M David Litwa
Biographic Data
| ID | 1482345 |
|---|---|
| NAME | M David Litwa |
| GIVEN NAMES | M David |
| FAMILY NAME | Litwa |
| SIGNATURE | LITWA M D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Research Fellow, Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Faculty of Theology and Philosophy, Australian Catholic University Melbourne Australia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4778-045X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Introduction and Translation
Theology should concern itself more seriously with music. Music contains signs of life that nihilism was not able to cancel. From the end of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, in the age of the secularization of art, all of the great musicians confronted the themes and works of the religious tradition in their major works (from Wagner to Henze, from Schonberg to Andriessen, from Strawinskj to Messiaen, from Skriabjn to G…
The Secret Book of John
In this volume, David Litwa offers a fresh introduction to the 'gnostic Bible,' arguably the most significant and widely read of all gnostic Christian texts ever written. Providing a fresh introduction to a particular version of the Secret Book of John, namely the shorter version that is found in Nag Hammadi Codex III, his study includes a new translation of this text and an extensive commentary in which he introduces the notable features of this…
Thomas in Alexandria
In this article, I argue that the Gospel of Thomas and the Book of Thomas were composed in Alexandria, Egypt. For the Gospel of Thomas, I examine the manuscript attestation and quotations of the gospel from known Alexandrian figures (e.g., Julius Cassianus, Basilideans) and texts (the Gospel according to the Egyptians), and from texts that are arguably Alexandrian (e.g., the Testimony of Truth, Excerpts from Theodotus, and the Naassene discourse)…
Did “The Gnostic Heresy” Influence Valentinus? An Investigation of Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.11.1 and 1.29
This article argues (1) that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that a or the “gnostic heresy” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.11.1) referred to a specific social group whose theology is witnessed in Against Heresies 1.29 and (2) that the aeonology in this passage influenced Valentinus. There is no evidence that the aeonology in Against Heresies 1.29 existed prior to 160 CE , the approximate date of Valentinus’s demise; thus this material c…
Found Christianities
M. David Litwa tells the stories of the early Christians whose religious identity was either challenged or outright denied. In the second century many different groups and sects claimed to be the only Orthodox or authentic version of Christianity, and Litwa shows how those groups and figures on the side of developing Christian Orthodoxy often dismissed other versions of Christianity by refusing to call them “Christian”. However, the writings and …
The So-Called Stratiotics and Phibionites
The following study of Epiphanius, Panarion 26 is divided into three parts. The first part argues that Epiphanius used a macro heresiological category, "Gnostics," to combine what were in fact several different social formations in different areas with recognizably different practices. If we pay attention to practices, we can plausibly identify at least two groups in Egypt: the "Stratiotics" (with their distinctive agape ritual) and the "Phibioni…
Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
The Father of the Devil (John 8
This article argues that John 8:44 helped to inspire the early Christian view that the creator was an evil being. John 8:44 has at least four possible readings allowed by grammar. In two of these readings, taken by a variety of early Christian groups (including early catholics), there is indication that the devil has a father. Since the desires of this father are known from the parallel desires of his children, some early Christians inferred the …
How the Gospels Became History
A Theory of Comparison
This chapter presents a positive program of comparison. In doing so, it criticizes the method and presuppositions of mimesis criticism (spearheaded by Dennis Ronald McDonald). Mimesis criticism compares texts on the basis of assuming direct genetic causations. A better theory vouches for polymorphous influence based on dynamic cultural interaction. Also treated is the notion of gospel genre, the identity of the evangelists, the themes of their go…
How the Gospels Became History
Hermetica II
The Gnostic New Age
Literary Eyewitnesses
This essay supports the thesis that the Beloved Disciple is a purely literary character employed as a literary device of authentication recognisable during the late first and early second centuries CE. As evidence, three works are thoroughly compared with the Fourth Gospel in regard to their eyewitness appeals: Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana (a biography), the Wonders beyond Thule by Antonius Diogenes (a historiographical novel) and th…
You Are Gods
Currently there is no widespread agreement on what constitutes gnosis or the gnostic identity in the ancient world. The best option, it seems, is to offer a polythetic classification wherein gnostic thinkers or groups possess a range of characteristics without any one group or thinker possessing all of them. Yet even if widespread agreement on a set of characteristics were attained, it still would not explain how gnostic groups emerged, developed…
Phikola, a Mysterious Goddess at Phlya
A gnostic Christian writer (called 'Sethian' by the author of the Refutation of All Heresies) describes a painting showing an old man with an erect penis chasing a dogshaped or dog-faced woman (Refutation 5.20.7). For a long time in scholarship the old man has been identified with the Orphic god Phanes. In contrast, this paper presents evidence for identifying him as a form of Hermes. In turn, the woman (called 'περεη Phikola') is identified with…
Gnostic Self-Deification
This essay argues that gnostic deification can be redescribed as self-deification. Self-deification, it is argued, is realized in three “moments”: (1) the intuition of one’s own divine core, (2) deeply reflexive practices of self-knowledge, and (3) identification with a higher divine self. These three moments are contextualized with the help of ancient philosophy and several gnostic texts. Finally, a case study on Simon of Samaria illustrates how…
Paul's Mosaic Ascent
This essay offers a reading of 2 Cor 12.7–9 in light of a rabbinic story of Moses' ascent to heaven ( b. Šabb. 88b-89a). After an exploration of Moses in 2 Corinthians the author argues that vv. 7–9, like vv. 2–4, constitute an ascent report (vv. 2–4). This ascent report, it is maintained, is structurally parallel to Moses' heavenly ascent in b. Šabb. 88b-89a. Early traditions of Moses' ascent to heaven and dominance over angels suggest that Paul…
