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THIS 26 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Gnostics and their Remains Ancient and Mediaeval, by C. W. King. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766103811. ... Read more

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THIS 16 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Book of Talismans, Amulets and Zodiacal Gems, by William Thomas. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564594610. ... Read more

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THIS 38 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Forerunners and Rivals of Christianity From 330 BC to 330 AD, by Francis Legge. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766134318. ... Read more

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An integrated overview of history
The volume in this series are arranged topically to cover biography, literature, doctrines, practices, institutions, worship, missions, and daily life. Archaeology and art as well as writings are drawn on to illuminate the Christian movement in its early centuries. Ample attention is also given to the relation of Christianity to pagan thought and life, to the Roman state, to Judaism, and to doctrines and practices that came to be judged as heretical or schismatic. Introductions to each volume tie the articles together for an integrated understanding of the history.

Offers insights and understanding
The aim of the collection is to give balanced and comprehensive coverage, selected on the basis of the following criteria: original and excellent research and writing; subject matter of use to teachers and students; groundbreaking importance for the history of research; background information for issues and opinions. Understanding the development of early Christianity and its impact on Western history and thought offers valuable insights into the modern world and the present state of Christiantiy. It also provides perspective on comparable developments in other periods of history and reveals human nature in its religious dimension. ... Read more

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THIS 46 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Scientific and Religious Mysteries of Antiquity, by John Yarker. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766101177. ... Read more

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The discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library (1945) has given an enormousimpetus not only to the study of ancient Gnosticism but also to that of earlyChristianity in general. Most of the studies contained in this volume dealwith mythological conceptions and theological ideas found in various NagHammadi writings.The gnostic views on the nature of God and on creation and salvation receiveparticular attention, ranging from Philo to the medieval Cathars. The NagHammadi Library also shed new light on the development of early AlexandrianChristianity and its theology. The book contains six studies which explicitlydeal with these topics. This volume is of interest to students of Gnosticism,early Christianity and Graeco-Roman religious and philosophical ideas ingeneral. ... Read more

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Studies in Gnosticism and Alexandrian Christianity
The study of Gnosticism is now quite impossible without a thorough knowledge of the Nag Hammadi writings and, consequently, of the Coptic language. It is, however, the author's firm conviction that these often extremely difficult texts, as well as Gnosticism in general, can only be understood within the broader religious and philosophical context of the Graeco-Roman world, and that, within that context, Judaism and Christianity should not be isolated, as if they were opposed to the rest of the religious traditions of the ancient world, but must be considered integral parts of it. It is from this point of view that the studies in this collection have been written.

Other titles by R. van den Broek include:Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times (Suny Series in Western Esoteric Traditions) ,and From Poimandres to Jacob Bohme: Hermetism, Gnosis and the Christian Tradition. Recommended for libraries devoted to Gnostic studies. ... Read more

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THIS 26 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Bible Folklore A Study in Comparative Mythology, by J. E. Thorold Rogers. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 076612861X. ... Read more

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THIS 32 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 092280222X. ... Read more

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THIS 20 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: True Mystic: Three Lectures on Mysticism, by Holden Edward Sampson. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564595811. ... Read more

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This work shows that the rabbinic belief-system regarding the afterlife and the human soul was the paramount influence on the development of the doctrine of reincarnation that was crystallized in the "Sefer ha-Bahir" (The Book of Clarity/Illumination), a 12th-century work. ... Read more

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Reincarnation in Jewish Mysticism and Gnosticism
The centerpiece of Eylon's study is the seminal kabbalistic work Sefer ha-Bahir. This dense and difficult work was viewed by Gershom Scholem, the pioneer of the academic study of Jewish mysticism, as the earliest work of the Kabbalah. Embedded within the midrash-like homilies of the Bahir are a number of allusions to the afterlife of the soul. Although Scholem identified these as referring to the concept of reincarnation, Eylon offers the first systematic and methodical analysis of these texts. She provides a comprehensive presentation of the pertinent selections of the Bahir, as well as the Rabbinic sources of the material.

Eylon also offers an overview of reincarnation in Gnostic literature. Focusing primarily on the Nag Hammadi corpus, she presents a wealth of interesting sources. This not only establishes a background for the dissemination of the doctrine, but helps situate the Bahir as a Jewish expression of a gnostic orientation.

Overall, a readable and informative discussion of a key aspect of the Jewish mystical tradition. This is especially praiseworthy, owing to the scope and complexity of the material.

Excellent treatment of the Bahir's theory of reincarnation
"...a fascinating and difficult study of the different views of the afterlife in early Jewish literature and Gnosticism, and the emergence of a theory of reincarnation in the Bahir, which is generally recognized as the earliest Kabbalistic work. Eylon shows with remarkable assiduity how the author of the Bahir constructed his theory through careful exegesis of the relevant Talmudic and Midrashic passages, but also marked his novelty and points of departure through the creation of Midrashim on texts for which now preexistent tradition existed." ... Read more

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THIS 9 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Gnostics and their Remains Ancient and Mediaeval, by C. W. King. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766103811. ... Read more