Transgression and Countercultural Gnosticism: A Review Essay of April DeConick’s The Gnostic New Age
This review essay presents and critically engages April DeConick’s The Gnostic New Age, thereby elucidating a series of theoretical problems currently facing the study of Gnosticism and ancient religion more broadly. Notably, a post-theoretical shift—identified as pervasive in the field of religious...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Review |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage
[2019]
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In: |
Studies in religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 49, Issue: 2, Pages: 253-267 |
Review of: | The gnostic new age (New York : Columbia University Press, 2016) (Tite, Philip L.)
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RelBib Classification: | AZ New religious movements BF Gnosticism |
Further subjects: | B
Book review
B Ancient Religion B method and theory B science cognitive de la religion B cognitive science of religion B théorie transgressive B post-theoretical shift B méthode et théorie B modern popular culture B culture populaire moderne B April DeConick B transgressive theory B Early Christianity B Gnosticisme B sociologie de la religion B religion ancienne B sociology of religion B christianisme primitif B Gnosticism B changement post-théorique |
Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
Summary: | This review essay presents and critically engages April DeConick’s The Gnostic New Age, thereby elucidating a series of theoretical problems currently facing the study of Gnosticism and ancient religion more broadly. Notably, a post-theoretical shift—identified as pervasive in the field of religious studies in the 2010s—has emerged in recent Gnostic studies, a shift that has failed to embrace the critical insights offered by Michael Williams (1996) and Karen King (2003) and is on the rise in Gnostic studies. In addition, a historical “mapping” (in the sense offered by J. Z. Smith) of ancient religion into dichotomies leaves us with a romanticized ”Gnosticism” and a caricatured understanding of ancient religion and ancient Christianity. On the positive side, however, DeConick illustrates a rising interest in studying the experiential in Gnosticism while advocating the application of cognitive science of religion. |
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ISSN: | 2042-0587 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Studies in religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0008429819884468 |