Christian Gnosis
Christian Religious Philosophy in Its Historical Development
Edited by Peter C. Hodgson
Translated by Robert F. Brown
Imprint: Cascade Books
Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792–1860) was Professor of Theology at the University of Tübingen and the greatest historical theologian of the nineteenth century, writing seminal studies in the history of religions, New Testament, church history, and history of doctrine.
Peter C. Hodgson is Charles G. Finney Professor of Theology Emeritus at the Divinity School of Vanderbilt University. He has specialized in works by Baur and Hegel, as well as in contemporary issues of constructive theology.
Robert F. Brown is Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Delaware. He has specialized in the history of philosophy and the philosophy of religion, with a focus on German idealism.
“That Baur’s speculative masterpiece, Die christliche Gnosis (1835), has not been translated into English before now has always struck me as a scandal. Fortunately, it is a scandal no more, and, arguably, it was worth the wait to have the eminent theologian and master scholar of both Hegel and Baur be the translator. Hodgson’s translation of this difficult and sometimes meandering text is impeccable. But what is even more impressive is that in his translation we capture some of the excitement of Baur’s critical retrieval of ancient forms of thought laid aside in the emergence of the Catholic Church that has shaped—whether consciously or unconsciously—a form of modern Protestantism that moves decisively beyond sola scriptura.”
—Cyril O’Regan, Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology, Notre Dame University
“In Christian Gnosis, Ferdinand Christian Baur set forth with vigor and surprising clarity what he referred to as the ‘internal coherence’ of the gnostic system, from antiquity to the thought of his older contemporaries, Schelling, Schleiermacher, and Hegel. In this beautiful annotated translation, Peter Hodgson and Robert Brown make this important work accessible to the anglophone world at last, enabling a new generation of readers to wrestle with Baur’s provocative synthesis of a perennial theme.”
—David Lincicum, Rev. John A. O’Brien Associate Professor of Theology, Notre Dame University
Related Titles
