The Gnostics: History, Tradition, Scriptures, Influence [Paperback]

I have always been interested in gnosticism and the history of Christianity as a whole. I have also been immersed with the ever-growing debate over a mythical vs. a historical Jesus of Nazareth. As a student of ancient history, I quickly found myself reading the Bible in several translations, as well as in the New Testament original, Koine Greek. I also found myself up late at night reading other texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, apocryphal works and more importantly, the Nag Hammadi scriptures (translated by Marvin Meyer).

I will admit that some of my earlier perceptions of gnosticism were not 100% accurate because it seems the internet has provided a platform of inconsistencies regarding what gnosticism truly is, specifically, its roots. Upon reading Mr. Smith's treatise, I have a new found interest in Gnosticism and have accomplished a better understanding of Gnosticism as a whole. I personally feel that this book should be required before one reads any Nag Hammadi or Gnostic scripture. Case in point, I recently started reading the Nag Hammadi scriptures about two weeks ago and ended up going back to the beginning and starting over. I now understand exactly what is going on and could both see and understand the meanings and references of Sophia, Archons, Aeons, Ialdabaoth, gnosis, Demiurge and Pleroma. I also have a greater understanding of the true gnostics-the Sethians and Valentinians- and grasp that many mystery cults or sects (later developed) were not truly gnostic because of lack of a belief in gnosis. Furthermore, as an added bonus, when you re-read some of the Apostle Paul's epistles, you can clearly see gnostic overtones.

I thoroughly enjoyed all Eleven chapters, coupled with the historical background and information, which was greatly appreciated and is now understood. However, with every publication, there is always one thing a reader or student wishes to be in a book, but for whatever reason, the author chose to omit reference to it. My only complaint (if you even want to call it that) would be the lack of footnotes in specific areas. This bulk of this treatise comprises 226 pages and is accompanied by 105 footnotes, roughly one footnote for every two pages (not bad at all). For example, page 76 contains a reference by Irenaeus, yet the exact location of this passage is not given. Page 81 consists of the Valentinian interpretation of knowledge concerning the orthodox church view on the crucifixion with a passage, but no footnote accompanies the perceived quote. On page 118, Mr. Smith tells the reader that during the 1960-70's, roughly seventy new denominations of Christianity were formed daily (it would have been nice to see a footnote attached here to the source of this information/study). These are just several passages (amongst others), that I wished to have had an accompanying footnote, but in the overall scope of things, this is really minor, but has led me to rate the book four out of five stars.

Closing, I highly recommend this treatise to all laymen (due to the book's synthetic structure) and students, as well as even scholars. I have a new found appreciation for the Gnostics and especially Mr. Smith. I look forward to reading all of his published works and those to be published in the future. His work is greatly appreciated.

I recently had to write a paper on "Crises" in Christianity for a class I had at the university. I chose Gnosticism in the early Church as the subject. I found this book The Gnostics by Andrew Phillip Smith at my local library while looking for source material. I grabbed it along with several other books on Gnosticism and headed home to begin skimming the works for quotable material and the general ideas of Christian Gnosticism. It wasn't long before I became engrossed in this particular book and had soon forgotten the remaining works. I ended up reading all the chapters on early Christian Gnosticism and after my paper and class was over with I read the remainder of the book because it was so good. So, what did it cover that I found so interesting?

Well, I knew a little about Gnostic beliefs, particularly those of the Valentinians, but I really didn't grasp them all; they can be somewhat confusing at times. The author did an excellent job explaining the basis of all gnostic belief (Christian or not) which is secret, esoteric knowledge. From this concept of hidden knowledge the author dives into the Gnostic creation myths.

Probably one of the more confusing aspects of Gnostic thought is their understanding of the nature of God, the emanations of God called the Aeons (or Eons), the creation of the Demiurge, and the creation of the material universe through the Demiurge and his Archons. Smith does an outstanding job describing the gist of Gnostic creation myths without getting too academic or confusing. I left the chapter on Gnostic creation myths with a solid understanding of the material without feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of the system.

From the chapter on the creation of the material universe Smith then expounds through several chapters on the different Gnostic groups in early Christianity (mostly the Sethians and the Valentinians) including what they believed about Jesus, the nature of Jesus and the resurrection, the nature of the sacraments, and the additional sacraments that Christian Gnostics practiced. Again, I left these chapters with a thorough understanding the topics Smith discusses without feeling overwhelmed by the sometimes complex streams of thought underlying Gnostic belief.

I was also impressed that there was a minimal amount of "jabs" taken at the orthodox Church. Smith is the editor of Gnostic magazine and I assume not a big fan of orthodoxy. But, Smith separates what I assume is probably his distaste for orthodoxy in a professional manner when discussing Irenaeus and the fight against heresy in the early Church. I have found that many people assume what is now considered orthodox or tradition in the Church was always that way when in truth orthodoxy was formed in part as a response to the wide variety of Christianities that existed in the first several hundred years of Christianity. Smith discusses this formation of orthodoxy as response very well.

For my paper I ended up using this book heavily, almost shunning the other books I had picked up. They were mostly rehashed information that I had already read in Smith's book. Compared to Smith's book I found them less organized, less clear on the subject matter, and just inferior in general.
Having completed the paper and class I was curious to read the remaining chapters. I knew nothing of Manichaeism or Mandaeism and found the discussion of both just as informative as the chapters on Christian Gnosticism. There is also a kind of transitional chapter between Manichaeism and the several chapters on the Cathars that discusses briefly several other Christian Gnostic groups like the Bogomils. There is also a pretty good chapter toward the end of the book on modern Gnostic-influenced groups like Theosophy and several of the modern "Gnostic Churches".

Overall, the book is thorough but without being too complex, too academic, or just too much. This book is excellent for source material for writing or research but it is also a great read for a layperson just wanting to learn more about early Christian history without the fear of being overwhelmed with too much information. It will also suit well anyone just interested in the topic of Gnosticism who may be looking for an overview of its history without special regard to Christianity. The book is through and recommended highly to all interested in the topic of Gnosticism at all.

This review of the history and literature of the Gnostics is both scholarly and exhaustive, so I was surprised at how amazingly compelling a read it was. Smith leads us through the historical origins and often bizarre evolution of Gnosticism up to today's popular culture, where its central tenets still ring true: "that we humans are somehow asleep to our lives and to the true meaning of reality, and yet can awaken; that there is a higher form of personal religion in comparison with which organized religion is a travesty; that reality is not what it seems to be."

The Welsh-born author is the editor of "The Gnostic" magazine and author of several books on Gnosticism and ealy Christianity: Gnostic Writings of the Soul; the lost Saying of Jesus; and The Gospel of Philip.