Ancient Magic and Ritual Power 0391041525 by Marvin W. Meyer, Paul Allan Mirecki

This volume contains a series of provocative essays that explore expressions of magic and ritual power in the ancient world. The essays are authored by leading scholars in the fields of Egyptology, ancient Near Eastern studies, the Hebrew Bible, Judaica, classical Greek and Roman studies, early Christianity and patristics, and Coptology. Throughout the book the essays examine the terms employed in descriptions of ancient magic. From this examination comes a clarification of magic as a polemical term of exclusion but also an understanding of the classical Egyptian and early Greek conceptions of magic as a more neutral category of inclusion. This book should prove to be foundational for future scholarly studies of ancient magic and ritual power.

Paul A. Mirecki is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Kansas. He is author of various studies in ancient Mediterranean religions, with a focus on Greek and Coptic manuscripts. He is co-editor of Ancient Magic and Ritual Power and Emerging from Darkness: Studies in the Recovery of Manichean Sources.

Ancient Christian Magic by Marvin W. Meyer, Richard Smith

This thought-provoking collection of magical texts from ancient Egypt shows the exotic rituals, esoteric healing practices, and incantatory and supernatural dimensions that flowered in early Christianity. These remarkable Christian magical texts include curses, spells of protection from "headless powers" and evil spirits, spells invoking thunderous powers, descriptions of fire baptism, and even recipes from a magical "cookbook." Virtually all the texts are by Coptic Christians, and they date from about the 1st-12th centuries of the common era, with the majority from late antiquity. By placing these rarely seen texts in historical context and discussing their significance, the authors explore the place of healing, prayer, miracles, and magic in the early Christian experience, and expand our understanding of Christianity and Gnosticism as a vital folk religion.

Richard Smith teaches at Claremont Graduate School and was managing editor of The Nag Hammadi Library (revised edition)

The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook : Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World by Marvin W. Meyer

According to Meyer one of the reasons why the "mystery religions" flourished during the Hellenistic period and on into the first few centuries in the Christian era, was due to the waning influence of the polis and the concomitant decline in the sufficiency of the Olympian pantheon to satisfy the worshipper. Meyer says that the Eleusinian mysteries offered "enlightenment" to those initiated... p.1-4

The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels
by Marvin W. Meyer (Translator)

In December 1945, two Egyptian fellahin, digging for natural fertilizer in the Nile River valley unearthed a sealed storage jar. The jar proved to hold treasure of an unexpected sort: a collection of some fifty-two ancient manuscripts, most of which reflect the teachings of a mystical religious movement we call Gnosticism (from the Greek word gnosis, "knowledge"). The texts are also, with few exceptions, Christian documents, and thus they provide us with valuable new information about the character of the early church, and about the Gnostic Christians within the church. In this volume, Marvin W. Meyer has produced a new English translation for general readers of four of the most important and revealing of these early Christian texts -- the Secret Book of James, the Gospel of Thomas, the Book of Thong, and the Secret Book of John.

In contrast to Bentley Layton (The Gnostic Scriptures) who adopts a more factual approach to translation providing extensive notes, Barnestone and Meyer take a more liberal approach in translating considering "vital contemporary speech" and "aesthetic variables," notes are brief but informative. Althought he work may be used academically, it is more so, a book to be read for inspiration and enjoyment. Jessika

The selections represent Jewish, Christian, Hermetic, Mandaean, Manichaean, Islamic, and Cathar expressions of gnostic spirituality. Their regions of origin include Egypt, the Greco-Roman world, the Middle East, Syria, Iraq, China, and France. Also included are introductions, notes, an extensive glossary, and a wealth of suggestions for further reading.

Willis Barnstone, Ph.D., former O'Connor Professor of Greek at Colgate University, is Distinguished Professor of Comparative Literature and is in the Institute of Biblical and Literary Studies at Indiana University. A Guggenheim Fellow, poet, scholar, and memoirist, his many books include The Poetics of Translation, The Other Bible, The New Covenant, With Borges on an Ordinary Evening in Buenos Aires, Life Watch, and Border of a Dream: The Poems of Antonio Machado. He has received numerous awards for his work, among them the Emily Dickinson Award, the W. H. Auden Award, and a PEN/Book-of-the-Month-Club Special Citation for translation.

Marvin Meyer, Ph.D., is Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University, Orange, California, and is one of the foremost scholars of Coptic and gnostic studies at work today. He is Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, a fellow of the Jesus Seminar, and a Pacific Coast regional past president of the Society of Biblical Literature. He is the author of numerous books, including Ancient Christian Magic, The Gospel of Thomas, Secret Gospels, Jesus Then and Now, The Magical Book of Mary and the Angels, and The Ancient Mysteries. Dr. Meyer appears frequently in documentary television programs for ABC, BBC, A&E, and the History Channel.