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The Nag Hammadi Library [Third, completely revised Edition]. Translated and Introduction by members of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. With an Afterword by Richard Smith. HarperSanFrancisco. 1988.
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First published January 1, 400
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About the author
James M. Robinson
116 books17 followersJames McConkey Robinson (born June 30, 1924) is Professor Emeritus of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California. He is a member of the Jesus Seminar and arguably the most prominent Q and Nag Hammadi library scholar of the 20th century. He is also a major contributor to The International Q Project, acting as an editor for most of their publications. Particularly, he laid the ground for John S. Kloppenborg's foundational work into the compositional history of Q, by arguing its genre as an ancient wisdom collection.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
October 14, 2014
The scholarly controversy about the nature and origins of gnosticism was the topic of my undergraduate thesis at Grinnell College and a subject of further study at Union Theological Seminary, most particularly with Cyril Richardson and Elaine Pagels. It has remained an intellectual hobby since then.
The appearance of the long-discussed Nag Hammadi codices in an affordable English edition was a happy event. Breaking with usual habits, I bought it new, possibly at the bookstore of the C.G. Jung Institute in Evanston, Illinois.
The texts themselves, at least versions of them, were substantially familiar, but the critical apparatus is helpful. What one would like, however, is an affordable edition with the texts in their original languages as well as in English translation.
Now, what is Gnosticism?
Gnosticism is a convenient rubric imposed by older heresiologists and modern scholars upon a body of Christian and syncretic literature rejected by the Roman Church. There never was, so far as we can determine at this late date, a Gnostic Church. There were, however, Christian teachers, some, like Clement of Alexandria, still considered orthodox, most others not, who, with their followers, emphasized a salvific knowledge, a gnosis, available to individuals without the mediation of what became the "catholic" church. In other words, salvation was possible without such submission. Beyond this it is difficult to generalize. As the texts found at Nag Hammadi indicate, opinions varied. Some texts read as esoteric mumbo jumbo and suggest occult practices passed from teacher to student. Some have Christ Jesus as a being from another, higher dimension of being and go so far as to anthropomorphize metaphysical principles. Others suggest that the saving gnosis taught by a wholly human Jesus is accessible to anyone willing to do the necessary intellectual and moral work. Clearly, most of the modern interest in a supposed Gnostic Religion relates to this latter tendency. One of the most important suggestions made by the find at Nag Hammadi is that there may have been communities as late as the fourth century which allowed for such a variety of opinion and practice.
The appearance of the long-discussed Nag Hammadi codices in an affordable English edition was a happy event. Breaking with usual habits, I bought it new, possibly at the bookstore of the C.G. Jung Institute in Evanston, Illinois.
The texts themselves, at least versions of them, were substantially familiar, but the critical apparatus is helpful. What one would like, however, is an affordable edition with the texts in their original languages as well as in English translation.
Now, what is Gnosticism?
Gnosticism is a convenient rubric imposed by older heresiologists and modern scholars upon a body of Christian and syncretic literature rejected by the Roman Church. There never was, so far as we can determine at this late date, a Gnostic Church. There were, however, Christian teachers, some, like Clement of Alexandria, still considered orthodox, most others not, who, with their followers, emphasized a salvific knowledge, a gnosis, available to individuals without the mediation of what became the "catholic" church. In other words, salvation was possible without such submission. Beyond this it is difficult to generalize. As the texts found at Nag Hammadi indicate, opinions varied. Some texts read as esoteric mumbo jumbo and suggest occult practices passed from teacher to student. Some have Christ Jesus as a being from another, higher dimension of being and go so far as to anthropomorphize metaphysical principles. Others suggest that the saving gnosis taught by a wholly human Jesus is accessible to anyone willing to do the necessary intellectual and moral work. Clearly, most of the modern interest in a supposed Gnostic Religion relates to this latter tendency. One of the most important suggestions made by the find at Nag Hammadi is that there may have been communities as late as the fourth century which allowed for such a variety of opinion and practice.
January 19, 2021
This important collection is very tough to read, and it often seems like pure gibberish. But here were ancient people thinking up their own understandings of Christianity, and viewing their religion as some kind of path to greater awareness. Clearly these Gnostics were an endless headache for the emerging professional priesthood. How were the designated priests supposed to handle laypeople who claimed “higher” teachings than those of the bishop? What if they claimed to receive new revelations directly from God or Jesus, and said those insights should supersede earlier teachings? The followers of such philosophers, delusional preachers, or mystics (whose writings make up the diverse Nag Hammadi texts), formed associations within churches. They often regarded themselves as a spiritual elite, and looked down on other members and clergy as less evolved souls. Irenaeus sensed a danger of division as a Gnostic group in his church conducted its own special rites. In their services they drew lots for playing roles of “prophet” or “priest,” and both women and men played these parts. They taught that the Old Testament God, who demanded blind obedience, was a false deity -- the true path to enlightenment required learning independence from authority. What was this, Irenaeus asked, other than license to “overthrow discipline”? By the late 300s, the books to be included in the Bible were selected by the Council of Laodicea, and others (such as the Nag Hammadi texts) were outlawed in Egypt. The monks who had studied them hid them in the desert, so that one set of voices might rule the medieval church.
November 16, 2018
The Nag Hammadi Library is one of the basic collection of documents that an historian or theologian must read in order to understand the Gnostic heresy. It merits five stars because of its importance as a source for study. The strange thing is that as a lay reader I found myself enjoying the book because of the excellent introductory notes that the translators provided for each document.
If nothing else, those interested in Bible should read the Gospel of St. Thomas which adds considerabe fuel to the debate on the possible existence of a missing Q Source (Qual) that the four evangiles supposedly drew from.
Generally I think the lay reader will find in this collection whatever he or she were pre-disposed to find. As a undergraduate I was told that Gnosticism was an esoteric religion diametrically opposed in spirit to Christianty. I found indeed that the joy and proclamation of a universal way to salvation open to all humanity of the New Testament was completely absent. Indeed, Gnosticism as it apears in the Nag Hammadi Library is a religion based on secret knowledge indeed for a small elite. Most of the texts are highly neo-platonic. Hope is rare. Jesus is a very diminished figure compared to his new Testament counterpart and the forces of evil are too powerful.
I greatly enjoyed the final essay"Afterword: The Modern Relevance of Gnosticism" by Richard Smith. Smith's begins by suggesting that Gnosticism is just one of many forms of dualism. He then argues that dualism has always had a strong appeal to writers citing Voltaire, and William Blake as examples. The 20 th Century was proving to be a particularly good period as Smith identifies Carl Jung, Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg and Lawrence Durrell as being either dualists or pure Gnostics. Having picked up this volume just after having finished Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet", I must acknowledge that at least one in this group has been properly identified. I suspect that he is right about the others too but my readings of these authors are far enough in the past that I cannot be sure.
