Cambridge Ancient History, Plates to Volume III The Middle East, the Greek World and the Bal... Book

Gnosticism (from gnostikos, "learned", from Greek: γνῶσις gnōsis, knowledge; Arabic: الغنوصية‎) is the thought and practice, especially of various sects of late pre-Christian and early Christian centuries, distinguished by the conviction that matter is evil and that emancipation comes through gnosis (knowledge). Filoramo's text explicates the nature of gnostic knowledge, the dualistic world view, and expands upon the the details of Gnosticism based on original texts. Gnosticism was primarily defined in a Christian context. Some scholars have claimed that Gnosticism pre-dated Christianity. Such discussions have included pre-Christian religious beliefs and spiritual practices argued to be common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism (especially Zurvanism), and Neoplatonism. The discussion of gnosticism changed radically with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library and led to revision of older assumptions. Although some scholars still postulate pre-Christian Gnosticism, no evidence has been found to date. It is now generally accepted that Gnosticism developed into a coherent movement only in the second century. It is this movement whose history the author successfully narrates in his economical tome.