New Antiquities - Transformations of Ancient Religion in the New Age and Beyond - Dylan Michael Burns
The Impact of Scholarship on Contemporary “Gnosticism(s)”: A Case Study on the Apostolic Johannite Church and Jeremy Puma
New Antiquities - Transformations of Ancient Religion in the New Age and Beyond - Dylan Michael Burns
Matthew Dillon [+]
DePauw University
After finishing his PhD in the History of Religions in America (Rice University, 2017) he accepted a position as post-doctoral researcher and assistant professor of Religious Studies at DePauw University. His areas of research and teaching include American religions, history of Christianity, comparative religions, theory and method, and gnostic studies/ western esotericism. He specializes in the reception and impact of ancient Gnostic/Christian apocrypha in America.
Description
This article examines the impact of academic discourses on Neo-Gnosticism. The identities and ritual practices of Neo-Gnostics are constructed with reference to Gnostic Studies. Analysis of two case studies (the Apostolic Johannite Church and Jeremy Puma) shows how academic discourse legitimizes, challenges, or reforms Gnostic identity in the twenty-first century.