"The Nag Hammadi Library" is an extremely important collection of texts. For the lay person who has a read a great deal on the early Christian controversies, this edition is great fun.
If nothing else, those interested in Bible should read the Gospel of St. Thomas which adds considerabe fuel to the debate on the possible existence of a missing Q Source (Qual) that the four evangiles supposedly drew from.
Generally I think the lay reader will find in this collection whatever he or she were pre-disposed to find. As a undergraduate I was told that Gnosticism was an esoteric religion diametrically opposed in spirit to Christianty. I found indeed that the joy and proclamation of a universal way to salvation open to all humanity of the New Testament was completely absent. Indeed, Gnosticism as it apears in the Nag Hammadi Library is a religion based on secret knowledge indeed for a small elite. Most of the texts are highly neo-platonic. Hope is rare. Jesus is a very diminished figure compared to his new Testament counterpart and the forces of evil are too powerful.
I greatly enjoyed the final essay"Afterword: The Modern Relevance of Gnosticism" by Richard Smith. Smith's begins by suggesting that Gnosticism is just one of many forms of dualism. He then argues that dualism has always had a strong appeal to writers citing Voltaire, and William Blake as examples. The 20 th Century was proving to be a particularly good period as Smith identifies Carl Jung, Jack Kerouac, Alan Ginsberg and Lawrence Durrell as being either dualists or pure Gnostics. Having picked up this volume just after having finished Durrell's "Alexandria Quartet", I must acknowledge that at least one in this group has been properly identified. I suspect that he is right about the others too but my readings of these authors are far enough in the past that I cannot be sure.
"The Nag Hammadi Library" is an extremely important collection of texts. For the lay person who has a read a great deal on the early Christian controversies, this edition is great fun.
December 22, 2016
What a Great Collection of Esoteric Knowledge!! I recommend this Book for Everybody!! From Lost Gospels of the Bible to Plato's Republic, crammed with Wisdom that was almost lost forever!! Thank God for those boys who found the clay pots in the desert. Christianity so suppressed and wiped out all other copies of the Wisdom found in it!!!! It shows how in early Christianity there were many schools of thought, not just the Pauline that has shaped our Western Civilization. How Christianity would have been different than its present form, if salvation was through WISDOM for the few, compared to Salvation by Faith!!! If you are a lover of Wisdom, this treasury is for you!!!
August 23, 2010
Ahh, if only we were all exposed to ALL the books of the New Testament instead of just a sanitized four.
September 29, 2007
Sometime last year I decided...well heck I'm going to read the King James from beginning to end...which I did. And it took me a few months to do it in! I read it every morning when I woke, on my lunch breaks at work and in bed before falling asleep at night. I was always affraid to read the bible because I didn't want to get pissed off at all the woman hating in it. OR SO the church made me believe when I was younger, EVE this and Mary M that etc... Wellll I TOTALLY enjoyed the bible! And it WAS NOT woman hating! That was all lies! Because I don't think most people actually read the bible! YAY soooooooooooooo next... I gotta get my hands on the Nag Hammadi and read up these ancieng gnostic texts which many are not included in the bible because the church ehhheeemmm didn't feel they would be suitable for controlling the masses. SOME VERY INTERESTING READING IN THERE!!!!!!! Some of the writings absolutely amaze me. It is like modern times thinking. Of course my favorite is "The Gospel of Mary". Nowwwww... what is not included in the Nag Hammadi is "The Gospel of Judas". This was found more recently and contains some VERY INTERESTING READING! I highly recommend you all GOOGLE it.
August 14, 2011
Only missing in this book, is the Gospel of Judas, but then since it was only translated into English in 2006, it is understandably so.
There are many profound texts in the Nag Hammadi Library, and it really shows how much of Jesus' own teachings was thought as heretical by the Fathers of the Church and how much they were separated and blind from His own teachings since so many of His texts did not make it to the Bible.
I would recommend reading the Flight of The Feathered Serpent by Armando Cosani as well as the Lost Gospel of Judas (can be found on National Geography website, as free download) as both are other powerful texts that shows a complete different understanding of Jesus' Teachings and his mission on Earth.
Great spiritual book - highly recommended
There are many profound texts in the Nag Hammadi Library, and it really shows how much of Jesus' own teachings was thought as heretical by the Fathers of the Church and how much they were separated and blind from His own teachings since so many of His texts did not make it to the Bible.
I would recommend reading the Flight of The Feathered Serpent by Armando Cosani as well as the Lost Gospel of Judas (can be found on National Geography website, as free download) as both are other powerful texts that shows a complete different understanding of Jesus' Teachings and his mission on Earth.
Great spiritual book - highly recommended
September 13, 2014
The earliest of the Gnostic Gospels derive roughly from the same century as the canonical Gospel of John (2nd century CE, which, with its curious introduction and fantastic imagery, was written to read like its competition). "Gnostic" is actually an umbrella term later used to describe a multitude of disparate sects of disparate origin (including Hermeticism; the Nag Hammadi Library contains several tracts considered Hermetic), which were, nevertheless, united by an extent of structural (cosmological, epistemological) themes. Highly syncretistic, two influences predominate: Persian dualistic theology and Greek - specifically Neoplatonic - metaphysics. The Zoroastrian ethical dichotomy has here been transposed upon the Platonic differentiation of substances, the spiritual and the material, to establish a cosmic dualism between these substances and their respective spheres: the intellectual and the visceral. The ubiquitous goal or pedagogy of these systems is to either overcome or master the impulses of the visceral element through a kind of empirical-intuitive knowledge of one's true origin known as gnosis. Greek gnosis is loosely cognate with Hebrew daath, a word significant within Kabbalah, designating, specifically, a kind of sexual knowledge, or a "knowledge of contraries" (also referred to as "acquaintance"). Many of the metaphors employed by the Gnostics - regardless of either an ascetic or libertine commitment — with regard to aeonic emanation (explained in the forthcoming) are of a highly sexual nature; sacraments were sometimes sexual, and certain Christian strains speak of a solution to the temporal dilemma through the reunion of Adam and Eve (the masculine and passive essences of consciousness) within the "bridal chamber" (thalamus, or the "third eye" of the "deathless body").
