An important addition to the Studies in Antiquity and Christianity series. This book, by one of the world's most renowned experts on Coptic Christianity and Gnosticism, contains the results of research that Pearson has conducted over the past several years. The first chapter alone is groundbreaking and contributes in significant ways to our understandings of the development of early Christianity in Egypt. In that chapter Pearson discusses current research on topics ranging from the growth of the Egyptian Christian hierarchy, the spread of Christianity from Alexandria into the Egyptian countryside, the origins of Egyptian monasticism, to Gnostic literature and Hermetic literature. In other chapters, Pearson nimbly ranges over a number of other topics from the Acts of Mark to Enoch in Egypt to Gnostic ritual and Gnostic iconography. This book is a classic of scholarship on early Christianity and adds immeasurably to our knowledge about these matters. Birger A. Pearson is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of The Emergence of the Christian Religion: Essays on Early Christianity and a co-editor of Nag Hammadi Codex VII.

Gnosticism and Christianity in Roman and Coptic Egypt (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity)

Religion & Spirituality

Pearson, Birger A.

Christian Books & Bibles

Bloomsbury T&T Clark

The Roots of Egyptian Christianity (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity)

Fortress Press

Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity (Studies in Antiquity & Christianity (Augsburg)) (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity)

Even as public interest is attracted to this esoteric religion, Escholars have debated its origins, its relationship to Judaism and Christianity, and even whether one distinctive and separate Gnostic "religion" ever existed. Birger Pearson's expert and accessible introduction brings the reader into the debate. Directly addressing the nettling questions of origins and definition, Pearson situates the advent of Gnosticism within the Greco-Roman religious world and critically appraises the sources. With illustrations, maps, timeline, and bibliography, Pearson's volume facilitates the pursuit of gnosis, at least historically, by general readers, students and scholars alike.

Ancient Gnosticism: Traditions and Literature

History

World

GNOSTICISM, JUDAISM, AND EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANITY [Paperback] [Jan 01, 1990] PEA...

Gnosticism, Judaism, and Egyptian Christianity

Middle East

A collection of ten essays which address the problems of the origins and early development of Christianity. This book represents more that three decades of reasearch by Pearson, Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus at the University of Santa Barbara and Professor and Interim Director of the Religious Studies Program at the University of California, Berkeley.

The Emergence of the Christian Religion

Americas

Continuum International Pub.

In this book, Birger Pearson argues for the study of Christianity as "one of the religions of the world" He proposes that the study of the New Testament and the other early Christian literature be moved out of the realm of theology and into the area of comparative research of religion. The book therefore addresses the problematic of Christian origins, that is, the historical process by which a new religion, Christianity, emerges out of an older one, Second Temple Judaism. Included are studies ranging from the prehistory of Christianity (Jesus, together with an illuminating, lengthy, and detailed critical analysis of the work of the Jesus Seminar and the trends in current North American gospel research it reflects) into the New Testament and up to the fourth century. A concluding chapter presents the author's reflections on scholarly methods used in the study of the Christian religion.

The Emergence of the Christian Religion: Essays on Early Christianity

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