RELG 385: GNOSIS: GREEK, JEWISH, CHRISTIAN Instructor: David M. Reis Office: Macmillan 100A Phone: (315) 364-3474 E-mail: dreis@wells.edu Web Page: http://aurora.wells.edu/~dreis Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 9:00-10:30 and by appointment OBJECTIVES In the first centuries of the common era, a movement known as Gnosticism attracted many Christian followers and presented one of the strongest early challenges to orthodox Christianity. Many facets of this phenomenon, however, still remain unclear, and as a result it is presently one of the most controversial topics in the study of early Christianity. This course seeks to place Gnosticism within its historical context by analyzing it as a product of Greco-Roman and Jewish intellectual speculation. Determining how these two traditions understood the nature of the cosmos, the human condition, and humanity s place in the world will provide a foundation for uncovering and tracing the contours of Gnosis and Gnosticism and its manifestation in early Christian literature. REQUIRED TEXTS Layton, Bentley. The Gnostic Scriptures. New York: Doubleday, 1987. Plato. Timaeus. Translated by Donald J. Zeyl. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000. OTHER USEFUL SOURCES Garth Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind W.K.C. Guthrie, A History of Greek Philosophy Hans Jonas, The Gnostic Religion: The Message of the Alien God and the Beginnings of Christianity Pheme Perkins, Gnosticism and the New Testament Kurt Rupolph, Gnosis: The Nature and History of Gnosticism http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/religion/pathfinder.htm#sites (internet resources for religious studies) http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/religion/essays.htm (guide for writing academic essays in religious studies) http://www.stolaf.edu/people/kchanson/ancweb.html (links to the ancient Mediterranean world) http://religion.rutgers.edu/vri/grk_rom.html (index for Greco-Roman studies) http://classics.mit.edu (database of texts from the ancient world) http://www.perseus.tufts.edu (database of texts and images from the ancient world) http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/ (The Gnosis Archive) http://home.online.no/~noetic/libe.htm (The Gnostic Society Virtual Library) REQUIREMENTS 1. Readings The reading assignments will be comprised of both primary and secondary source materials. Primary source readings consist of works written during the particular historical period under discussion (e.g. the Phaedo, The Corpus Hermeticum, The Gospel of Truth). Secondary sources consist of articles and book chapters written by contemporary authors that critically evaluate the problems and issues found in the primary sources. It is expected that both sets of readings will be completed before we discuss them in class.
2 2. Reviews Each week we will examine primary sources that address issues surrounding the ancient philosophical heritage. Each student will be required to submit a review of these primary texts from six class sessions during the semester. These reviews, which should be approximately three pages in length, should consist of a critical evaluation of the primary sources. The student may select readings from any six class sessions, but three reviews must be submitted during the first half of the semester (weeks 1 through 7) and three during the second half of the semester (weeks 8 through 15). As reviews must be turned in on the day that we discuss those readings, a review of texts discussed in a previous meeting will not be accepted. Finally, it is not possible to write a review and give a presentation on the same primary sources. 3. Discussion Group Presentation Each student will be responsible for presenting one set of the primary sources to the class and leading that day s discussion. The student should prepare for the presentation by critically reviewing the assigned readings, consulting additional secondary sources, and forming a number of questions that will serve as the foundation for class discussion. The presenter should begin with a ten-minute summary of the major themes in the readings. The discussion questions will then serve as a guide for a more thorough analysis of the material. The rest of the class, which will also have examined the readings carefully, will be expected to participate fully. Discussion questions should be circulated to the group through the listserve at least one day (=24 hours) prior to the scheduled class meeting. Students must consult the instructor for the extra secondary source reading material; failure to do so will result in an incomplete for that portion of the presentation. Students must also inform the instructor when they wish to present their work by the third week of class; students who fail to meet this deadline forfeit their opportunity to complete this assignment. 4. Research Paper Each student will be expected to write a thirteen to fifteen page research paper on some topic related to Gnosis in the Greco-Roman philosophical tradition, Judaism, or early Christianity. All projects must involve academic research and the student must submit a paper topic and working bibliography for review by week 14. The instructor will not accept papers that fail to meet this requirement. At the end of the semester each student will give a short presentation of her paper and will distribute her bibliography to the rest of the class. Papers should follow the style as outlined in Kate Turabian s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 6 th edition. For guidelines for footnotes and bibliographies, see http://www.bridgew.edu/depts/maxwell/turabian.htm; for general writing manuals and guides, see http://history.hanover.edu/ write.html. The paper will be due on May 14 th. Late papers will be accepted only in extraordinary circumstances. 