Gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced ...

used a number of

religious text Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

s that are preserved, in part or whole, in ancient

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

s, or lost but mentioned critically in Patristic writings. There is significant scholarly debate around what Gnosticism is, and therefore what qualifies as a "Gnostic text."

Gnostic texts

Gnostic texts preserved before 1945

Prior to the discovery at Nag Hammadi, only the following texts were available to students of Gnosticism. Reconstructions were attempted from the records of the heresiologists, but these were necessarily coloured by the motivation behind the source accounts. * Works preserved by the Church: ** '' Acts of Thomas'' (Especially '' Hymn of the Pearl'' or ''The Hymn of the Robe of Glory'') ** ''The Acts of John'' (Especially '' The Hymn of Jesus'') * The Bruce Codex (purchased in 1769 by

James Bruce James Bruce of Kinnaird (14 December 1730 – 27 April 1794) was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who physically confirmed the source of the Blue Nile. He spent more than a dozen years in North and East Africa and in 1770 became the fir ...

): ** '' Books of Jeu'', also known as ''The Gnosis of the Invisible God'' ** The '' Untitled Text'' * The Askew Codex (

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, bought in 1784): ** '' Pistis Sophia: Books of the Savior'' * The Berlin Codex or The Akhmim Codex (found in

Akhmim Akhmim (, ; Akhmimic , ; Sahidic/Bohairic ) is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. Referred to by the ancient Greeks as Khemmis or Chemmis () and Panopolis (), it is located on the east bank of the Nile, to the northeast of Sohag. ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

; bought in 1896 by Carl Reinhardt): ** ''

Gospel of Mary The Gospel of Mary is an early Christian text discovered in 1896 in a fifth-century papyrus codex written in Sahidic Coptic. This Berlin Codex was purchased in Cairo by German diplomat Carl Reinhardt. Although the work is popularly known as t ...

'' ** '' Apocryphon of John'' ** an

epitome An epitome (; , from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." A ...

of the ''

Acts of Peter The Acts of Peter is one of the earliest of the apocryphal Acts of the Apostles (genre), Acts of the Apostles in Christianity, dating to the late 2nd century AD. The majority of the text has survived only in the Vetus Latina, Latin translation of ...

'' ** '' The Wisdom of Jesus Christ'' * Unknown origin: ** '' The Secret Gospel of Mark'' ** ''The

Hermetica The ''Hermetica'' are texts attributed to the legendary Hellenistic figure Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. These texts may vary widely in content and purpose, but by modern con ...

Complete list of codices found in Nag Hammadi

* Codex I (also known as ''The Jung Codex''): ** '' The Prayer of the Apostle Paul'' ** ''The Apocryphon of James'' (also known as the Secret Book of James) ** ''The Gospel of Truth'' ** ''The Treatise on the Resurrection'' ** ''The Tripartite Tractate'' * Codex II: ** ''The Apocryphon of John'' ** ''The

Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas) is a non-canonical Logia, sayings gospel. It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. Scholars speculate the works ...

'' a sayings gospel ** ''The Gospel of Philip'' ** ''The Hypostasis of the Archons'' ** '' On the Origin of the World'' ** ''The Exegesis on the Soul'' ** ''The Book of Thomas the Contender'' * Codex III: ** ''The Apocryphon of John'' ** ''The Gospel of the Egyptians'' ** '' Eugnostos the Blessed'' ** '' The Sophia of Jesus Christ'' ** ''The Dialogue of the Savior'' * Codex IV: ** ''The Apocryphon of John'' ** ''The Gospel of the Egyptians'' * Codex V: ** '' Eugnostos the Blessed'' ** ''The Apocalypse of Paul'' ** ''The First Apocalypse of James'' ** ''The Second Apocalypse of James'' ** ''The Apocalypse of Adam'' * Codex VI: ** ''The Acts of Peter and the Twelve Apostles'' (includes The Hymn of the Pearl) ** '' The Thunder, Perfect Mind'' ** '' Authoritative Teaching'' ** ''The Concept of Our Great Power'' ** ''

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

'' by

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

– The original is not Gnostic, but the

Nag Hammadi library The Nag Hammadi library (also known as the Chenoboskion Manuscripts and the Gnostic Gospels) is a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. Thirteen leather-bound papyrus c ...

version is heavily modified with then-current Gnostic concepts. ** '' The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth'' – a Hermetic treatise ** '' The Prayer of Thanksgiving'' (with a hand-written note) – a Hermetic prayer ** ''

Asclepius Asclepius (; ''Asklēpiós'' ; ) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Religion in ancient Greece, Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis (lover of Apollo), Coronis, or Arsinoe (Greek myth), Ars ...

21–29'' – another Hermetic treatise * Codex VII: ** ''The Paraphrase of Shem'' ** ''The Second Treatise of the Great Seth'' ** '' Gnostic Apocalypse of Peter'' ** ''The Teachings of Silvanus'' ** ''The Three Steles of Seth'' * Codex VIII: ** '' Zostrianos'' ** ''The Letter of Peter to Philip'' * Codex IX: ** ''

Melchizedek In the Hebrew Bible, Melchizedek was the king of Salem and priest of (often translated as 'most high God'). He is first mentioned in Genesis 14:18–20, where he brings out bread and wine and then blesses Abraham, and El Elyon or "the Lord, Go ...

