Against the Protestant Gnostics

Front Cover
Oxford University Press, Aug 19, 1993 - Religion - 368 pages
In this penetrating and provocative assessment of the current state of religion and its effects on society at large, Philip J. Lee criticizes conservatives and liberals alike as he traces gnostic motifs to the very roots of American Protestantism. With references to an extraordinary spectrum of writings from sources as diverse as John Calvin, Martin Buber, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, and Emily Dickinson, he probes the effects of gnostic thinking on a wide range of issues. Calling for the restoration of a dialectical faith and practice, the book points to positive ways of restoring health to endangered Protestant churches.

From inside the book

Contents

GNOSTICISM IN ASCENDANCE IN NORTH AMERICA
81
GNOSTICISM ESTABLISHED WITHIN NORTH AMERICAN PROTESTANTISM RESULTS AND REFORM
187
Epilogue
282
Notes
284
Bibliography
325
Index
337
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 259 - Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, "and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.
Page 120 - Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it by experience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion.
Page 36 - Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him ? He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him : was not this to know me ? saith the LORD.
Page 25 - I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Page 143 - Then do you want us to go and gather them?' ^But he said, 'No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ^Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.
Page 119 - Man is the dwarf of himself. Once he was permeated and dissolved by spirit. He filled nature with his overflowing currents. Out from him sprang the sun and moon; from man, the sun; from woman, the moon.
Page 23 - Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
Page 55 - I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. "I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me, Amen.
Page 30 - And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Bibliographic information