5. Participation and Attendance Because this course is heavily structured around lectures and class discussions, participation and attendance are essential. Participation consists of active participation in class discussions as well as the formulation of four to five questions on each week s primary sources. These questions should represent an analytical approach to the readings and must be brought to class on the day we discuss the week s primary readings. Effort and persistence will be rewarded accordingly. GRADING Reviews 150 Discussion Group Presentation 80 A= 500-450 Research Paper 125 B= 449-400 Participation 90 C= 399-350 Attendance 55 D= 349-300
3 Total 500 F = 299-below COURSE OUTLINE Part I: Presocratic and Classical Philosophy WEEK 1 (1/28-2/1) Religio-Mystical Philosophy: Orphism, Pythagoreanism, and Empedocles Secondary Readings: Jaeger, The Greek Ideas of Immortality ; Parker, Early Orphism Primary Readings: Kirk, Raven, and Schofield, The Presocratic Philosophers 255-263, 281-285, 399-419; The Orphic Gold Leaves; Plato, Cratylus 400b-c; Aristotle, De anima I.404a17-19, 407b22-24, 410b28-31 WEEK 2 (2/4-8) Plato I: Cosmology Secondary Readings: Zeyl, Plato: Timaeus, xiii-l, liv-lxxvii Primary Readings: Timaeus 17a-39e, 47e-69a; Laws 896a-899b WEEK 3 (2/11-15) Plato II: Psychology Secondary Readings: Guthrie, Plato s Views on the Nature of the Soul ; Zeyl, Plato: Timaeus, l-liv Primary Readings: Phaedo; Republic 434d-443c; Phaedrus 245c-249d; Timaeus 39e-47e, 69a-71e, 86b- 90d WEEK 4 (2/18-22) Plato III: Paideia Secondary Readings: Jaeger, Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture, vol. 2, 186-197, 279-320 Primary Readings: Symposium 201d-212c; Republic 484a-541b; Ep. 7.341a-344d Part II: Hellenistic Philosophy and Hermetism WEEK 5 (2/25-3/1) Stoicism Secondary Readings: Colish, The Stoic Tradition From Antiquity to the Middle Ages, vol. 1, 21-41 Primary Readings: Long and Sedley, The Hellenistic Philosophers, vol. 1, 268-279, 313-333 WEEK 6 (3/4-8) Middle Platonism and Late Hellenistic Moral Philosophy Secondary Readings: Dillon, The Middle Platonists, 280-294, 366-379; Fitzgerald and White, The Tabula of Cebes, 8-16 Primary Readings: The Tabula of Cebes WEEK 7 (3/11-15) The Hermetic Tradition I: Cosmology, Psychology, Ethics Christianity, 147-173 Primary Readings: Corpus Hermeticum I, III, VII, XI, XIV WEEK 8 (3/18-22) Spring Break, 3/16-24 WEEK 9 (3/25-29) The Hermetic Tradition II: Paideia
4 Secondary Readings: Fowden, The Egyptian Hermes: A Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind, 95-115; Keizer, The Eighth Reveals the Ninth: A New Hermetic Initiation Discourse, 54-70 Primary Readings: Corpus Hermeticum X, XIII; The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth Part III: Gnosis in Judaism and Early Christianity WEEK 10 (4/1-5) The Old Testament and Hellenistic Judaism Secondary Readings: Wilson, The Gnostics and the Old Testament ; Pearson, Jewish Sources in Gnostic Literature, 451-456; Pearson, Philo, Gnosis, and the New Testament, 171-174 Primary Readings: Primeval History: Genesis 1:1-9:28; Wisdom: Proverbs 1:1-33; 8:1-36; Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-9:18; Sirach 24:1-34; 1 Enoch 42:1-3; Philo, Legum allegoriarum 2.86; De fuga et inventione 137-138; Commentaries on Genesis: 1 Enoch 6-10; Philo, De opificio mundi 7-12, 15-25, 129-130 (cosmos); 82, 134-141, 151-152, 170-172 (humanity); Seth: Philo, De posteritate Caini 42-43, 172-174; Quaestiones in Genesim 1.81 WEEK 11 (4/8-12) Hellenistic Jewish Gnosis Christianity, 31-91; Pearson, Jewish Sources in Gnostic Literature, 470-474 Primary Readings: Apocalypse of Adam (Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, 52-64); Testimony of Truth 45,23-49,7 WEEK 12 (4/15-19) Gnosis and the New Testament Secondary Readings: Wilson, Gnosis, Gnosticism, and the New Testament ; Perkins, Gnosticism and the New Testament, 39-50, 74-92, 109-121 Primary Readings: Pauline Christianity: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3:4; 4:8-13; 15:1-58; 2 Corinthians 4:7-5:10; 12:1-10; Ephesians 1:11-14; 2:1-10; 5:6-16; Colossians 1:9-14; 2:8-15; 3:1-4; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 4:1-10; 6:20-21; 2 Timothy 2:8-19; Titus 3:9-10; Johannine Christianity: Gospel of John 1:1-18; 8:12-59; 12:20-36; 14:1-17:26; 1 John 2:7-25; 4:1-6; 2 John 7-11 WEEK 13 (4/22-26) Sethian Gnosticism Secondary Readings: Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, xv-xxvii, 5-22; Pearson, The Figure of Seth in Gnostic Literature Primary Readings: The Apocryphon of John; Hypostasis of the Archons, The Three Steles of Seth (Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, 23-51, 65-76, 149-158) WEEK 14 (4/29-5/3) The Thomas Tradition Secondary Readings: Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, 359-365 Primary Readings: The Gospel of Thomas; The Book of Thomas; The Hymn of the Pearl (Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, 366-409) WEEK 15 (5/6-10) Valentinian Gnosticism Christianity, 174-197; Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, 217-222 Primary Readings: The Gospel of Truth; Epistle to Flora; The Treatise on the Resurrection; The Gospel of Philip (Layton, The Gnostic Scriptures, 250-266, 306-358) Study Period, 5/11-13
WEEK 16 (5/13-17) Papers Due, 5/14 5