(The Conversation) — Mandaeans are followers of ancient Gnostic religion, whose traditional homeland was the region of Iraq and Iran. Today, this small minority lives in many parts of the world, ...

What do Harry Potter, the Star Wars series, The Matrix, Masonry, New Age and the Raelian cult, which claims to have cloned the first baby, have in common? Their ideological soil. Identical esoteric ...

This week your professor continues a very brief introduction into the early rivals of Christianity. We know of a great many religious cults which existed in ancient times, most of which have vanished ...

The beliefs of the Gnostics, an all-but-forgotten 2nd Century Christian sect, might not seem to have much relevance to the modern world – especially the imagined futures of some of our favorite ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Gnostic religions view the material world as the product of a mistake in the heavenly realm, the creation of one or more inferior ...

No paywalls here. Thanks to you. As an independent nonprofit, RNS believes everyone should have access to coverage of religion that is fair, thoughtful and inclusive. That's why you will never hit a ...