'' ** ''The Thought of Norea'' ** ''The Testimony of truth'' * Codex X: ** '' Marsanes'' * Codex XI: ** ''The Interpretation of Knowledge'' ** ''A Valentinian Exposition'', ''On the Anointing'', ''On Baptism'' (A and B) and ''On the Eucharist'' (A and B) ** '' Allogenes'' ** '' Hypsiphrone'' * Codex XII ** ''The Sentences of Sextus'' ** ''The Gospel of Truth'' ** ''Fragments'' * Codex XIII: ** '' Trimorphic Protennoia'' ** ''On the Origin of the World'' ** ''Fragments'' The so-called "Codex XIII" is not a codex, but rather the text of ''Trimorphic Protennoia'', written on "eight leaves removed from a thirteenth book in late antiquity and tucked inside the front cover of the sixth." (Robinson, NHLE, p. 10) Only a few lines from the beginning of ''Origin of the World'' are discernible on the bottom of the eighth leaf.

Mandaean texts

Ginza Rabba The Ginza Rabba (), Ginza Rba, or Sidra Rabba (), and formerly the Codex Nasaraeus, is the longest and the most important holy scripture of Mandaeism. The Ginza Rabba is composed of two parts: the Right Ginza (GR) and the Left Ginza (GL). T ...

(''The Great Treasure'', also known as ''The Book of Adam'') (DC 22) *

Qulasta The Qulasta, also spelled Qolastā in older sources (; ), is a compilation of Mandaean prayers. The Mandaic word ''qolastā'' means "collection". The prayerbook is a collection of Mandaic prayers regarding baptisms ('' maṣbuta'') and other sa ...

(''Canonical Prayerbook'') (DC 53) (see also list of Qulasta prayers) ** Sidra d-Nišmata (''Book of Souls'') (first part of the Qulasta) ** (''The Responses'') (part of the Qulasta) * Drašâ d-Jōhânā (''

Mandaean Book of John In Mandaeism, the Book of John () is a Mandaean holy book in Mandaic Aramaic which Mandaeans attribute to their prophet John the Baptist. The book contains accounts of John's life and miracles, as well as a number of polemical conversations w ...

'', also known as ''The Book of Kings'') * Diwan Abathur (''Scroll of Abatur'') (DC 8) * Harran Gawaitha (''Scroll of Great Revelation'') (DC 9, 36) * Diwan Maṣbuta d-Hibil Ziwa ('' The Baptism of Hibil Ziwa'') (DC 35) * Alf trisar šuialia ('' The 1012 Questions'') (DC 36 omplete, with all 7 books DC 6 ncomplete * Šarh d-qabin d-Šišlam Rabbā ('' The Wedding of the Great Šišlam'') (DC 38) * Šarh d-Traṣa d-Taga d-Šišlam Rabbā ('' The Coronation of the Great Šišlam'' – describes a ritual for the ordination of the Mandaean clergy) * Asfar Malwāšē ('' The Book of the Zodiac'') (DC 31) * Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita ('' Scroll of Exalted Kingship'') (DC 34)

Other

* The Hymn of Jesus *

* Coptic Apocalypse of Peter * Dialogue of the Saviour * Odes of Solomon *

Gospel of Judas The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical religious text. Its content consists of conversations between Jesus and his disciples, especially Judas Iscariot. The only copy of it known to exist is a Coptic language text that is part of the Codex ...

* Gospel of the Saviour

Quoted or alluded

These texts are mentioned or partially quoted in the writings of the Church Fathers. * '' Gospel of Basilides'' mentioned by

Origen Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early cent ...

, Jerome, Ambrose, Philip of Side, and Bede. * Basilides' ''Exegetica'' mentioned in Hippolytus of Rome (''Refutatio Omnium Haeresium'' VII, ixv and X, x) and Clement of Alexandria (''Stromata'' IV, xii and IV, xxiv–xxvi) * Epiphanes (gnostic), Epiphanes' ''On Righteousness'', mentioned in Clement of Alexandria (Str. III, ii). * Heracleon, Fragments from his Commentary on the Gospel of John, mentioned in Origen (''Commentary on the Gospel of John'') * Naassene Fragment mentioned in Hippolytus (''Ref.'' 5.7.2–9). * Ophite Diagrams mentioned in Celsus and Origen * Ptolemy (gnostic), Ptolemy's ''Commentary on the Gospel of John Prologue'', mentioned in Irenaeus. * Ptolemy's ''Letter to Flora'', mentioned in Epiphanius of Salamis, Epiphanius.''Hær.'' XXXIII, 3–7. * Theodotus: ''Excerpta Ex Theodoto'' mentioned in Clement of Alexandria.

Manuscripts

* Askew Codex contains Pistis Sophia and some other unknown texts. * Berlin Codex, 5th century, contains a fragmentary

, out of nineteen pages, pages 1–6 and 11–14 are missing entirely, the Apocryphon of John, The Sophia of Jesus Christ, and an

of the Act of Peter. * Bruce Codex contains the first and second Books of Jeu and three fragments – an untitled text, an untitled hymn, and the text "On the Passage of the Soul Through the Archons of the Midst". * Codex Tchacos, 4th century, contains the

, the First Apocalypse of James, the Letter of Peter to Philip, and a fragment of Allogenes. *

contains a large number of texts (for a complete list see Nag Hammadi library#Complete list of codices found in Nag Hammadi, the listing) * Three Oxyrhynchus papyri contain portions of the

: ** Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1, Oxyrhyncus 1: this is half a leaf of papyrus which contains fragments of logion 26 through 33. ** Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 654, Oxyrhyncus 654: this contains fragments of the beginning through logion 7, logion 24 and logion 36 on the flip side of a papyrus containing surveying data. ** Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 655, Oxyrhyncus 655: this contains fragments of logion 36 through logion 39 and is actually 8 fragments named ''a'' through ''h'', whereof ''f'' and ''h'' have since been lost.

Notes

External links

The Gnostic Society Library

– from earlychristianwritings.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gnostic Texts Gnostic apocrypha, * Lost apocrypha Religion-related lists Religious bibliographies