This thesis is a study of the Russian religious philosopher Nikolai Berdiaev (1874-1948). The aim of the thesis is to re-examine the alleged gnostic subtext in Berdiaev’s thought by exploring a number of interrelated motifs in his world outlook, teaching on man and theory of knowledge. The method employed is a close reading of Berdiaev's philosophical and autobiographical writings. In order to establish which motifs should be examined, how they are to be understood and the manner in which they are interconnected, a scrutiny is made of Hans Jonas’s phenomenological elucidation of ancient Gnosticism. A synthetic conception labelled Jonasian Gnosticism is proposed as the interpretive framework, in order to provide a unitary and consistent heuristic tool with which to investigate the topic, and to distinguish the specific proposed representation of Gnosticism from other existing ones. A chapter is devoted to an analysis of the concept of gnosis as employed by Berdiaev. Another key notion taken from the Jonasian framework is that of demundanization, which denotes among other things a rejectionary attitude towards the world grounded in a negative experience of evil and suffering. Varieties of dualism as well as Berdiaev’s doctrine of the human spirit’s otherworldly origin and non-belonging in the world, constitute other issues that are examined. In addition, both Berdiaev’s assessment of historical Gnosticism and his view of a gnostic return in modern times are examined. The study demonstrates the complexity of Berdiaev’s attitude towards the classic Gnostics, and his attempt to denounce Gnosticism while at the same time making a case for a Christian gnosis. The results suggest both affinities and divergences in the relationship between Berdiaev’s thought and Jonasian Gnosticism. Even though the doctrinal standpoints diverge on crucial points, it is argued that a suggestive affinity nevertheless exists in the shared existential attitude towards self and world.

Reprendre contact avec les réalités de l’âme, rouvrir la source où l’être rejaillit éternellement : tel est l’idéal occulte, inavouable, d’où procède la poétique d’Hubert Aquin. Depuis sa jeunesse, Aquin s’emploie clandestinement à défaire les mailles de la conscience et à rebrousser chemin vers les arrière-plans ténébreux du Moi, vers le Plérôme de la vie nue. Il manœuvre pour se mettre au service de l’intentionnalité impersonnelle inscrite au plus profond de sa psyché, pour devenir l’instrument du vouloir aveugle « qui opère en lui comme une force d’inertie ». Son œuvre ne s’accomplit pas dans le texte, mais à rebours du texte, voire à rebours du langage ; elle se déploie sur le terrain d’une confrontation enivrée avec le Négatif — avec la Parole sacrée issue de l’abîme. En d’autres termes, elle prend la forme d’une Gnose, c’est-à-dire d’un exercice de dé-subjectivation, de destruction de soi, consistant à réaliser la connaissance participative de l’empreinte imaginale scellée derrière les barreaux de la finitude. Essentiellement consacrée à l’analyse de la dimension gnostique de l’œuvre d’Hubert Aquin, cette thèse vise à montrer que la connaissance du hiéroglyphe mystérieux gravé au fond de l’âme n’est pas une sinécure. Il s’agit plutôt d’un opus contra naturam qui comporte bien des risques (en tout premier lieu celui d’une inflation psychique). Pourtant, ce travail est aussi, aux yeux de l’auteur, le seul véritablement digne d’être accompli, celui qui donne à l’homme le moyen de se soustraire à l’engloutissement de la mort et la possibilité de renaître. Comme l’écrit Aquin dans un texte de jeunesse, l’ouverture inconditionnelle au Négatif (la destruction de soi) est « une façon privilégiée d’expérimenter la vie et un préalable à toute entreprise artistique » ; elle correspond à « un mode supérieur de connaissance », à un savoir « impersonnel » qui offre immédiatement le salut. / To reestablish contact with the realities of the soul, to reopen the source from which Being eternally resurges: such is the occult and unspeakable ideal from which Hubert Aquin’s poetics proceeds. From his youth onwards, Aquin secretly seeks to unravel the mesh of consciousness, in order to retrace the path leading back towards the dark nether regions of the Self, towards the Pleroma of the naked life. Thus he operates exclusively in the service of the impersonal intentionality inscribed in the depths of his psyche, as the instrument of the blind will that acts inside of him “like an inertial force”. His work does not fulfill itself in the text, but rather runs counter to the text, even counter to language itself; it deploys as an exhilarating confrontation with the Negative, with the sacred Word issuing from the abyss. In other words, Aquin’s work takes the form of a Gnosis: an exercise in de-subjectivization and self-destruction that consists in attaining participative knowledge of the imaginal seal imprinted behind the bars of finitude. This thesis, principally devoted to an analysis of the gnostic dimension of Hubert Aquin’s œuvre, aims to show that to decipher the mysterious hieroglyph engraved in the depths of the soul is no simple task: it is rather an opus contra naturam, involving great dangers (of which the first is the risk of psychic inflation); yet, to the author’s eyes, only this task is really necessary and truly worthy of being undertaken, for only by this means can the human being escape from engulfment in death – by being reborn. As Aquin writes in an early work, to open oneself unconditionally to the Negative (i.e., self-destruction) is “a special way of experiencing life and a prerequisite to any artistic enterprise”; it is equivalent to “a superior mode of knowledge” of an “impersonal” kind, promising immediate salvation.