The theological-cosmological scheme is established as thus: The supreme Godhead consists of a tetrad originating with an ultimately unknowable aeon (Aeons are discarnate beings, similar to the Ideas of Platonism) referred to, alternatively, as Bythos (Depth), Monad (One) or Proarche (First-Cause). It is essentially a deified subconsciousness of the universe. Through a process of emanation (an "out-flowing" of substance) the Bythos androgynously begets a feminine counterpart (This is the Holy Mother, equated with the Holy Ghost of the trinity), and together, through asexual congress, they beget a third (This is sometimes presented as the Christ aeon). This emanationistic process continues until the static Entirety (Pleroma) is formed of these balanced tiers of complimentary aeons; an idea inspired by the Platonic gradation of Forms. There is then a disturbance within the equanimity of the Entirety, usually involving an aeon known as Sophia (Wisdom, worshipped as a Goddess among most Gnostics), which results in the creation of a rogue intelligence. This lesser god, sometimes identified with Yahweh of the Old Testament, begins to create the material sphere by referencing the models of the archetypal world — which it has no thorough cognizance of. Resulting in this act of dissolution, particles of light, once contained within the Entirety, become locked within the kinetic sphere and are retained within materiality through the dynamic of reproduction. The demiurge then proclaims himself to be the only god, and his hubris becomes the model for human selfishness and covetousness.
One sect, known to time as the Sethians (followers of Set, the third son of Adam and Eve) had a particularly colorful account of Genesis. There, the demiurge, a lion-headed serpent known as Yaldaboath (He is also explained as consisting as half Fire and half Darkness: Strife in Ignorance), is roughly comparable to Satan; an evil figure who desires to keep the spirit (the light) of man locked in the cycling of matter through the perpetuation of his ignorance by the power of material obfuscation and the illusion of the self. But while responsible for the creation of man's physical body, he was incapable of supplying him with a spirit. This "spark" of light (or "seed," spermatikos) comes from the Godhead by way of mankind's true creative agent, the Mother Sophia. Hence, man's true genealogy extends back to the Father of All; he is a power consubstantial with God, and greater than the Kosmokrator, whose "cosmos" is a Heraclitean one: actually chaos (The physical world, with all its conflicts and deficiencies, was understood as "the underworld" - Tartarus or Hell - as it was conceived as below the actual sphere of man's origin, the Entirety, or empyrean sphere). Man's salvation depends on the personal cultivation of his gnosis, or the enlightenment bestowed upon him by some heavenly emissary or paraclete. Often, this is the Christ.
Gnosticism offers a Christology not quite docetic; that the Christ aeon is separate from the physical Form of the man Jesus of Nazareth, who was, in this case, an ectypal manifestation of the otherwise immortal Christ. Christ is the syzygy ("yoke") of Sophia, who, as attested Biblically, sits at the Right-Hand of God, which is here the path of the spiritual or intellectual (It is sometimes credited to the aeon Zoe, "spiritual-life"), and could also be considered the path of Form. This identifies Sophia with the Left-Hand; she is therefore a patroness of the Left-Path, or, of the philosophies of the "Left-Hand." This explains her ordeal and her suffering as outlined in the Gnostic account of the Fall; the aforementioned equanimity of the Entirety is disrupted when Sophia became hysterical in her lust for the Father. The empirical, or, better described as "the experiential," is the path of suffering - and suffering is passion (by actual definition). However, the Left-path is also the means of ascension, and so, a common Gnostic aphorism was "The Way Down is the Way Up" - as with a ladder. The intuitive aspect of this process is the revelatory faculty that discloses anything subsisting (hence, a priori) about the world or the self. Gnosis then shares a definition similar to that of an epiphany (which could have meant "light from above"): "a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." For the Gnostics, this type of knowledge demanded an engagement with the world, either for the sake of refuting it, or , perhaps, even to affirm it (The Thomas Gospel features a number of aphorisms that could be considered "life-affirming").
With the actualization of a proper Christian church and an orthodoxy, so-called Gnostics, who offered a view incompatible with the Nicene catechism, were condemned as heretics, excommunicated from the organized church, their elegant doctrines destroyed. Or so it was believed. The books preserved in the Nag Hammadi corpus acquire their name from a collection of multiple codices discovered accidentally in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 by two Muslim brothers out to exact a "blood vengeance" on behalf of a deceased relation. Discovering a clay jar while on their itinerary, they were met with initial trepidation for fear that a djinn might reside within the strange vessel. But, considering the potential prospect of gold or jewels, the jar was smashed revealing the bound papyri manuscripts. These manuscripts, written in Greek and Coptic, were unintelligible to the brothers and so the codices bounced around the black market until their serendipitous rediscovery by those with the proper education in understanding their importance.
Prior to the discovery of the Nag Hammadi texts, our knowledge of Gnosticism had been reserved to bias diatribes such as the Against Heresies of Irenaeus. The books contained within the Nag Hammadi library are hugely significant to filling out lacunas within Christian history and to better understanding the transition from polytheism to monotheism. These scriptures also help catalogue a period of Pagan intellectualism when mythology was beginning to be considered for its allegorical-psychological orientation. Gnostic religion provides a monumental milestone between mythology and psychology.
The theological-cosmological scheme is established as thus: The supreme Godhead consists of a tetrad originating with an ultimately unknowable aeon (Aeons are discarnate beings, similar to the Ideas of Platonism) referred to, alternatively, as Bythos (Depth), Monad (One) or Proarche (First-Cause). It is essentially a deified subconsciousness of the universe. Through a process of emanation (an "out-flowing" of substance) the Bythos androgynously begets a feminine counterpart (This is the Holy Mother, equated with the Holy Ghost of the trinity), and together, through asexual congress, they beget a third (This is sometimes presented as the Christ aeon). This emanationistic process continues until the static Entirety (Pleroma) is formed of these balanced tiers of complimentary aeons; an idea inspired by the Platonic gradation of Forms. There is then a disturbance within the equanimity of the Entirety, usually involving an aeon known as Sophia (Wisdom, worshipped as a Goddess among most Gnostics), which results in the creation of a rogue intelligence. This lesser god, sometimes identified with Yahweh of the Old Testament, begins to create the material sphere by referencing the models of the archetypal world — which it has no thorough cognizance of. Resulting in this act of dissolution, particles of light, once contained within the Entirety, become locked within the kinetic sphere and are retained within materiality through the dynamic of reproduction. The demiurge then proclaims himself to be the only god, and his hubris becomes the model for human selfishness and covetousness.
