Table of Contents

Preface Abbreviations Introduction 1. Why Is Gnosticism So Hard to Define? 2. Gnosticism as Heresy 3. Adolf von Harnack and the Essence of Christianity 4. The History of Religions School 5. Gnosticism Reconsidered 6. After Nag Hammadi I: Categories and Origins 7. After Nag Hammadi II: Typology 8. The End of Gnosticism? Note on Methodology Bibliography Notes Index

Promotional Information

What is Gnosticism? offers an original and persuasive account of how we have come to speak of "gnosticism," and what various people have meant by that. Karen King's important new book transforms our understanding of the origins of Christianity. -- Elaine Pagels, Princeton University

About the Author

Karen L. King is Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School.

Reviews

What is Gnosticism? offers an original and persuasive account of how we have come to speak of "gnosticism," and what various people have meant by that. Karen King's important new book transforms our understanding of the origins of Christianity.
*Elaine Pagels, Princeton University*

[King's] is the pithiest and fairest overview to date of the subject.
*Times Literary Supplement*

Essential reading for serious students of Christian origins.
*Anglican Theological Review*

King's exposure of the confessional prejudices which have shaped the accounts of Gnosticism in Harnack and his successors is a valuable supplement to previous studies which have shown how our modern nomenclature fails to match the ancient sources. Where others have shown how scholarship has gone astray, she sets out to tell us why.
*Journal of Theological Studies*

[King's] volume offers a carefully considered, well-researched reflection on the state of Gnostic scholarship and a clear call for new approaches.
*Classical Bulletin*

What is Gnosticism? offers an original and persuasive account of how we have come to speak of "gnosticism," and what various people have meant by that. Karen King's important new book transforms our understanding of the origins of Christianity. -- Elaine Pagels, Princeton University
[King's] is the pithiest and fairest overview to date of the subject. -- Robert A. Segal * Times Literary Supplement *
Essential reading for serious students of Christian origins. -- Deirdre Good * Anglican Theological Review *
King's exposure of the confessional prejudices which have shaped the accounts of Gnosticism in Harnack and his successors is a valuable supplement to previous studies which have shown how our modern nomenclature fails to match the ancient sources. Where others have shown how scholarship has gone astray, she sets out to tell us why. -- Mark J. Edwards * Journal of Theological Studies *
[King's] volume offers a carefully considered, well-researched reflection on the state of Gnostic scholarship and a clear call for new approaches. -- Edward Moore * Classical Bulletin *