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The Gnostic New Age: How a Countercultural Spirituality Revolutionized Religion from Antiquity to Today
Gnosticism is a countercultural spirituality that forever changed the practice of Christianity. Before it emerged in the second century, passage to the afterlife required obedience to God and king. Gnosticism proposed that human beings were manifestations of the divine, unsettling the hierarchical foundations of the ancient world. Subversive and revolutionary, Gnostics taught that prayer and mediation could bring human beings into an ecstatic spiritual union with a transcendent deity. This mystical strain affected not just Christianity but many other religions, and it characterizes our understanding of the purpose and meaning of religion today.In The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick recovers this vibrant underground history to prove that Gnosticism was not suppressed or defeated by the Catholic Church long ago, nor was the movement a fabrication to justify the violent repression of alternative forms of Christianity. Gnosticism alleviated human suffering, soothing feelings of existential brokenness and alienation through the promise of renewal as God. DeConick begins in ancient Egypt and follows with the rise of Gnosticism in the Middle Ages, the advent of theosophy and other occult movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and contemporary New Age spiritual philosophies. As these theories find expression in science-fiction and fantasy films, DeConick sees evidence of Gnosticism's next incarnation. Her work emphasizes the universal, countercultural appeal of a movement that embodies much more than a simple challenge to religious authority.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 27, 2016
29 people are currently reading
416 people want to read
About the author
April D. DeConick
20 books21 followersApril D. DeConick, Ph.D. (Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, 1994), is Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity and Chair of the Department of Religion at Rice University. She is also Co-Founder and Executive Editor of GNOSIS: Journal of Gnostic Studies published by Brill.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 4, 2022
An excellent overview of Gnosticism in it's pre Christian, Christian, post Christian and some New Age forms.
Worth archiving to see the many different strains of Christianity which were suppressed or eradicated by the mainstream Church.
While I had many takeaways to summarize it seems that early variants of Gnosticism were based on the idea that YHWH was an evil lesser deity and that the God presented by Jesus was the transcendent true One God.
The early variants tended to be very decentralized with focus on personal experience and issues with continuity cross generationally, which made them relatively easy to eradicate by the more formalized and centralized apostolic churches.
Some later forms of religion such an Manichism, Jeuism and Mandanism also incorported Jesus in some fashion but often only as a relatively minor element as a preceding prophet or revalotry angel.
Manichism was one of the more successful variants being a hybrid of several religions particularly Buddhism and may have itself served as an inspiration for Islam.
It mentioned New Age revival of some Gnostic texts as well.
It amazes me that people are enamored by the works of western philosophers. But i guess God explores all options. To each their own.
Worth archiving to see the many different strains of Christianity which were suppressed or eradicated by the mainstream Church.
While I had many takeaways to summarize it seems that early variants of Gnosticism were based on the idea that YHWH was an evil lesser deity and that the God presented by Jesus was the transcendent true One God.
The early variants tended to be very decentralized with focus on personal experience and issues with continuity cross generationally, which made them relatively easy to eradicate by the more formalized and centralized apostolic churches.
Some later forms of religion such an Manichism, Jeuism and Mandanism also incorported Jesus in some fashion but often only as a relatively minor element as a preceding prophet or revalotry angel.
Manichism was one of the more successful variants being a hybrid of several religions particularly Buddhism and may have itself served as an inspiration for Islam.
It mentioned New Age revival of some Gnostic texts as well.
It amazes me that people are enamored by the works of western philosophers. But i guess God explores all options. To each their own.
February 17, 2025
I'm on the fence with this one.
It's an entertaining introduction, but some bits felt as if the author was imposing her sentiments a bit too much.
Like her claim that all Pauline letters are authentic. I'm aware that a lot of scholars disagree with this in regards to at least 3 letters.
On the one hand, it can be an easy introduction to gnosticism for the curious. But I think it needs to be weighed with some contesting sources - like Marvin Meyer's Nag Hammadi collection.
Or I might just be nitpicking. Still an enjoyable read.
It's an entertaining introduction, but some bits felt as if the author was imposing her sentiments a bit too much.
Like her claim that all Pauline letters are authentic. I'm aware that a lot of scholars disagree with this in regards to at least 3 letters.
On the one hand, it can be an easy introduction to gnosticism for the curious. But I think it needs to be weighed with some contesting sources - like Marvin Meyer's Nag Hammadi collection.
Or I might just be nitpicking. Still an enjoyable read.
December 25, 2021
Profound
The author sums up my take on the universal importance of this extremely well-researched and written treatise on the connection between Gnosticism and “The New Age Religious movement” [italics mine] in which we find our current world….
“To be successful, religion today must promote personal well-being, health, and spiritual wholeness. It must be attuned to a raising of consciousness, to global awareness, to life that is linked with the transpersonal or transcendent.”
The author sums up my take on the universal importance of this extremely well-researched and written treatise on the connection between Gnosticism and “The New Age Religious movement” [italics mine] in which we find our current world….
“To be successful, religion today must promote personal well-being, health, and spiritual wholeness. It must be attuned to a raising of consciousness, to global awareness, to life that is linked with the transpersonal or transcendent.”
July 8, 2020
Interesting History
It is quite interesting to hear the non-orthodox perspective of early Christianity and the milieu that spawned ancient religions that did not survive. Linking concepts to modern movies was an engaging way to present material.
It is quite interesting to hear the non-orthodox perspective of early Christianity and the milieu that spawned ancient religions that did not survive. Linking concepts to modern movies was an engaging way to present material.
July 15, 2020
This volume comprises a lot of useful information about ancient religion and gnosticism, however the chatty tone and constant references to popular culture take focus from the more important aspects of the subject.
January 28, 2019
"...the solution lies in understandinglyorganized religions and seeking an enlightened path.
September 12, 2020
History of Gnosticism. Interesting to learn about this in contrast to Bible study. Not recommended.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews