The category of "Gnosticism" has shaped how generations of scholars have understood a remarkably diverse collection of ancient writings. Michael A. Williams, author of the influential Rethinking Gnosticism, joins Shirley Paulson to trace the history of that category, reconsider assumptions about the Nag Hammadi writings, and explore what emerges when we read the texts individually. Their conversation offers a more nuanced picture of ancient readers, diverse interpretations, and the surprisingly hopeful worlds some of these writings reveal.

Michael Williams is Professor Emeritus of Comparative Religion and Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he was a faculty member since 1976. His PhD is from Harvard University, and his two highly important and influential books are The Immovable Race: A Gnostic Designation and the Theme of Stability in Late Antiquity and Rethinking Gnosticism: An Argument for Dismantling a Problematic Category. He's the author and coeditor of several other books and articles, including two volumes of essays: Charisma and Sacred Biography and Innovation in Religious Traditions.

His work has led him to an increasing suspicion of many conventional generalizations about "gnosticism." Related research interests have included scribal practices and ancient book manufacture and the cultural significance witnessed in the selection and arrangement of content in codex manuscripts that contain multiple writings.

A complete transcript is available on the shownotes page at https://earlychristiantexts.com/beyond-gnosticism/

 

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