Scholars have long noted the number of similarities that seem to exist between Gnosticism and Jewish Apocalypticism. Numerous hypotheses have been suggested to account for them, but no one has yet attempted to examine these similarities in detail in order to define what it is that makes Apocalypticism apocalyptic and Gnosticism gnostic in spite of these similarities. The present work is an attempt to define, examine and classify these similarities by comparing the two systems. For it is our working hypothesis that such similarities can only be characterized when they are examined in terms of their function and form within their respective systems. Consequently, a number of similarities are traced through the concepts of world, God, man and salvation that exemplify both systems. First, we note, many of those similar features, i.e. motifs, mytholo-gumena and attitudes that characterize both movements such as the importance of Wisdom, the Primal Parents, and the anti-godly powers, to name but a few. Such common features, while interesting, are significant only when they are examined in terms of their function. Here we find that both systems do use many of the same features to serve the same function. Both systems are attempts to provide a soteriological theodicy, i.e. a theodicy which itself functions to bring man salvation even as it is revealed to him. But it is in terms of form that the distinction between Gnosticism and Apocalypticism is finally to be made. Both systems are dualistic in form, yet each has its own type of dualistic expression. Gnosticism is ontologically dualistic while Apocalypticism is ethically and eschatologically dualistic. As a result the common features appear in both systems in ways that are consistent with their respective forms (dualisms). The Gnostic thus rejects world understood as matter while the Apocalyptist rejects world understood as history. Thus it is in examining both systems as systems that we find that Apocalypticism and Gnosticism maintain a consistent correspondence in features, form and function. Although such a correspondence does not in itself provide proof of an historical relationship between the two systems, it does demonstrate that Apocalypticism was the Jewish counterpart of Gnosticism and so may well deserve being categorized as a Jewish Gnosis.

Not available / text

Not available / text

This dissertation is intended to demonstrate the presence of a contemporary gnostic spirit in the novels of Robertson Davies. / The dominance of Protestant puritanism in English Canadian culture is a frequent theme in the literature of the nation. In his writing, Robertson Davies counters the repressive dynamics of a society shaped by puritanism with an appeal to an alternate vision. This vision, which places greater value on self-knowledge, bears a strong affinity to the precepts of the ancient gnostics. / Davies' critique of an English Canadian context which appears to place higher value on morality than on spiritual adventures can be compared to the gnostic rejection of the material world in favour of knowledge of the inner self in relation to the divine. / The commitment to gnosis as a means of escape from a repressive environment to one of spiritual freedom is another mark of the connection between Davies' novels and the gnostic spirit. / The presence of revealer figures who initiate their hearers into the way of gnosis is found in both the writings of the ancient gnostics and in the novels of Robertson Davies. / Davies' treatment of the concepts of dualism, the nature of evil and human destiny bears a closer relationship to the ideas found in gnostic literature than to the doctrines of Judeo-Christian orthodoxy. / Finally, Davies' emphasis on the importance of the individual in the quest for self-knowledge reflects a gnostic suspicion of communal values. / The identification of the relationship between Davies' writing and the spirit of gnosticism provides a good case study of the way in which theological notions influence and are influenced by a particular cultural context.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-226). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.