This book, by a brilliant young Dutch scholar, provides an attractive and up-to-date introduction to gnosticism as it relates to early Christianity. 'I have aimed to write as a detective,' the author remarks, 'trying to make the reader familiar with the themes and the ingredients of gnosticism without going directly into where all these themes come from. In that way I hope to arouse the reader's curiosity: there is always more to discover. By concentrating on a selection of gnostic texts I hope to provide equipment for dealing with others which are not discussed in this book.'Part One provides a general orientation on gnosticism; then Part Two goes into the religious and philosophical background to gnosticism. Part Three then brings together the texts discussed so far and contains a more detailed discussion of gnosis, gnosticism and gnostics. The field of investigation broadens out here, and Part Four concludes the book by examining the relationship between Catholic Christianity and gnosticism.Riemer Roukema is a lecturer in New Testament in the Theological University of Kampen, The Netherlands.