Receptions of Revelations: A Future for the Study of Esotericism and Antiquity

Abstract

Antiquity, ancient sources, and the people who study them are central to any construal of esotericism. Meanwhile, specialists in antiquity are increasingly engaged with the ancient sources which are important for the history of esotericism: the ‘Underworld of Platonism’ of Gnosticism, Hermetism, and Neoplatonic theurgy; the Coptic Gnostic corpus; and biblical apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. This paper outlines how the transmission and reception of these sources are inextricable from the materials studied under the rubric of ‘esotericism,’ suggesting future research into these topics that focuses on reception-history and invention of tradition—a promising avenue for the study of antiquity and that of esotericism alike.

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