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Paul's Mosaic Ascent
This essay offers a reading of 2 Cor 12.7–9 in light of a rabbinic story of Moses' ascent to heaven ( b. Šabb. 88b-89a). After an exploration of Moses in 2 Corinthians the author argues that vv. 7–9, like vv. 2–4, constitute an ascent report (vv. 2–4). This ascent report, it is maintained, is structurally parallel to Moses' heavenly ascent in b. Šabb. 88b-89a. Early traditions of Moses' ascent to heaven and dominance over angels suggest that Paul…
Phikola, a Mysterious Goddess at Phlya
A gnostic Christian writer (called 'Sethian' by the author of the Refutation of All Heresies) describes a painting showing an old man with an erect penis chasing a dogshaped or dog-faced woman (Refutation 5.20.7). For a long time in scholarship the old man has been identified with the Orphic god Phanes. In contrast, this paper presents evidence for identifying him as a form of Hermes. In turn, the woman (called 'περεη Phikola') is identified with…
Gnostic Self-Deification
This essay argues that gnostic deification can be redescribed as self-deification. Self-deification, it is argued, is realized in three “moments”: (1) the intuition of one’s own divine core, (2) deeply reflexive practices of self-knowledge, and (3) identification with a higher divine self. These three moments are contextualized with the help of ancient philosophy and several gnostic texts. Finally, a case study on Simon of Samaria illustrates how…
You Are Gods
Currently there is no widespread agreement on what constitutes gnosis or the gnostic identity in the ancient world. The best option, it seems, is to offer a polythetic classification wherein gnostic thinkers or groups possess a range of characteristics without any one group or thinker possessing all of them. Yet even if widespread agreement on a set of characteristics were attained, it still would not explain how gnostic groups emerged, developed…
Hermetica II
The Gnostic New Age
Literary Eyewitnesses
This essay supports the thesis that the Beloved Disciple is a purely literary character employed as a literary device of authentication recognisable during the late first and early second centuries CE. As evidence, three works are thoroughly compared with the Fourth Gospel in regard to their eyewitness appeals: Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana (a biography), the Wonders beyond Thule by Antonius Diogenes (a historiographical novel) and th…
How the Gospels Became History
A Theory of Comparison
This chapter presents a positive program of comparison. In doing so, it criticizes the method and presuppositions of mimesis criticism (spearheaded by Dennis Ronald McDonald). Mimesis criticism compares texts on the basis of assuming direct genetic causations. A better theory vouches for polymorphous influence based on dynamic cultural interaction. Also treated is the notion of gospel genre, the identity of the evangelists, the themes of their go…
How the Gospels Became History
Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought
The Father of the Devil (John 8
This article argues that John 8:44 helped to inspire the early Christian view that the creator was an evil being. John 8:44 has at least four possible readings allowed by grammar. In two of these readings, taken by a variety of early Christian groups (including early catholics), there is indication that the devil has a father. Since the desires of this father are known from the parallel desires of his children, some early Christians inferred the …
The So-Called Stratiotics and Phibionites
The following study of Epiphanius, Panarion 26 is divided into three parts. The first part argues that Epiphanius used a macro heresiological category, "Gnostics," to combine what were in fact several different social formations in different areas with recognizably different practices. If we pay attention to practices, we can plausibly identify at least two groups in Egypt: the "Stratiotics" (with their distinctive agape ritual) and the "Phibioni…
Found Christianities
M. David Litwa tells the stories of the early Christians whose religious identity was either challenged or outright denied. In the second century many different groups and sects claimed to be the only Orthodox or authentic version of Christianity, and Litwa shows how those groups and figures on the side of developing Christian Orthodoxy often dismissed other versions of Christianity by refusing to call them “Christian”. However, the writings and …
Did “The Gnostic Heresy” Influence Valentinus? An Investigation of Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.11.1 and 1.29
This article argues (1) that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that a or the “gnostic heresy” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.11.1) referred to a specific social group whose theology is witnessed in Against Heresies 1.29 and (2) that the aeonology in this passage influenced Valentinus. There is no evidence that the aeonology in Against Heresies 1.29 existed prior to 160 CE , the approximate date of Valentinus’s demise; thus this material c…
Thomas in Alexandria
In this article, I argue that the Gospel of Thomas and the Book of Thomas were composed in Alexandria, Egypt. For the Gospel of Thomas, I examine the manuscript attestation and quotations of the gospel from known Alexandrian figures (e.g., Julius Cassianus, Basilideans) and texts (the Gospel according to the Egyptians), and from texts that are arguably Alexandrian (e.g., the Testimony of Truth, Excerpts from Theodotus, and the Naassene discourse)…
Introduction and Translation
Theology should concern itself more seriously with music. Music contains signs of life that nihilism was not able to cancel. From the end of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century, in the age of the secularization of art, all of the great musicians confronted the themes and works of the religious tradition in their major works (from Wagner to Henze, from Schonberg to Andriessen, from Strawinskj to Messiaen, from Skriabjn to G…
The Secret Book of John
In this volume, David Litwa offers a fresh introduction to the 'gnostic Bible,' arguably the most significant and widely read of all gnostic Christian texts ever written. Providing a fresh introduction to a particular version of the Secret Book of John, namely the shorter version that is found in Nag Hammadi Codex III, his study includes a new translation of this text and an extensive commentary in which he introduces the notable features of this…
Philosophy (15 works) · Art (13 works) · Literature (12 works) · Biblical Studies and Interpretation (11 works) · History (11 works) · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies (8 works) · Theology (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Epistemology (6 works) · Classical Antiquity Studies (5 works)