This review essay presents and critically engages April DeConick’s The Gnostic New Age, thereby elucidating a series of theoretical problems currently facing the study of Gnosticism and ancient religion more broadly. Notably, a post-theoretical shift—identified as pervasive in the field of religious studies in the 2010s—has emerged in recent Gnostic studies, a shift that has failed to embrace the critical insights offered by Michael Williams (1996) and Karen King (2003) and is on the rise in Gnostic studies. In addition, a historical “mapping” (in the sense offered by J. Z. Smith) of ancient religion into dichotomies leaves us with a romanticized ”Gnosticism” and a caricatured understanding of ancient religion and ancient Christianity. On the positive side, however, DeConick illustrates a rising interest in studying the experiential in Gnosticism while advocating the application of cognitive science of religion.
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