Bloom’s assertion, that scratch the surface of American Christianity and you’ll find a magical mystical body of initiatory knowledge, isn’t widely shared. That’s in large part because religion in America is either embraced by true believers who take it entirely at face value or dismissed by nonbelievers who deny there’s anything there to notice. “Gnosis [or direct experience of reality],” Bloom asserts, “has been domesticated in America for two centuries now, so we have the paradox of a Gnostic Nation that does not know it knows!” [emphasis added]. A Gnostic nation that does not know it knows.
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