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Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic StudiesVolume 2, Issue 2, 2017&#160;Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic Studies is a peer-reviewed publication devoted to the study of Gnostic religious currents from the ancient world to the modern, where ‘Gnostic’ is broadly conceived as a reference to special direct knowledge of the divine, which either transcends or transgresses conventional religious knowledge. It aims to publish academic papers on: the emergence of the Gnostic, in its many different historical and local cultural contexts; the Gnostic strands that persisted in the middle ages; and modern interpretations of Gnosticism – with the goal of establishing cross-cultural and trans-historical conversations, together with more localized historical analyses.The corpus of Gnostic materials includes (but is not restricted to) testimonies from outsiders as well as insider literature such as the Nag Hammadi collection, the Hermetica, Neoplatonic texts, the Pistis Sophia, the books of Jeu, the Berlin and Tchacos codices, Manichaean documents, Mandaean scriptures, and contemporary Gnostic fiction/film and ‘revealed’ literature. The journal will publish the best of traditional historical and comparative scholarship while also featuring newer approaches that have received less attention in the established literature, such as cognitive science, cognitive linguistics, social memory, psychology, ethnography, sociology, and literary theory.(Text by the organizers)&#160;ArticlesResearch ArticleVisionary Experience and Ritual Realism in the Ascent of the Discourse on the Eighth and the Ninth (NHC VI, 6) - Christian H. BullPseudonymity, Gnosis, and the Self in Gnostic Literature - David BrakkeThe Apocalypse of Paul (NHC V, 2) as a Valentinian Baptismal Liturgy of Ascent - Michael S. DomerackiIamblichus and the Talisman of Gnosis - Gregory ShawUnderstanding Apocalyptic Terrorism: Countering the Radical Mindset , written by Frances L. Flannery - Kelley Coblentz Bautch&#160;Book ReviewAugustine and Manichaean Christianity: Selected Papers from the First South African Conference on Augustine of Hippo, University of Pretoria, 24–26 April 2012 , written by Johannes van Oort - Timothy PettipieceThe Composition of the Gospel of Thomas: Original Language and Influences , written by Simon Gathercole - Shawn J. WilhiteThe Divine Father: Religious and Philosophical Concepts of Divine Parenthood in Antiquity , written by Felix Albrecht and Reinhard Feldmeier - Kris Wray&#160;Books ReceivedAuthor: Petru Moldovan