An Examination and Critique of the Understanding of the Relationship Between Apocalypticism and Gnosticism in Johannine Studies by Robert Allan Hill

An Examination and Critique of the Understanding of the Relationship Between Apocalypticism and Gnosticism in Johannine Studies by Robert Allan Hill, published in 1997. From the publisher: “”In Johannine studies it is often assumed that apocalyptic eschatology offended the Gnostic and that vertical eschatology was uncharacteristic of the Apocalypticist. The thesis demonstrates that this assumption is unwarranted. First, the assumption is identified and described as it functions in Johannine studies. Second, the assumption is compared to the trend in current apocalyptic studies. Third, the assumption is compared to evidence from recently discovered gnostic tractates. The thesis concludes that this assumption, widely present in scholarship devoted to the Fourth Gospel, is unwarranted in light of contemporary apocalyptic studies, and in light of new evidence from gnostic documents. Consequently, a new understanding of eschatology in Gnosticism, parallel to the new trend in Apocalypticism, is needed. Further, the assumption can no longer function as it has in Johannine scholarship.” Hardcover with original jacket with light soiling to rear board.