The origins and nature of gnosticism. A discussion

A discussion on the origins and nature of Gnosticism, conducted in the framework of the interdisciplinary seminar Teaching Classics. Fundamental Values in the Changing World in August 2007. In the second century A.D. the Mediterranean world underwent a profound change in ethical attitude towards the kosmos and human society, and the change is especially well reflected in one of the most controversial intellectual movement of the Late Antiquity, the so-called Gnostic tradition. Although attempts to draw a coherent picture of Gnosis which have been undertaken so far have yielded no satisfactory result, the basic patterns of thought, commonly labeled as 'Gnostic', are reasonably well known. Taken in the broadest sense of the word, Gnosticism is a specific world attitude. In the framework of Judeo-Christian world-view the Gnostics contemplated the world affairs from a global prospective, put them in the context of world history and developed a specific form of eschatology. The discussion opens with a paper by Eugene Afonasin. The author undertakes to interpret selected historical evidence, which can throw the light upon the development of this quite diverse and controversial tradition, including a passage from the Stromateis of Clement of Alexandria (Strom. III 29, 1-2 St), which, surprisingly enough, was not previously treated in this context. The round table continues with a presentation by Alexey Kamenskikh on the Evangelium Veritatis and a general discussion.