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.

Though discovered in 1945, the First Apocalypse of James from Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 has received very little attention from the scholarly community. This is primarily due to the fragmentary condition of the text. Previous scholarly engagements with the text have led to the conclusion that the purpose of such a revelatory dialogue was to impart instructions for the ascent of the soul to one about to be martyred. The recent discovery of a second copy of the text simply titled “James” as part of the Tchacos Codex has led to not only a greater amount of scholarly interest, but also to different possible interpretations. From NHC V, 3 it was possible to ascertain a pre- and post- martyrdom revelation of Jesus to James, however, the text from Al Minya clearly shows a third revelatory section wherein the martyrdom of James is used as a means of revelation to Addai, the legendary founder of Eastern Syrian Christianity. Chapters one and two answer the question of why James was chosen as the protagonist of the narrative. In chapter one I look in detail at the literary construction of the martyrdom of James and problematize the development of the traditions. Chapter two then turns to a discussion of the figure of James as an authority in the developing Christian community. Chapters three and four are concerned with the literary classification of the text. Chapter three situates the First Apocalypse of James within the overarching genre of apocalyptic literature, and the specific sub-genre of gnostic apocalypses. Chapter four discusses how the text might be understood as a commission narrative while interrogating the lineage of descent beginning with the transmission of the revelation from James to Addai. Following this in chapter five I explore the cosmology of the text with particular attention to the ascent of the soul.

With this essay my aim is to uncover the content in the discography of the Swedish Black Metal act Watain in respect to lyrically expressed religious themes revolving around the tendencies within occulture and the Black Metal scene. To investigate the matter I have combined quantitative and qualitative analysis methods from the fields of corpus linguistics as well as content analysis, which provided me with an array of key words and their respective concordances (Key Word In Context, KWIC) in the texts. Through the analysis three overlapping main themes became apparent: satanism, gnosticism and finally apocalypticism. I described each of the themes in detail based on my linguistic findings in the corpus so as to yield a deeper understanding of the religious symbols communicated in the material and their interrelationship. The result was that neither one of these could be explained in isolation as they are all part of a larger system of philosophy, namely the esoteric movement chaos-gnosticism tied to the Swedish order Temple of the Black Light, but also products of occulture. The discussion proved that, although satanism may seem to be the thematical centerpoint in Watain’s lyrics, it is not, as this is a far too simple conclusion in relation to the complexity of the results. Instead, the content requires to be understood in terms of the dark Left-Hand Path spirituality as well as the occultural melting pot of paranormal and occult ideas. / <p>För att få tillgång till mitt korpus och mina korpusresultat hänvisar jag till min privata e-post adress hans.jonsall@gmail.com alternativt att man kontaktar mig via sociala medier.</p>

