The Reception of Pistis Sophia and Gnosticism: Uncovering the Link between Esoteric Milieus and Contemporary Academia
This article surveys the reception of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia in esoteric milieus in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. The first part of the article contains an overview of the text and scholarship on it. Then follows a study of the reception of Pistis Sophia in a broader array...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2023
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| In: |
Aries
Year: 2023, Volume: 23, Issue: 2, Pages: 262-300 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Europe
/ Pistis Sophia
/ Gnosis
/ Reception
/ Esotericism
/ Theosophy
/ History 1796-2023
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| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion AX Inter-religious relations AZ New religious movements BF Gnosticism KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history KBA Western Europe KBK Europe (East) |
| Further subjects: | B
Theosophy
B Counter Culture B Esotericism B Ancient Wisdom Tradition B Pistis Sophia B Libertinism B reception of Gnosticism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article surveys the reception of the Gnostic text Pistis Sophia in esoteric milieus in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe. The first part of the article contains an overview of the text and scholarship on it. Then follows a study of the reception of Pistis Sophia in a broader array of esoteric circles. It becomes clear that the text was hailed as an example of ancient and great spiritual wisdom, although seldom discussed in detail theologically. Next, this is compared to the academic reception at the same time where it was, as previous scholars have made clear, discarded due to what was understood as a discrepancy with “Gnostic” characteristics. This article shows that Pistis Sophia was not discarded in esoteric circles but rather read in light of already established esoteric trajectories, for example Blavatsky’s, Krumm-Heller’s, or Papus’ particular spiritual evolutionary perspectives. Lastly, it is argued that the understanding of Gnosticisms that both these receptions reflect is still very much active today: academics and esoteric groups are guided by similar trajectories vis-à-vis Gnosticism, seeing it as a representative of a “universal religious essence” associated with progressive attitudes (for example regarding sex and gender), which allows/forces them to renegotiate the ancient sources themselves. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0593 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Aries
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700593-20211003 |