Book Note: Histories of the Hidden God (DeConick and Adamson)

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Very excited about this new edited volume in the Gnostica Series published by Acumen.  This volume came out of a very special conference that we held here at Rice in April 2010.  At Rice we have a wonderful program we call GEM (Gnosticism, Esotericism, and Mysticism) which is an approach to religious literature and practices that takes seriously the marginalized and forbidden, what I like to call the "edges of religion".  We think it is essential to understand and incorporate the edges of religion into our histories and analyses of religion, rather than focus only on what became over time the center of religious traditions and the authoritative literature.

So the book comes out of the first international GEM conference.  Histories of the Hidden God: Concealment and Revelation in Western Gnostic, Esoteric, and Mystical Traditions, edited by myself and Grant Adamson.

The papers deal with the fact that even though Western religious traditions typically portray God as a humanlike creator, lawgiver, and king, both accessible and actively present in history, there is another concurrent tradition that God hides.  This has led to a tension in the traditions.  It is the Gnostic and the mystic who capitalize on the hidden and hiding God.  It is the sage and the artist who try to make accessible to humans the God who is secreted away.  This book explores the secret God from antiquity to the present day.  The book is organized around three themes: the concealment of the hidden God; the human quest for the hidden God; and revelations of the hidden God.

In this book I have published one of my papers on the Gospel of John and Gnostic origins: "Who is hiding in the Gospel of John?  Reconceptualizing Johannine theology and the roots of Gnosticism."

Planning for Society of Biblical Literature Meeting

I can't believe it, but the Society of Biblical Literature Meeting is fast approaching, and hurray! it is a joint meeting with the American Academy of Religion again.  I am a member of both organizations, and so I am so pleased that the two societies are together again. 

There have been some big changes for those of us who are involved in the Early Jewish and Christian Mysticism Section.  We came up for renewal this year, and we sent out a survey to our members.  Based on the results of that survey, we decided to change the name of the section to Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity, and to broaden our mission statement: "This unit critically investigates religious currents of secrecy/secrets (esotericism) and/or their revelation through praxis (mysticism) in the formative period of Judaism and Christianity (ca. 500 BCE-500 CE)."

We have two great sessions scheduled for November, one of them a joint session with The Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity group.  Please join us if you can.

S19-118

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Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity
11/19/2011
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 2011 - Convention CenterTheme: Reconstructing Practice from Texts
The annual banquet dinner for this group will be held at a local restaurant on Saturday evening. Contact April DeConick (adeconick@rice.edu) for reservations and information.
Kelley Coblentz Bautch, University of St. Edwards, Presiding
Jeff Pettis, New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Raising the Serpent: Gods, Magicians, and the Mystical in John 3.14-15 (20 min)
April D. DeConick, Rice University
“The road for souls is through the planets”: The Mysteries of the Ophites Diagrammed (20 min)
Cordula Bandt, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften
The Tract "On the Mystery of Letters" in Context of Late Antique Jewish, Gnostic and Christian Letter Mysticism (20 min)
Break (5 min)
Grant Adamson, Rice University
Descent of the Soul and the Interpretation of Genesis 1-3 among Jews, Christians, and Later Platonists (20 min)
Ellen Muehlberger, University of Michigan
Evagrian Death Meditation and Amphilochius’s Homily on Lazarus (20 min)
Brent Landau, University of Oklahoma
Mystical Practice and Experience in the Syriac Revelation of the Magi (20 min)
Discussion (25 min)

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S20-222

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Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity
Joint Session With: Esotericism and Mysticism in Antiquity, Religious Experience in Early Judaism and Early Christianity
11/20/2011
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 2018 - Convention CenterTheme: Praxis and Experience in Ancient Jewish and Christian Mysticism
This session is dedicated to the memory of Alan F. Segal
April Deconick, Rice University, Presiding (5 min)
James R. Davila, University of St. Andrews
Ritual Praxis in Ancient Jewish and Christian Mysticism (25 min)
Istvan Czachesz, University of Heidelberg
Experience in Ancient Jewish and Christian Mysticism: Insights from Cognitive Neuroscience (25 min)
Break (10 min)
Frances Flannery, James Madison University
Mysticism as an Epistemological Sub-Category of Religious Experience: The Case of the Testament of Abraham (25 min)
Rebecca Lesses, Ithaca College, Respondent (15 min)
Pieter Craffert, University of South Africa, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (30 min)