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9781498566285

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Wrestling with Archons is a book for both scholars of religion and scholars skeptical of religion. Portraying a Gnosticism deeply engaged in its world, Wrestling with Archons offers intriguing possibilities for our own cultural criticism, recasting categories from matter and nature to religion and sex, and showing us the contemporary importance of these ancient texts. -- Karmen MacKendrick, Le Moyne College Wrestling with Archons is like a bumblebee. It should not be able to fly, but it is-and it flies well. Who could imagine that the branch of early Christianity, which we label Gnosticism, can be fruitfully approached from the perspective of radical modern cultural criticism? Cahana shows that this approach is not only possible but also very productive. Gnosticism like modern cultural criticism `is questioning the unquestionable and deconstructing the givens of a respective culture, instead of arguing on their basis'. Cahana is a talented guide through these complicated matters. -- Anders-Christian Jacobsen, Aarhus University Offering a creative and challenging intervention in the ongoing debates about the viability of Gnosticism as a historical and analytical category, Jonathan Cahana builds in unexpected ways on the legacy of Hans Jonas to reposition gnostic literature as a distinctively ancient mode of radical cultural critique. Through rereadings of ancient textual evidence and provocative comparisons to contemporary critical thinkers, Wrestling with Archons advances a bold thesis worthy of serious engagement. -- Benjamin H. Dunning, Fordham University

Wrestling with Archons is a book for both scholars of religion and scholars skeptical of religion. Portraying a Gnosticism deeply engaged in its world, Wrestling with Archons offers intriguing possibilities for our own cultural criticism, recasting categories from matter and nature to religion and sex, and showing us the contemporary importance of these ancient texts. -- Karmen MacKendrick, Le Moyne College

Author Information

Jonathan Cahana-Blum conducted postdoctoral research as a Fulbright Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and held a Sapere Aude fellowship from the Danish Council for Independent Research at Aarhus University. He has published in such venues as Numen, Journal of Religion, and Journal of the American Academy of Religion.

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