Publisher's Synopsis
Ferdinand Christian Baur's Die
Christliche Gnosis, first published in 1835, is considered by many to be
the most important book on Gnosticism published in the nineteenth century and
is a pivotal work within Baur's canon. Baur's unique thesis of a link between
ancient and modern religious philosophy, as well as his conception of
Gnosticism - developed through dialogues with his predecessors and
contemporaries - consolidate Christian Gnosis as an important
contribution to Christian theology.
In this seminal
work, written over a hundred years before the manuscript discovery at Nag
Hammadi, Baur classifies the gnostic systems in terms of how they conceive the
relationship of Christianity to Judaism and paganism, describing them in
detail. He then goes on to describe the criticism of and reaction to gnosis in
church history, before contending with the modern religious philosophy of his
time, discussing Boehme, Schelling, Schleiermacher and Hegel. Christian
Gnosis is Baur's first great religio-historical study, and Robert Brown's
masterful translation ensures the work is as impactful today as it was on its
first publication.
