In this penetrating and provocative assessment of the current state of religion and its effects on society at large, Philip J. Lee criticizes conservatives and liberals alike as he traces gnostic motifs to the very roots of American Protestantism. With references to an extraordinary spectrum of writings from sources as diverse as John Calvin, Martin Buber, Tom Wolfe, Margaret Atwood, and Emily Dickinson, he probes the effects of gnostic thinking on a wide range of issues. Calling for the restoration of a dialectical faith and practice, the book points to positive ways of restoring health to endangered Protestant churches.

Philip J. Lee's profile page

Philip J. Lee is at Church of St John and St Stephen, New Brunswick.

"A major, critical work....Both a history and a timely warning....The book ought to be placed alongside of Jonathan Edwards's The Nature of Religious Affections...and the recent publications of younger theologians such as George Hunsinger."--Anglican Theological Review

"Lee writes in a clear and direct way, and has constructed a carefully organized argument supported by extensive reading in North American theology, literature and cultural analysis....Lee confronts us with an important message...and a prophetic voice that ought to be heard by all North American Christians."--Toronto Journal of Theology

"Lee asserts the ongoing relevance of the Christian story of man. In doing so, he has made the study of gnosticism crucial to the ongoing debate about the future of American culture."--The Christian Science Monitor

"Lee develops a convincing and well-documented case as he traces the distortions due to gnosticizing tendencies in American Protestantism from its beginnings to the present. His plea for a degnosticizing of Protestantism is opportune and should receive a sympathetic hearing."--Provident Book Finder

"This is 'must' reading for every member of the cloth."--Virginia Episcopalian

"Lee's description of Gnosticism is not a historical sketch. Rather, it is an attempt to map the tendencies and characteristic forms of the Gnostic mindset. The resulting summary is one of the most readable and insightful treatments of Gnosticism presently available."--The Thomist

"An ambitious and extraordinary book."--Comptes rendus/Studies in Religion

"Reading through the book, one notices that there is something to offend nearly every Protestant; and in nearly every case, Lee's offensive observations are insightful and quite accurate....All of this makes for a sprightly, thought-provoking book."--Epiphany

"This is a thought-provoking, readable work, argued by means of numerous examples....It will prove valuable especially to those who teach North America's religious history and Protestant theologies."--Horizons

"Lee deserves all praise for seeing clearly what is indeed there to be seen, though concealed in the multiple masks of supposed Protestantism."--Harold Bloom, in The American Religion (1992)