One sect, known to time as the Sethians (followers of Set, the third son of Adam and Eve) had a particularly colorful account of Genesis. There, the demiurge, a lion-headed serpent known as Yaldaboath (He is also explained as consisting as half Fire and half Darkness: Strife in Ignorance), is roughly comparable to Satan; an evil figure who desires to keep the spirit (the light) of man locked in the cycling of matter through the perpetuation of his ignorance by the power of material obfuscation and the illusion of the self. But while responsible for the creation of man's physical body, he was incapable of supplying him with a spirit. This "spark" of light (or "seed," spermatikos) comes from the Godhead by way of mankind's true creative agent, the Mother Sophia. Hence, man's true genealogy extends back to the Father of All; he is a power consubstantial with God, and greater than the Kosmokrator, whose "cosmos" is a Heraclitean one: actually chaos (The physical world, with all its conflicts and deficiencies, was understood as "the underworld" - Tartarus or Hell - as it was conceived as below the actual sphere of man's origin, the Entirety, or empyrean sphere). Man's salvation depends on the personal cultivation of his gnosis, or the enlightenment bestowed upon him by some heavenly emissary or paraclete. Often, this is the Christ.
Gnosticism offers a Christology not quite docetic; that the Christ aeon is separate from the physical Form of the man Jesus of Nazareth, who was, in this case, an ectypal manifestation of the otherwise immortal Christ. Christ is the syzygy ("yoke") of Sophia, who, as attested Biblically, sits at the Right-Hand of God, which is here the path of the spiritual or intellectual (It is sometimes credited to the aeon Zoe, "spiritual-life"), and could also be considered the path of Form. This identifies Sophia with the Left-Hand; she is therefore a patroness of the Left-Path, or, of the philosophies of the "Left-Hand." This explains her ordeal and her suffering as outlined in the Gnostic account of the Fall; the aforementioned equanimity of the Entirety is disrupted when Sophia became hysterical in her lust for the Father. The empirical, or, better described as "the experiential," is the path of suffering - and suffering is passion (by actual definition). However, the Left-path is also the means of ascension, and so, a common Gnostic aphorism was "The Way Down is the Way Up" - as with a ladder. The intuitive aspect of this process is the revelatory faculty that discloses anything subsisting (hence, a priori) about the world or the self. Gnosis then shares a definition similar to that of an epiphany (which could have meant "light from above"): "a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience." For the Gnostics, this type of knowledge demanded an engagement with the world, either for the sake of refuting it, or , perhaps, even to affirm it (The Thomas Gospel features a number of aphorisms that could be considered "life-affirming").
With the actualization of a proper Christian church and an orthodoxy, so-called Gnostics, who offered a view incompatible with the Nicene catechism, were condemned as heretics, excommunicated from the organized church, their elegant doctrines destroyed. Or so it was believed. The books preserved in the Nag Hammadi corpus acquire their name from a collection of multiple codices discovered accidentally in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 by two Muslim brothers out to exact a "blood vengeance" on behalf of a deceased relation. Discovering a clay jar while on their itinerary, they were met with initial trepidation for fear that a djinn might reside within the strange vessel. But, considering the potential prospect of gold or jewels, the jar was smashed revealing the bound papyri manuscripts. These manuscripts, written in Greek and Coptic, were unintelligible to the brothers and so the codices bounced around the black market until their serendipitous rediscovery by those with the proper education in understanding their importance.
Prior to the discovery of the Nag Hammadi texts, our knowledge of Gnosticism had been reserved to bias diatribes such as the Against Heresies of Irenaeus. The books contained within the Nag Hammadi library are hugely significant to filling out lacunas within Christian history and to better understanding the transition from polytheism to monotheism. These scriptures also help catalogue a period of Pagan intellectualism when mythology was beginning to be considered for its allegorical-psychological orientation. Gnostic religion provides a monumental milestone between mythology and psychology.
July 18, 2024
Ezt kiolvasni nem, csak olvasni lehet. Elölről még egyszer, és még egyszer. És még egyszer.
August 15, 2023
I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes.
Do not make the kingdom of heaven a desert within you. Do not be proud because of the light that illuminates, but be to yourselves as I myself am to you. Become better than I; make yourselves like the son of the Holy Spirit! For your sakes I have placed myself under the curse, that you may be saved. Verily, I say unto you, he who will receive life and believe in the kingdom will never leave it, not even if the Father wishes to banish him.
If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.
- Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe? ~ Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered.
If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth, it is that which will defile you.
I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one
If the body came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty
Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you will find the kingdom. For you are from it, and to it you will return.
Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
Blessed are they who have been persecuted within themselves. It is they who have truly come to know the father.
A man said to him, 'Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me.' ~ O man, who has made me a divider? He turned to his disciples and said to them, 'I am not a divider, am I?'
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.
He who is near me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom
Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine.
O unsearchable love of the light! O bitterness of the fire that blazes in the bodies of men and in their marrow, kindling in them night and day. This great name of yours is upon me, O self-begotten Perfect one, who is not outside me. I see you, O you who are visible to everyone. For who will be able to comprehend you in another tongue? Now that I have known you, I have mixed myself with the immutable. I have armed myself with an armor of light; O aeon, O God of silence! I honor you completely. You are my place of rest, O formless one. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Ichthys. God-written (is) the holy book of the great and eternal and imperishable, invisible Spirit, for yours is the power and the glory and the praise and the greatness, above all the heavens, now and for ever, Amen.
Do not make the kingdom of heaven a desert within you. Do not be proud because of the light that illuminates, but be to yourselves as I myself am to you. Become better than I; make yourselves like the son of the Holy Spirit! For your sakes I have placed myself under the curse, that you may be saved. Verily, I say unto you, he who will receive life and believe in the kingdom will never leave it, not even if the Father wishes to banish him.
If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty.
- Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe? ~ Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered.
If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth, it is that which will defile you.
I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one
If the body came into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit came into being because of the body, it is a wonder of wonders. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great wealth has made its home in this poverty
Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you will find the kingdom. For you are from it, and to it you will return.
Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
Blessed are they who have been persecuted within themselves. It is they who have truly come to know the father.
A man said to him, 'Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me.' ~ O man, who has made me a divider? He turned to his disciples and said to them, 'I am not a divider, am I?'
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.
He who is near me is near the fire, and he who is far from me is far from the kingdom
Give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine.
O unsearchable love of the light! O bitterness of the fire that blazes in the bodies of men and in their marrow, kindling in them night and day. This great name of yours is upon me, O self-begotten Perfect one, who is not outside me. I see you, O you who are visible to everyone. For who will be able to comprehend you in another tongue? Now that I have known you, I have mixed myself with the immutable. I have armed myself with an armor of light; O aeon, O God of silence! I honor you completely. You are my place of rest, O formless one. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Ichthys. God-written (is) the holy book of the great and eternal and imperishable, invisible Spirit, for yours is the power and the glory and the praise and the greatness, above all the heavens, now and for ever, Amen.
July 20, 2017
This tome literally jumped off the shelf into my arms with no one else in sight. While I have to admit the archaic language and missing pieces presented a major challenge for me, the overall effect on my consciousness was immensely positive tuning my energy to a higher vibration by getting a glimpses into first century accounts of direct divine experiences. The commentary and footnotes were helpful but not being a scholar I would have liked a little more "story" to understand how all the pieces fit together and its place in our history. These gnostic texts left me hopeful for my own possible experience of knowing which did happen.