This thesis aims to provide a critique of the conclusions of Gershom Scholem regarding the potential for ‘Gnostic’-Kabbalistic filiation, and to establish whether, in light of the available evidence, Scholem’s arguments (which have yet, to my mind, to be sufficiently challenged) can be reasonably supported. I strive to offer an arguably clearer definition of the relevant taxonomic terms than is often presented in scholarly analyses of this question, whilst also arguing for the applicability to this debate of certain pertinent methodological approaches drawn from the wider school of comparative mythology. As such, I also attempt to establish a clear methodology for judging the probability of the genetic descent of one ‘system’ from another, viz. that perhaps the most logical method for assessing potential similarities between different ‘systems’ is to assume in the first instance that all correspondences identified are essentially coincidental, dismissing this assumption only if one can identify a high level of exactness in these comparisons (such as would render pure coincidence relatively improbable) and/or establish a secure chain of transmission between two sources, a chain which renders the transmission of ideas not only possible but indeed probable. Applying this methodology to certain potential routes by which second century ‘Gnostic’ thought might have been transmitted to the origin point of the medieval Kabbalah, I attempt both to demonstrate the wider applicability of such a methodology beyond the narrow question of ‘Gnostic’-Kabbalistic relationships, and to illustrate the serious difficulties with advancing any of these potential routes as a reliable source for the transmission of ‘Gnostic’ ideas to the Kabbalah. Rather, I argue that it may be more logically defensible, in the absence of clear source evidence, to ascribe such correspondences as are located purely to coincidence, albeit a coincidence perhaps somewhat tempered by certain observations regarding the relative ubiquity of certain concepts and modes of thought.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T18:35:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcelo Leandro de Campos.pdf: 1504216 bytes, checksum: 8672406ea0a9bc1b66c43757181b3bc6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-12-02 / This study aims to analyze the work of the Colombian esoteric Samael Aun Weor based on the concept of "secularization of esotericism" proposed by the historian Wouter Hanegraaff. Contributing to the interdisciplinary debate that articulates the field of Cultural History, History of Religions and the recent History of Western Esotericism, it is intended to analyze the reversing relations and mutual influences that guide the construction of the modern Western culture, its rationality paradigms and empirical science; and on the other hand, the establishment of an esoteric tradition that seeks to harmonize these paradigms with a design strongly "enchanted" of the universe, and the mutual process of appropriation/ reinterpretation involved.This debate also dialogues to a more specific discussion in the field of Science of Religions, which seeks to understand the changes occurring in Western religious field opposite the new secularized society. Specifically, this paper seeks to contribute to the debate by offering a perspective of these processes from its Latin American component in order to identify how these dynamics are reproduced on the continent and its specificities. With this purpose, taking the work of Samael Aun Weor as a case study, it was conducted a long-term historical context by inserting the author in a more general constitution process of modern Western esotericism, and specifically, in the constitution process of an esoteric spiritualities field in Colombia, birth cradle of the Gnostic Movement. From a historical-comparative analysis of his work evolution, its institutionalization and practices - which takes into account conceptual and methodological contributions of Italian History of Religions School, historiography on Western esotericism and theoretical proposition Bourdieu from the concept of "field" - the work highlights the doctrinal transition that the Colombian esoteric Aun Weor operates in his work, moving from Rosicrucianism towards the conceptions of a psychological esotericism, proposed by the Russian esoteric Gurdjieff. Such a transition is analyzed by the dominant imagery in the esoteric milieu of his time, a perspective that offers an important analytical material for understanding the structural dynamics that guide the institutionalization of Gnosticism in Latin America and the specifics that guide their reversing relations with the social universe in which they are inserted. / O presente trabalho tem o prop?sito de analisar a obra do esoterista colombiano Samael Aun Weor ? luz do conceito de seculariza??o do esoterismo do historiador Wouter Hanegraaff, que integra um importante debate, no campo da Hist?ria Cultural, que analisa as rela??es reversivas e as influ?ncias m?tuas que pautam, de um lado, a constru??o da moderna cultura ocidental e seus paradigmas de racionalidade e ci?ncia emp?rica, e do outro a constitui??o de uma tradi??o esot?rica que busca harmonizar estes paradigmas com uma concep??o fortemente encantada do universo, e dos m?tuos processos de apropria??o/reinterpreta??o envolvidos. Esse debate tamb?m dialoga com uma discuss?o mais espec?fica ao campo da Ci?ncia das Religi?es, que busca compreender as transforma??es que ocorrem no campo religioso ocidental frente ? nova sociedade secularizada. Nesse sentido, nosso trabalho busca contribuir com o debate oferecendo uma perspectiva destes processos a partir da periferia do ocidente , a Am?rica Latina, buscando identificar em que medida essas din?micas s?o reproduzidas no Novo Continente, e o que elas possuem de espec?fico. Com esse prop?sito, tomando-se a obra de Samael Aun Weor como estudo de caso, conduziu-se uma contextualiza??o hist?rica de longa dura??o, inserindo o autor no processo mais geral de constitui??o do moderno esoterismo ocidental, e de maneira mais espec?fica no processo de constitui??o de um campo de espiritualidades esot?ricas na Col?mbia. A partir de uma an?lise hist?rico-comparativa da evolu??o de sua obra, de sua institucionaliza??o e de suas pr?ticas, que leva em conta contribui??es conceituais e metodol?gicas da Escola Italiana de Hist?ria das Religi?es, nosso trabalho destaca a transi??o doutrin?ria que o autor opera em sua obra, deslocando-se do Rosacrucianismo em dire??o ?s concep??es de um Esoterismo Psicol?gico do esoterista russo Gurdjieff. Essa transi??o ? analisada ? luz do imagin?rio dominante no milieu esot?rico de sua ?poca, perspectiva que oferece um importante material anal?tico para a compreens?o das din?micas estruturais que norteiam a institucionaliza??o do gnosticismo na Am?rica Latina e das especificidades que definem suas rela??es reversivas com o universo social em que est?o inseridas.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T19:20:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carlos Bein Quintana.pdf: 841958 bytes, checksum: c5ca58e2789654be39e3cbbef9c6e173 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-01 / With this work we intend to show the links between the Jungian notions of body and mind with their corresponding in the Gnosticism. With this purpose, in the first part of this work we will develop a systematic exposition of the contemporary knowledge about Gnosticism, giving special attention to the body and mind. In the second part we will discuss the influences of Gnosticism upon the writings of C. G. Jung, as well as the adequacy of the expression Jungian Gnosis, discussing about its translation into the Jungian notions of body and mind. Finally, we will examine the supposed religious character of the Jungian theory and the possibilities to consider it a heretical doctrine / Com este trabalho pretendemos mostrar a conexão existente entre as noções junguianas de corpo e mente com suas correspondentes no gnosticismo. Com este objetivo, na primeira parte do trabalho faremos uma exposição sistemática sobre o conhecimento que se tem atualmente do gnosticismo, dando uma especial atenção ao corpo e a mente. Na segunda parte, com base no exposto na Parte I, discutiremos sobre as influências do gnosticismo nos escritos de C. G. Jung e a adequação da expressão gnose junguiana, discorrendo sobre como isso se traduz nas noções junguianas de corpo e mente. Finalmente, examinaremos o suposto caráter religioso da teoria Junguiana e as possibilidades de considerá-la uma doutrina herética

