grgr: draw a distinction!

[Lorentzen / Nicklaus]

 "voegelin's writings could be regarded as silly were it not for their strong 
impact within and beyond his own field of political science. academicians from 
various diciplines have gathered at conferences such as 'gnosticism and 
modernity', where they discussed such topics as 'the gnosticism of lincoln's 
political rhetoric'. the literary critic cleanth brooks, having absorbed 
voegelin's version of gnosticism, described walker percy's novel  
l a n c e l o t  as 'modern gnosticism'. the main character of this book, 
lancelot lamar, is confronted by his wife's and daughter's ongoing orgy with a 
group of sex and drug enthusiasts from hollywood. in a fury of crazed 
self-righteousness, lancelot decides to take matters into his own hands 
(immanent salvation)and burns down the house with everyone in it. it would 
appear that voegelin's influence has removed the distinction between 
'gnosticism' and what we call 'apocalypticism'." 

richard smith: the modern relevance of gnosticism. pp. 532-549 [- here: 542f] in 
james m. robinson (ed.): the nag hammadi library in english. san francisco 1988: 
harper.

kfl