April 14, 2011
Fascinating. Actually life changing for me. Beliefs became a very different thing after reading parts of this. It is something you can skip around in, read bits and pieces, look through, study. Very, very important book - for all brought up in a JudeoChristian household.
December 3, 2008
These are primary sources of The Gospel of Thomas and other gnostic writings. Fascinating background and context for anyone interested in late Biblical history.
April 6, 2012
A fundamentalist's worst nightmare.
December 27, 2015
A Collection of Ancient Gnostic Writings
1 September 2012
In 1945 some shepherds in Egypt were out tending their flocks when they stumbled upon a cache of documents. They took them back home and because they were poor, and lived in the desert (which means that not only is there a severe lack of burning material, but it also gets very cold at night) they decided to use some of these scrolls for the fire. Fortuitously they did not burn all of them and decided that they would take them to a university to find out what they were. It turned out that these documents were over 1500 years old and comprised numerous writings that were attributed to the gnostics, in particular a Christian sect that flourished in the later Roman Empire. While this was a significant discovery, it, in my opinion, was nowhere near as significant as a similar find in some caves near the Dead Sea some two years later.
This book is basically a translation of a bulk of these documents, though pretty much all of them are incomplete. Some of the documents we have been able to piece together using other, similar, documents that we already had in our possession, however most of these documents are unique to this collection. Whether we wish to condemn these shepherds for burning some of these documents or not is really a moot point. The fact is that they did hand in the remainder of the documents, and I now wonder how many other collections were found but completely destroyed in a similar fashion. The wonderful thing about deserts though is that they have a habit of being able to preserve papyrus, and similar finds, such as at Oxyrhincus in Egypt (where we find an ancient version of a medical report used in a personal injury case – 'in my opinion, the plaintiff's injuries were caused by the roof falling down').
Gnosticism is a sect that flourished not only during the Roman Empire, but has been practised right down to today. Even though many of the writings from Ancient Rome have not survived, the practise has. Basically it is a religion where it is through knowledge that one can reach salvation, and the more knowledge one has, the more likely that person will reach salvation. This is an interesting concept because I have noticed that some branches of the Christian church still practice a form of gnosticism, even though they condemn it.
The argument goes as such: it is our knowledge of the Bible that allows us to be good Christians and to grow in our Christian faith, therefore for us to make sure that our salvation is assured, we must continue to read the Bible and continue to learn and to grow by reading it. I have heard these churches advertise their camps in similar methods: it is essential that we go on the camp because the teaching that we will receive on that camp will enable us to grow as Christians and thus make sure that our salvation is assured. I have even been to some camps where they deliberately leave the final talk for the Sunday night to make sure that we go to church on Sunday and receive the rest of the knowledge.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christian teaching, and I am one who is motivated by knowledge. However, when it comes to God accepting me my knowledge means squat. As I say, there is no entrance exam that you must pass to get into heaven. Much of this teaching, and it is not simply teaching through sermons and talks, it is also teaching that comes out of the plethora of Christian literature that screams for our attention alongside all of the other literature that is thrown in our face, in the end is irrelevant. Personally, I would never suggest leaving our Bible stuck in our draws because reading the Bible is the sure way of allowing God to communicate with us. However, the problem arises when we begin to force our Bible to tell us what we want to hear rather than listening to what God wants us to hear. Further, this teaching is still beneficial, however we must remember that our Christianity is not defined by what we know but rather by who we are.
1 September 2012
In 1945 some shepherds in Egypt were out tending their flocks when they stumbled upon a cache of documents. They took them back home and because they were poor, and lived in the desert (which means that not only is there a severe lack of burning material, but it also gets very cold at night) they decided to use some of these scrolls for the fire. Fortuitously they did not burn all of them and decided that they would take them to a university to find out what they were. It turned out that these documents were over 1500 years old and comprised numerous writings that were attributed to the gnostics, in particular a Christian sect that flourished in the later Roman Empire. While this was a significant discovery, it, in my opinion, was nowhere near as significant as a similar find in some caves near the Dead Sea some two years later.
This book is basically a translation of a bulk of these documents, though pretty much all of them are incomplete. Some of the documents we have been able to piece together using other, similar, documents that we already had in our possession, however most of these documents are unique to this collection. Whether we wish to condemn these shepherds for burning some of these documents or not is really a moot point. The fact is that they did hand in the remainder of the documents, and I now wonder how many other collections were found but completely destroyed in a similar fashion. The wonderful thing about deserts though is that they have a habit of being able to preserve papyrus, and similar finds, such as at Oxyrhincus in Egypt (where we find an ancient version of a medical report used in a personal injury case – 'in my opinion, the plaintiff's injuries were caused by the roof falling down').
Gnosticism is a sect that flourished not only during the Roman Empire, but has been practised right down to today. Even though many of the writings from Ancient Rome have not survived, the practise has. Basically it is a religion where it is through knowledge that one can reach salvation, and the more knowledge one has, the more likely that person will reach salvation. This is an interesting concept because I have noticed that some branches of the Christian church still practice a form of gnosticism, even though they condemn it.
The argument goes as such: it is our knowledge of the Bible that allows us to be good Christians and to grow in our Christian faith, therefore for us to make sure that our salvation is assured, we must continue to read the Bible and continue to learn and to grow by reading it. I have heard these churches advertise their camps in similar methods: it is essential that we go on the camp because the teaching that we will receive on that camp will enable us to grow as Christians and thus make sure that our salvation is assured. I have even been to some camps where they deliberately leave the final talk for the Sunday night to make sure that we go to church on Sunday and receive the rest of the knowledge.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Christian teaching, and I am one who is motivated by knowledge. However, when it comes to God accepting me my knowledge means squat. As I say, there is no entrance exam that you must pass to get into heaven. Much of this teaching, and it is not simply teaching through sermons and talks, it is also teaching that comes out of the plethora of Christian literature that screams for our attention alongside all of the other literature that is thrown in our face, in the end is irrelevant. Personally, I would never suggest leaving our Bible stuck in our draws because reading the Bible is the sure way of allowing God to communicate with us. However, the problem arises when we begin to force our Bible to tell us what we want to hear rather than listening to what God wants us to hear. Further, this teaching is still beneficial, however we must remember that our Christianity is not defined by what we know but rather by who we are.
