Introduction

It is high time scholars and general readers alike should have the opportunity to contemplate and probe “the Gnostic World” as a whole, guided by the best up-to-date scholarship. An immense amount of ink is still being spilt on interpreting the Gnostic texts of Antiquity, in particular the Nag Hammadi Codices in Coptic from the early Christian centuries, materials from Egypt ranking with Judaea’s Dead Sea Scrolls among the most spectacular archeological discoveries ever. And more recently such a controversial text as the Gospel of Judas has come to light, along with the availability of previously secret scrolls and lead rolls held by the Mandaeans, extollers of John the Baptist, and different materials enabling us to be clearer about the rise of the Manichaeans, the most widespread of the ancient “Gnostic” systems. In these cases a veritable treasure house of what has been called ancient “Gnosticism” has opened up, its varied pieces inevitably beckoning explanation as a whole and asking for the means to place it in a bigger perspective. All the (admittedly understandable) excitement over the antique finds has been inspiration for holding in mind and better conceptualizing a Gnostic World that is both broader in scope than the special, often arcane lines of speculation first associated with early Christian heresies, and longer in time as a persisting and highly important current in the history of human thought. This book is designed as a collection of critical studies by experts to both widen and deepen study in Gnostic movements and strands of speculation as a discrete “World” of human socio-spiritual life from the distant past until today.