Hidden Wisdom ─ Esoteric Traditions And The Roots Of Christian Mysticism

Hoping to call scholarly attention to the esoteric dimensions of early Christianity, Stroumsa (comparative religion and Christianity, Hebrew U., Jerusalem) finds that Christian mysticism in late antiquity was formed primarily from esoteric traditions in the early Judeo-Christian Church rather than from Greek mystery religions. He also finds the resulting esoteric model that emerged then passed into the Gnostic rather than Patristic expression of Christianity, Stroumsa has added a chapter on the esoteric conception of the Divine Name in early Judeo-Christian communities to this edition. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Guy G. Stroumsa, Ph.D. (1978), Harvard, is Martin Buber Professor of Comparative Religion and Director of the Center for the Study of Christianity at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the author of Another Seed: Studies in Gnostic Mythology (Brill, 1984), Savoir et salut: traditions juives et tentations dualistes dans le christianisme ancien (Paris, 1972) and Barbarian Philosophy: the Religious Revolution of Early Christianity (Tubingen, 1999).