Read
November 20, 2021mö 4. yydan kalma bu külliyatın 1947de bir mağarada tesadüfen bulunması ne olduğunun anlaşılmasının yıllar sürmesi, sonraki yirmi yıl boyunca kıpticeden çevirilmesi her şeyiyle muazzam bi olay. çalışmaya yıllarını verenlerin önünde saygıyla eğiliyorum. ben tabi ki bazı kodeksleri okudum bitirdim bazısını da kafamda bitirdim. her satırını okudum sanılmasın.
February 1, 2017
This is not an easy book to read! For the record, my edition is 477 pages, not 5,000+ pages that is the edition on Goodreads. Given the challenges I faced in reading this book, I can only imagine what the more monumentous challenge is to read the latter edition. Nevertheless, my challenges are as follows:
1. To read the book to extract/learn what was taught and subsequently hidden by the Gnostics;
2. To read the tractates (chapters, writings) with an open mind: to read the tractates in the framework/metaphor in which they were written and not with a 21st century mindset. This posed a serious challenge as sexism permeates the tractates from the first fall – not mentioned in the Bible- to the fall of man that we are familiar with, through woman. Yet, woman in spirit and in physical form is the vehicle by which creation expresses itself.
3. To be able to follow the multi-level descendant lines of spirit and also the multi-levels of heaven. You will need a good score card for this!, and
4. To not lose sight of the metaphor as being a bridge toward what the central Gnostic teaching is: to know and remember who we really are, and to aspire (in levels that the bible does not provide) to our higher selves, as part of a greater creation.
Having said all this, it was refreshing to read Plato’s Republic again, though in a more scholarly fashion here. The Gospel of Philip outlines the creation of the Universe and the world, but further outlines that what we perceive as real is but an illusion, plus that illusion upon recognition prompts us to come to learn who we really are: part of the divine, with the mission to serve the divine. Not the illusory, linear and conceptualized ‘order’ structure of life to be born, grow, obtain what(ever) one can and to die having garnered the most ‘toys.’ Finally, the Hypostasis of the Archons puts on a more ‘behind the scenes’ of the creation story, which is very interesting if you can take your time and follow along. Overall, the book is very complicated, and the translations of such with missing material and hence, brackets to represent what is missing, makes the book ever more challenging to read, let alone follow. Still, it provokes further reading and study … and perhaps to brace myself to maybe look at the 5000+ page edition? A break and contemplation is in order before I try that. Still, the book is worth reading if you want a metaphoric, and deeper understanding of the Gnostic teachings.
1. To read the book to extract/learn what was taught and subsequently hidden by the Gnostics;
2. To read the tractates (chapters, writings) with an open mind: to read the tractates in the framework/metaphor in which they were written and not with a 21st century mindset. This posed a serious challenge as sexism permeates the tractates from the first fall – not mentioned in the Bible- to the fall of man that we are familiar with, through woman. Yet, woman in spirit and in physical form is the vehicle by which creation expresses itself.
3. To be able to follow the multi-level descendant lines of spirit and also the multi-levels of heaven. You will need a good score card for this!, and
4. To not lose sight of the metaphor as being a bridge toward what the central Gnostic teaching is: to know and remember who we really are, and to aspire (in levels that the bible does not provide) to our higher selves, as part of a greater creation.
Having said all this, it was refreshing to read Plato’s Republic again, though in a more scholarly fashion here. The Gospel of Philip outlines the creation of the Universe and the world, but further outlines that what we perceive as real is but an illusion, plus that illusion upon recognition prompts us to come to learn who we really are: part of the divine, with the mission to serve the divine. Not the illusory, linear and conceptualized ‘order’ structure of life to be born, grow, obtain what(ever) one can and to die having garnered the most ‘toys.’ Finally, the Hypostasis of the Archons puts on a more ‘behind the scenes’ of the creation story, which is very interesting if you can take your time and follow along. Overall, the book is very complicated, and the translations of such with missing material and hence, brackets to represent what is missing, makes the book ever more challenging to read, let alone follow. Still, it provokes further reading and study … and perhaps to brace myself to maybe look at the 5000+ page edition? A break and contemplation is in order before I try that. Still, the book is worth reading if you want a metaphoric, and deeper understanding of the Gnostic teachings.
November 12, 2008
It's always a fun to get different points of view on a subject. The Gnostics believed that a human can reach enlightenment by following secret teachings from Jesus, without the aid of an organized church. Naturally this made them targets of the early Catholic church who wished to establish its own authority as the way to heaven.
February 10, 2010
Excellent collection of ancient religious writings found in Egypt in the 1920s I think. My favorites are the gospels that didn't make it into the Bible, such as the ones that show Mary Magdalene as knowing as much as or more than Peter and the other disciples. If you're open to a different view of early Christianity, read this.
August 15, 2022
I hoped it’d cast subversive amusing light on the Bible, but it will unsettle only the craziest Christians. And despite its historical interest, it gets tiresome.
February 20, 2010
A masterful collection of translations and commentaries on the various gnostic scriptures found at Nag Hammadi. I find this a more useful, informative, and readable collection than Barnstone's "The Other Bible".
April 18, 2022
Again this plus other Gnostic books I have owned for some time, I can't in all fairness rate this with out re-reading but find it useful to just pick up when in the mood or wish to check something. Like books revealing the Cather's experience always worth reading/buying.
Want to read
July 21, 2012This is one of my cooler Goodwill finds.
August 14, 2014
I read this in college for one of my major courses. It's one of the books I've kept, years later. Completely fascinating.
August 2, 2019
In the Gospel of St. Thomas Verse 113: His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?"
"It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it." This, and more books, like the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Origin of Man and others discovered in 1945 in Egypt provide some truths that the constructs of religion/the Church don't want people to know.
I have always said this; without knowing the glorified Jewish boy said that. Christians take Jesus to be their authority, thus he just said it: there is no kingdom/paradise/heaven up there. Look around and you will see it.
When we say that religion is a construct of man, many people don't want to hear it because they don't want to have their supposed faith shaken from its core. The Nag Hamad library is one of those collections that opens the lid for wider scholarly and theological studies for a mind willing to know more.
Another interesting bit is about creation. Eve was created before Adam, and the 'bad' angels conspired to tell a different narrative, which we have today (I'm not saying the Nag Hamadi books are the truth, but they are a perspective to question what we believe to be true): Now, Eve is the first virgin, the one who without a husband bore her first offspring ... But let us not tell Adam, for he is not one of us. Rather let us bring a deep sleep over him. And let us instruct him in his sleep to the effect that she came from his rib, in order that his wife may obey, and he may be lord over her."
