria Brignell |
| Interviewed Guest | Caroline Humfress |
| Interviewed Guest | Caroline Humfress |
| Interviewed Guest | Alastair Logan |
| Interviewed Guest | Alastair Logan |
Broadcasts
- Thu 2 May 2013 09:00大象传媒 Radio 4
- Thu 2 May 2013 21:30大象传媒 Radio 4
Featured in...
![]()
Religion—In Our Time
Discussion of religious movements and the theories and individuals behind them.
In Our Time podcasts
Download programmes from the huge In Our Time archive.
The In Our Time Listeners' Top 10
If you鈥檙e new to In Our Time, this is a good place to start.
Arts and Ideas podcast
Download the best of Radio 3's Free Thinking programme.
Podcast
-
![]()
In Our Time
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas, people and events that have shaped our world.
