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The Strange Charm of Gnosticism

For our last interview of 2021 (not to worry, the Mid-Year special is coming!), our co-founder David G. Robertson is back in the interview seat discussing his new book Gnosticism and the History of Religions with our co-editor Andie Alexander. Tune in to learn more about the 'strange charm of gnosticism'!

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Featuring

Andie Alexander

David G. Robertson

About this episode

For our final interview of the semester, tune in to our co-founder David G. Robertson discussing his new book Gnosticism and the History of Religions with our co-editor Andie Alexander. In this episode, Robertson outlines the history and use of the term ‘gnosticism’ to examine how gnosticism has come to work as a ‘free-floating’ signifier. Robertson then considers how the ‘strange charm of gnosticism’ has helped keep the term and idea prevalent in the study of religion, particularly in how understanding gnosticism as a special knowledge is linked with notions of religious experience. It’s a great episode—be sure to check it out!

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Responses to this episode
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The Study of Gnosticism Reloaded: From Theological Ostracism to Cultural Appropriation

In this response to our interview with David G. Robertson, Fryderyk Kwiatkowski builds on and furthers the discussion by exploring alternative approaches to studying gnosticism in conversation with Robertson's analysis.

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