Comments by "ReligionForBreakfast" (@ReligionForBreakfast) on "What is Gnosticism?" video.

  1. Great video as usual! Looking forward to future collabs.
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  2. The Romans accused Christians of cannibalism too, presumably misunderstanding the Eucharist.
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  3.  @erdood3235  You're actually touching on a debate within the field called the "insider-outsider dilemma." A similar dilemma exists among anthropologists who study other cultures outside of their own. I'm of the opinion (as with others in my school of thought) that the academic, nonsectarian study of religion absolutely necessitates that the scholar isn't beholden to the normative claims of their subject of study. That is the difference between a scholar and a reporter who simply repeats what the subject says about themselves uncritically and unreflectively. As the scholar of religion Russell McCutcheon argues: "What does having one's research subjects approve of one's work have to do with assessing whether its analysis is persuasive or produces new knowledge?" Of course this can be taken to the extreme. If the scholar is describing something that is completely unrecognizable to the subject of study, then I'd question if the scholar is actually all that good at their area of study. Also we must realize that any outsider's attempt at describing the insider's perspective will be refracted through the outsider's own perspective (i.e. bias).
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