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-03-26T12:27:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael Antonio Faraone Dutra.pdf: 861715 bytes, checksum: f3e8ef673326e9a5dedcccd13758c1a7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-26T12:27:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rafael Antonio Faraone Dutra.pdf: 861715 bytes, checksum: f3e8ef673326e9a5dedcccd13758c1a7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-16 / Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - PUCSP / The similarity of John writings and the gnostics is still a lasting subject nowadays. All discoveries that attempt to clear things up get people’s attention. The discoveries of Nag Hammadi writings, whose some texts are gnostics, points at an Alexandrian II century AD Gnosticism that suffered from various influences, mostly Johannine. The exploration of such environment allow us not only to notice John richness, but also his diffusion in religious environments. Some of the writings of Nag Hammadi, as Trimorfaic Protenor, John Apocryphal and Gospel of Truth, have vocabularies and thematic affinities with the Fourth Gospel, especially with the Prologue. Through the similarity with the quoted texts, the question arises whether the texts of Alexandrian II century AD were used from John prologue to his composition. The hypothesis is that somehow the Gnostics had contact with the Johannine prologue and used their concepts to base their teachings. In order to answer this question, this work has bibliographic character, using the literature concerning the prologue of the Fourth Gospel and the analysis of the quoted texts and the prologue, from the tradition and the contemporary exegesis / A semelhança entre os escritos de João e os gnósticos é um assunto que continua em pauta atualmente. As descobertas que são feitas, em uma tentativa de lançar luz sobre o tema, chamam a atenção de todos. As descobertas dos escritos de Nag Hammadi, que possui alguns textos de autoria gnóstica, apontam para um gnosticismo alexandrino do século II d.C. que sofreu várias influências, mas principalmente a joanina. Explorar esse ambiente permite contemplar não apenas a riqueza de João como também sua difusão em ambientes religiosos. Alguns escritos de Nag Hammadi, como Protenoia Trimorfa, Apócrifo de João e Evangelho da Verdade, possuem afinidades vocabulares e temáticas com o Quarto Evangelho, sobretudo com o Prólogo. Através da semelhança com os textos citados, surge a pergunta se os textos do gnosticismo alexandrino do século II d.C. teriam se utilizado do Prólogo de João para sua composição. A hipótese é que de alguma forma os gnósticos tiveram contato com o Prólogo joanino e utilizaram seus conceitos para embasar seus ensinamentos. A fim de responder a tal questão este trabalho possui caráter bibliográfico, utilizando-se da literatura a respeito do Prólogo do Quarto Evangelho e da análise dos textos citados e do Prólogo, a partir da Tradição e da exegese contemporânea

<p>Katarismen är en gammal religion och livsfilosofi som hade sin storhetstid under medeltiden. Minst 500 år vet man att den existerade. Den hade sitt centrum i Frankrike med en geografisk halvmåne som sträckte sig genom Italien upp mot Flandern, Tyskland och området kring Rhendalen. De hämtade sin livsfilosofi från gnosticismen. De som brukade denna religion och livsåskådning kallades för katarer och kättare av katolska kyrkan. Oliktänkande som de var gentemot katolska kyrkan så skulle de förgöras och detta skedde också på ett mycket grymt sätt, genom att bli brända på bål.</p><p>Katarerna var och är än i dag kända för sin starka tro på det gudomliga i naturen. De ser en helhet i naturen, att allt har en själ och att det finns en ande i allt. Dessa trodde på att människan hade en fallen ängels själ i sin kropp, och att den kunde återvända till himmelen om man levde efter ett visst sätt. Sättet att leva efter hittade de i sina böner och riter. Deras tro kallades för katarism. Idag finns det olika rörelser som hämtar inspiration från katarismen bland annat Rosenkorsorden och Den urkristliga levnadsskolan. Båda dessa finns verksamma i Sverige i vår tid och de ser sig själva som ett komplement till den kyrka som vi har.</p>