RLBcB251 Gnosticism

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
doc. Mgr. Aleš Chalupa, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Aleš Chalupa, Ph.D.
Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Mgr. Matouš Vencálek
Supplier department: Department for the Study of Religions – Faculty of Arts
Timetable of Seminar Groups
RLBcB251/Prez: Tue 12:00–13:40 J22, A. Chalupa
Prerequisites (in Czech)
( RLA06 Christianity I || RLKA06 Christianity I ) || ( RLBcA006 Christianity I || RLBcKA006 Christianity I ) && ! RLB251 Gnosticism
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 50 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 12/50, only registered: 0/50, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/50
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course deals with one of the most important religious and philosophical movement of the late antique world which also deeply influenced the emerging Christianity. Lectures discuss philosophical and religious sources on which Gnosticism was based and try to localize communities, where gnostic motives could have originated and evolved. The course also provides a typology of gnostic movements and introduces their most important literary texts (some of them are the topic of seminar readings). Last but not least, the course tackle the problem of theoretical and methodological fundaments of the scholarly study of Gnosticism during the 19th and 20th century, which contributes to the discussion on what grounds and motivations the construction of a category of "gnosticism", seemingly "objective" and "scientific", is very often based.
At the end of the course students will:
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students will:
- have an enhanced knowledge of elementary facts about Gnosticism
- be familiar with the history of the study of Gnosticism during the 19th and the 20th century
- be able to critically interpret our most important literary sources and archeological discoveries concerning ancient Gnosticism
- be able to analyze various problems connected with the scientific construction of the category of Gnosticism
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction to the course; 1. Gnosticism and Its Place in the History of Religions: Sources, Texts and Approaches to Its Study; 2. Gnosticism: Typical Thoughts and Motives; 3. Seminar I. Reading of Gnostic Texts (Poimandres) 4. Gnosticism: Origin and Inspirations I.; 5. Gnosticism: Origin and Inspirations II.; 6. Most Important Gnostic Systems I.(Sethian Gnosis) 7. Seminar II. Reading of Gnostic Texts (The Nature of Archons, NHC II.4); 8. Most Important Gnostic Systems II. (Valentian Gnosis); 9. Seminar III. Reading of Gnostic texts (Gospel of Philip, NHC II.3); 10. Gnosticism: Its Heirs (Manicheism, Mandaeans);11. Gnosticism: Deconstruction of One Scientific Category; 12. End-of-term test.
Literature
    required literature
  • RUDOLPH, Kurt. Gnóze : podstata a dějiny náboženského směru pozdní antiky. Translated by Jiří Gebelt. Vydání první. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2010, 450 stran. ISBN 9788070219478. info
  • POKORNÝ, Petr. Píseň o perle : tajné knihy starověkých gnostiků. 2. rozš. vyd. Praha: Vyšehrad, 1998, 326 s. ISBN 8070212462. info
  • Rukopisy z Nag Hammádí. Edited by Wolf B. Oerter - Petr Pokorný - Matyáš Havrda - Lucie Kopecká - Pa. Vydání první. Praha: Vyšehrad, 2008, 356 stran. ISBN 9788070218754. info
    recommended literature
  • Gnosis and hermeticism from antiquity to modern times. Edited by Roelof van den Broek - W. J. Hanegraaff. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998, x, 402. ISBN 0791436128. info
  • PEARSON, Birger Albert. Ancient gnosticism : traditions and literature. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007, xiii, 362. ISBN 9780800632588. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, seminars and class discussions. Reading of texts concerning themes of individual lectures and seminars is required.
Assessment methods
Conditions for successful completion of the course:
(a) Successful completion of a written test (the condition is to obtain at least 60 points out from 100 possible ), which is the entry condition for the oral colloquium. The test verifies factual knowledge from lectures and obligatory literature and sources (50%)
(b) Successful completion of the oral colloquium that verifies the understanding of the facts in a broader historical context (50%).
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on course enrolment limitations: Zápis mimo religionistiku je podmíněn souhlasem vyučujícího.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2023/RLBcB251