The conspiracy about the origin of man started with the spiritual beings/gods themselves up there: After the day of rest, Sophia sent her daughter Zoe, being called Eve, as an instructor, in order that she might make Adam, who had no soul, arise, so that those whom he should engender might become containers of light. When Eve saw her male counterpart prostrate, she had pity upon him,
and she said, "Adam! Become alive! Arise upon the earth!" Immediately her word became accomplished fact. For Adam, having arisen, suddenly opened his eyes. When he saw her, he said, "You shall be called 'Mother of the Living'. For it is you who have given me life."
Then Eve, being a force, laughed at their decision. She put mist into their eyes and secretly left her
likeness with Adam. She entered the tree of knowledge and remained there. And they pursued her, and she revealed to them that she had gone into the tree and become a tree. Then, entering a great state of fear, the blind creatures fled.
Afterwards, when they had recovered from the daze, they came to Adam; and seeing the likeness
of this woman with him, they were greatly disturbed, thinking it was she that was the true Eve.
The secret of life is hidden, and shall forever be hidden. However, as little gods who were fashioned by the Supreme Architect to be co-creators, we ought not follow the misleadings. We gotta ask hard questions, question facts and assumptions, dig deeper and seek Sophia for us to be what were were originally fashioned to be.
"It will not come by watching for it. It will not be said, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't see it." This, and more books, like the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, The Origin of Man and others discovered in 1945 in Egypt provide some truths that the constructs of religion/the Church don't want people to know.
I have always said this; without knowing the glorified Jewish boy said that. Christians take Jesus to be their authority, thus he just said it: there is no kingdom/paradise/heaven up there. Look around and you will see it.
When we say that religion is a construct of man, many people don't want to hear it because they don't want to have their supposed faith shaken from its core. The Nag Hamad library is one of those collections that opens the lid for wider scholarly and theological studies for a mind willing to know more.
Another interesting bit is about creation. Eve was created before Adam, and the 'bad' angels conspired to tell a different narrative, which we have today (I'm not saying the Nag Hamadi books are the truth, but they are a perspective to question what we believe to be true): Now, Eve is the first virgin, the one who without a husband bore her first offspring ... But let us not tell Adam, for he is not one of us. Rather let us bring a deep sleep over him. And let us instruct him in his sleep to the effect that she came from his rib, in order that his wife may obey, and he may be lord over her."
The conspiracy about the origin of man started with the spiritual beings/gods themselves up there: After the day of rest, Sophia sent her daughter Zoe, being called Eve, as an instructor, in order that she might make Adam, who had no soul, arise, so that those whom he should engender might become containers of light. When Eve saw her male counterpart prostrate, she had pity upon him,
and she said, "Adam! Become alive! Arise upon the earth!" Immediately her word became accomplished fact. For Adam, having arisen, suddenly opened his eyes. When he saw her, he said, "You shall be called 'Mother of the Living'. For it is you who have given me life."
Then Eve, being a force, laughed at their decision. She put mist into their eyes and secretly left her
likeness with Adam. She entered the tree of knowledge and remained there. And they pursued her, and she revealed to them that she had gone into the tree and become a tree. Then, entering a great state of fear, the blind creatures fled.
Afterwards, when they had recovered from the daze, they came to Adam; and seeing the likeness
of this woman with him, they were greatly disturbed, thinking it was she that was the true Eve.
The secret of life is hidden, and shall forever be hidden. However, as little gods who were fashioned by the Supreme Architect to be co-creators, we ought not follow the misleadings. We gotta ask hard questions, question facts and assumptions, dig deeper and seek Sophia for us to be what were were originally fashioned to be.
April 2, 2024
This is an amazing experience to read if a person knows the New Testament and the books of Genesis and Revelation. As written in the dust jacket, it "turns the Bible on its head." I thought it interesting to read another source of witness from 150 to 300 A.D. in Egypt. There is an obsession here to explain beyond or before Genesis. I don't know their source but it tells the origin of the world and, instead of explaining the ineffable God, concentrates on Sophia, translated "wisdom", and her error in creating without approval or a partner. Her progeny from her divinity is the "world ruler" or the "blind god" in the Garden of Eden, a god that threw out the vulnerable human. Well, I kind of liked this mythology. The whole thing is quite wild in its ideas but really, Egypt had been the place of intellectuals in the ancient world. The writers of these manuscripts are varied; many seem to have Greek background. It seems they are against the Old Testament god - "Moses was wrong", they say a few times and later - if you want to know more about this origin of the world, refer to a book of Moses - that is where?
These Gnostics or Coptics believe in Jesus, that he was existent with the Father and their Sophia too, and had the spirit of God, what the world ruler or "blind god" was lacking. There are swarms of angels and heavens created but God wanted his son to correct the errors and the counterfeits of a creation that went or is out of control. So the writers never swerve from their belief that Jesus was the Son of God. They say that he never felt the crucifixion and have other claims about him. He is even Socratic, telling Thomas in a long dialogue to "know thyself." Then there are the sayings of Jesus. Some in this comes from our recognizable New Testament and other information about him does not seem to come from the Hebrew or Jewish world.
I found this fascinating, having had an interest in Egyptology and having read the entire Bible. These are texts that were found in Egypt in 1945. I read that they might have been buried by monks because they were considered heretical to the Greek Orthodox Church. They were found by a boy and had a confusing discovery. I also read that they may have been a tomb robbery before hidden.
These Gnostics or Coptics believe in Jesus, that he was existent with the Father and their Sophia too, and had the spirit of God, what the world ruler or "blind god" was lacking. There are swarms of angels and heavens created but God wanted his son to correct the errors and the counterfeits of a creation that went or is out of control. So the writers never swerve from their belief that Jesus was the Son of God. They say that he never felt the crucifixion and have other claims about him. He is even Socratic, telling Thomas in a long dialogue to "know thyself." Then there are the sayings of Jesus. Some in this comes from our recognizable New Testament and other information about him does not seem to come from the Hebrew or Jewish world.
I found this fascinating, having had an interest in Egyptology and having read the entire Bible. These are texts that were found in Egypt in 1945. I read that they might have been buried by monks because they were considered heretical to the Greek Orthodox Church. They were found by a boy and had a confusing discovery. I also read that they may have been a tomb robbery before hidden.
January 5, 2025
This is a very nice collection of gnostic texts which is a must have for any student of gnosticism. I bought it years ago at which time I read a handful of the texts, including the gospels of Thomas and Philip, and the Apocryphon of John. I have had occasion to revisit these texts many times. This collection makes a nice reference work and I have had occasion to read texts that I found mentioned in other books I was reading, such as the Gospel of Truth and the Treatise on the Resurrection. I suppose all of these texts are available on line, but it is nice to have them in a physical book. Some of these online translations are rather old and it is nice to have them in modern language.
