Description: How do we account for the disparate ideas, writings, and practices that have been placed under the Gnostic rubric? King's book is both a thorough and innovative introduction to the twentieth-century study of Gnosticism and a revealing exploration of the concept of heresy as a tool in forming religious identity.
Brief description: Karen L. King is Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School.
Review Quotes: [King's] is the pithiest and fairest overview to date of the subject.--Robert A. Segal "Times Literary Supplement" (11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM)