The Beliefnet Guide to Gnosticism and Other Vanished Christianities

Front Cover......Page 1
CONTENTS......Page 6
Preface......Page 10
Introduction: Not One Religion But Many......Page 18
The Invention of Orthodoxy......Page 22
The "Big Bang" Theory of Christian Origins......Page 25
Timeline: A Chronology of Early Christian History and Literature......Page 28
Jesus and Diversity......Page 32
Multicultural Paul......Page 36
Buried Treasure......Page 40
What Is a Gnostic?......Page 43
What Did the Christian Gnostics Believe?......Page 46
Hidden Knowledge-The Key That Unlocks the Spirit......Page 48
The Myth of Sophia......Page 51
Gnostic Anthropology......Page 54
Gnostic Systems of Salvation......Page 59
Gnostic Biblical Interpretation......Page 60
Demons and Angels......Page 61
Prayer and Mystical Language......Page 62
The Succession of Teachers......Page 63
Who Were the Sethians?......Page 66
What Did the Sethians Believe?......Page 68
Who Were the Valentinian Gnostics?......Page 75
What Did the Valentinians Believe?......Page 80
Who Were the Carpocratians?......Page 85
What Did the Carpocratians Believe?......Page 86
4. A Non-Gnostic Challenge to Orthodoxy......Page 93
Who Were the Marcionites?......Page 94
The Marcionite Scriptures......Page 95
Marcionite Theology......Page 98
5. The Other Gospels......Page 101
The Gospel of Mary......Page 104
The Gospel of Thomas......Page 107
The Gospel of the Savior......Page 109
6. Feeling the Burn: Ascetic Christianity and the Quest for Bodily Purity......Page 111
Who Were the "Continents" (aka Encratites)?......Page 113
A Different Kind of Romance Novel......Page 114
What Was Solitary Monasticism?......Page 119
Who Were the Boskoi?......Page 124
Who Were the Stylites?......Page 125
Who Were the "Fools for Christ"?......Page 126
Who Were the Vagrant Monks?......Page 127
7. Holy Rollers and Sacred Terrorists......Page 129
Who Were the Montanists?......Page 130
What Did the Montanists Believe?......Page 133
Who Were the Donatists and the Circumcellions?......Page 136
8. Challenges to Christianity from the Roman World......Page 144
Who Were the Manicheans?......Page 146
What Did the Manicheans Believe?......Page 148
Who Were the Hermeticists?......Page 152
The Legacy of the Hermeticists......Page 157
What Is Neoplatonism?......Page 158
What Did the Neoplatonists Believe?......Page 162
The Legacy of Neoplatonism......Page 165
APPENDIX 1 - Clement's letter to Theodore......Page 168
APPENDIX 2 - The Biblical Canon......Page 172
Glossary......Page 178
Suggestions for Further Reading......Page 184
About the Author......Page 192