Each text has a nice introduction to help those who may find themselves lost in these rather esoteric texts (a rather common occurrence in my case!) This is another advantage over the online translations which typically have much shorter and less helpful introductions. In addition to the texts with introductions, one also is treated in this volume to a nice introduction and afterword. Both of these were neither too long or too short.
The introduction consisted of three parts. (Could we call it the Tripartite Introduction, lol!) I found the first part, the Stance of the Texts, the most helpful of the three parts. I read this after reading the texts which I think was the best way to go. The second part, the Manuscripts, was probably the least important to me. It included a physical description of the manuscripts including their bindings. The third and last part of the introduction, the Discovery, was fascinating to read. It is a reminder that these texts do not simply fall out of the sky, but that a huge effort goes into getting them before the public.
Sadly the binding of my copy has split, which happens to a lot of my paperback books that I use over and over again. Sadly I don’t think this book is available in hardback.
Each text has a nice introduction to help those who may find themselves lost in these rather esoteric texts (a rather common occurrence in my case!) This is another advantage over the online translations which typically have much shorter and less helpful introductions. In addition to the texts with introductions, one also is treated in this volume to a nice introduction and afterword. Both of these were neither too long or too short.
The introduction consisted of three parts. (Could we call it the Tripartite Introduction, lol!) I found the first part, the Stance of the Texts, the most helpful of the three parts. I read this after reading the texts which I think was the best way to go. The second part, the Manuscripts, was probably the least important to me. It included a physical description of the manuscripts including their bindings. The third and last part of the introduction, the Discovery, was fascinating to read. It is a reminder that these texts do not simply fall out of the sky, but that a huge effort goes into getting them before the public.
Sadly the binding of my copy has split, which happens to a lot of my paperback books that I use over and over again. Sadly I don’t think this book is available in hardback.
March 10, 2025
Après une fascinante introduction au gnosticisme par Jean-Pierre Mahé et Paul-Hubert Poirier, ce volume de la Pléiade contient les traductions de la bibliothèque de Nag Hammadi, manuscrits découverts en 1945, dans un champ, dans la région de Louxor. Les manuscrits sont des traductions du grec vers le copte, et donnent un accès direct aux croyances gnostiques (par opposition à la connaissance que l'on en a à travers les hérésiologues et Pères de l'Église, comme Irénée de Lyon).
Parmi toutes les inventions mythologiques de l'Humanité, la Gnose résout le scandale de la raison face au Mal : le monde que nous voyons n'est pas l'œuvre de Dieu, mais celle d'un Démiurge de seconde zone ! Accéder à la connaissance (celle de l'origine) assure le salut.
Les textes, complétés par le manuscrit de Berlin, se répartissent en trois courants :
• le séthianisme, sans référence au christianisme et tirant son nom de "Seth", le troisième fils d'Adam et Ève ;
• le valentinisme, établi par Valentin installé à Rome au 1er siècle après J.C., empruntant largement au christianisme et le réinterprétant ;
• l'hermétisme, avec la figure d'Hermès Trismégiste, et dont la filiation se prolonge jusqu'à la Franc-maçonnerie et l'aventure rosicrucienne, en passant par l'alchimie.
La lecture de ces textes, facilitée par un magnifique appareil de lecture, nous révèle l'effervescence théologique des premiers siècles de notre ère et, en contre-coup, nous amène à réfléchir à la fabrique de la croyance. Le choix du pouvoir politique, les hasards et les violences ont installé la "Grande Église" alors que d'autres formules étaient à disposition, qui auraient peut-être produit une histoire occidentale fort différente.
Parmi toutes les inventions mythologiques de l'Humanité, la Gnose résout le scandale de la raison face au Mal : le monde que nous voyons n'est pas l'œuvre de Dieu, mais celle d'un Démiurge de seconde zone ! Accéder à la connaissance (celle de l'origine) assure le salut.
Les textes, complétés par le manuscrit de Berlin, se répartissent en trois courants :
• le séthianisme, sans référence au christianisme et tirant son nom de "Seth", le troisième fils d'Adam et Ève ;
• le valentinisme, établi par Valentin installé à Rome au 1er siècle après J.C., empruntant largement au christianisme et le réinterprétant ;
• l'hermétisme, avec la figure d'Hermès Trismégiste, et dont la filiation se prolonge jusqu'à la Franc-maçonnerie et l'aventure rosicrucienne, en passant par l'alchimie.
La lecture de ces textes, facilitée par un magnifique appareil de lecture, nous révèle l'effervescence théologique des premiers siècles de notre ère et, en contre-coup, nous amène à réfléchir à la fabrique de la croyance. Le choix du pouvoir politique, les hasards et les violences ont installé la "Grande Église" alors que d'autres formules étaient à disposition, qui auraient peut-être produit une histoire occidentale fort différente.
June 29, 2020
Speak concerning the truth to those who seek it and of knowledge to those who, in their error, have committed sin. Make sure-footed those who stumble and stretch forth your hands to the sick. Nourish the hungry and set at ease those who are troubled. Foster men who love. Raise up and awaken those who sleep. - - p. 268
This was an interesting book. It is the Egyptian version of the Bible, probably recorded around the same time. However, the manuscript has so many fragments in it and so many god-like beings in it that sometimes it is hard to follow and/or understand. But here's some of the main points I did understand:
The Sophia is a God/Goddess duality and takes the place of the male God in the Bible.
Angels and human alike need redemption.
We can be like Jesus, whom we have to follow.
Jesus involuntarily suffered for us.
Paradise is within and pre-existed before us, as we existed in the Sophia.
We save ourselves.
The Father has not been born, and because of that, he is a God in truth.
Everything is created from the holy spirit, and other beings that are created from it can ask it to create things - - if it wants to, it will consent to it.
The angels created Adam and Eve, and according to one codex, one seduced Eve, and his sons were Cain and Abel. Angels begot other children through a corrupted piece of spirit.
read it here in PDF for free:
http://khazarzar.skeptik.net/books/nh...
This was an interesting book. It is the Egyptian version of the Bible, probably recorded around the same time. However, the manuscript has so many fragments in it and so many god-like beings in it that sometimes it is hard to follow and/or understand. But here's some of the main points I did understand:
The Sophia is a God/Goddess duality and takes the place of the male God in the Bible.
Angels and human alike need redemption.
We can be like Jesus, whom we have to follow.
Jesus involuntarily suffered for us.
Paradise is within and pre-existed before us, as we existed in the Sophia.
We save ourselves.
The Father has not been born, and because of that, he is a God in truth.
Everything is created from the holy spirit, and other beings that are created from it can ask it to create things - - if it wants to, it will consent to it.
The angels created Adam and Eve, and according to one codex, one seduced Eve, and his sons were Cain and Abel. Angels begot other children through a corrupted piece of spirit.
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