Versluis's new book bursts the bounds set by more timid scholarship, with a cast of characters at the limits of respectability-as some Gnostics have always been. Its exhibition of neo-gnostic attitudes in politics, philosophy, and popular culture is a feast of curiosity and erudition, anchored by a sense of what true gnosis could mean in a desperate age.
Arthur Versluis is Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. He has published numerous articles and books on the intersection of religion, the humanities, and politics. He is the editor of JSR: Journal for the Study of Radicalism and serves as president of Hieros Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to understanding the sacred.
