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Gnosticism, Seeking to Demonstrate the Over-Lapping Nature of the Literary and Religious Distinctions of the Early Centuries of the Common Era

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Gnosticism, Seeking to Demonstrate the Over-Lapping Nature of the Literary and Religious Distinctions of the Early Centuries of the Common Era u Ottawa l.'Univcrsile cnnnrticwic Caiiacln's university FACULTE DES ETUDES SUPERIEURES nm FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND ET POSTOCTORALES U Ottawa POSDOCTORAL STUDIES L'Universittf eanadierme Canada's university Elizabeth A. Partem TuTEW6rilTHlWrAuTHOR"6rfHEsTs" ..Lh^JMigA9Ui.^Mdies) GRADE/DEGREE Department of Religious Studies lAaJLTETSTOLlTD^^^^ Apocalyptic and Sethian Trajectories and Melchizedek Speculations in Late Antique Egypt The Melchizedek Apocalypse from Nag Hammadi (NHC IX, 1) as a Test Case TITRE DE LA THESE / TITLE OF THESIS Pierluigi Piovanelli EXAMINATEURS (EXAMINATRICES) DE LA THESE / THESIS EXAMINERS Michel Desjardins Jitse Dijkstra Theodore De Bruyn Kimberly Stratton Gary W. Slater Le Doyen de la Faculte des etudes superieures et postdoctorales / Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies ELIZABETH A. PARTON APOCALYPTIC AND SETHIAN TRAJECTORIES AND MELCHIZEDEK SPECULATIONS IN LATE ANTIQUE EGYPT THE MELCHIZEDEK APOCALYPSE FROM NAG HAMMADI (NHCIX, 1) AS A TEST CASE Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Post-doctoral Studies, University of Ottawa, in partial fulfillment for the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA OTTAWA, CANADA 2008 © Elizabeth A. Parton, Ottawa, Canada, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-50749-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-50749-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the great number of people that have contributed to this dissertation. I extend my thanks to the members of my committee, Dr. Theodore de Bruyn, Dr. Jitse Dijkstra, Dr. Kimberly Stratton and Dr. Michel Desjardins, for their extensive participation and considered readings of my thesis. Dr. Reinhard Pummer, Dr. Georges Tissot and Dr. Carl Kazmierski provided my earliest guidance on this road, and still offer inspiration and support when the going gets tough. My thesis supervisor, Dr. Pierluigi Piovanelli, has been a constant source of guidance, practical advice and personal encouragement throughout this process. Through my work with him as a student and research assistant, and his support of teaching opportunities, he has been invaluable in helping me to develop my academic and lecturing skills. Dr. Piovanelli has been an invaluable mentor, and I cannot thank him enough for all his hard work in bringing this project to fruition. Additionally, I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a great deal of love and support from family and friends. They have provided an incredible amount of comfort, commiseration and clarity through this often-trying process, and the paper could not have been finished without them. I would especially like to express my gratitude to Paulette, for her endless optimism and "above-and-beyond-the-caU" editorial help, and to Wendy, who has been through it herself and so knows the ups and downs and was able to talk me through mine. I have a wonderful extended network of friends and family in both Ottawa and Toronto, and all of them have contributed in one way or another, whether through a well-timed phone call or a much needed night out. My family has been unbelievably supportive, in this, as in all aspects of my life. My sisters Doris and Patti provided opportunities for fun and relaxation, not to mention a great place to stay when I needed a break. My parents, Richard and Betty Parton, have always offered full support to all of my endeavors and aspirations, and I would not have accomplished this without their guidance and love. They promoted a love of learning and instilled a strong sense of responsibility and determination that has served me well in this process, as it has in life. Likewise, my "other parents," Peter and Peggy Martin, have been unfailing in their generosity and encouragement. Finally, I thank Garth Martin, without whom none of this would have been remotely possible. He has kept me grounded and provided constant emotional support, particularly in this last, extremely difficult year. His love and sense of humour have sustained and nurtured me, and this has been as much his project as mine. The Melchizedek Apocalypse from Nag Hammadi (NHC IX.1): Apocalyptic Trajectories and Melchizedek Speculations in Late Antique Egypt Summary The Melchizedek Apocalypse is a Coptic text, written in the late second or early third century CE, by a Sethian gnostic author, and discovered near Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Only one extant copy of the document has survived, preserved in the translation of the original Greek, in Codex IX of the Nag Hammadi collection. Melchizedek has significant codicological issues, with only 19 of the approximately 745 lines of the original document completely extant, and even with a great deal of effort and scholarly conjecture, only about 47% of the text is at all recoverable. Perhaps because of the state of the manuscript itself, the Melchizedek Apocalypse has been examined by only a few scholars, those tasked with the production of the critical editions, translations and commentaries on the text, Birger A. Pearson (English), Hans-Martin Schenke (German), Wolf-Peter Funk, Jean-Pierre Mahe" (French), and Claudio Gianotto (French and Italian), in particular. The text presents Melchizedek, the king of Salem and priest of God Most High first seen in Genesis (14.18-20), as an apocalyptic and gnostic hero, assuming the authority of the character in order to present an understanding of the cosmos, reflective of both literary styles and their visions of this world and the next. The text is demonstrative of apocalyptic and gnostic conventions, as well as of the literary traditions surrounding Melchizedek speculation, and socio-historical elements having to do with its Egyptian milieu. In the present work I examine each of these designations on the way to establishing the literary and historical contexts of the text. Following the trajectory theory suggested by James M. Robinson and Helmut Koester, through the examination of the Melchizedek Apocalypse and its literary and historical contexts I will place it within the various trajectories of Judaism, early Christianity and Sethian gnosticism, seeking to demonstrate the over-lapping nature of the literary and religious distinctions of the early centuries of the Common Era. In order to do so, I address the difficult issue of "gnosticism" as a viable categorization, beginning with the arguments of Michael A. Williams, Karen L. King and Carl B. Smith. As Melchizedek can be seen as a clear example of the diversity of forms within the religious traditions of Egypt in late antiquity, it acts as an ideal test case. i TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary i Table of Contents ii 0. Introduction 1 Parti 1.1. Gnosticism: An Issue of Definition and Category 10 1.1.1. Introduction 10 1.1.2. Michael A. Williams' Rethinking "Gnosticism": An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category 12 1.1.3. Karen L. King's What is Gnosticism? 23 1.1.4. Carl B. Smith's No Longer Jews: The Search for Gnostic Origins 35 1.1.4. Conclusion 50 1.2. Sethians and Gnostics 55 1.2.1. Introduction 55 1.2.2. The Great Seth 55 1.2.3. The Epithets of Seth and Seth as Revealer and Saviour 59 1.2.4. Defining Sethian Gnosticism: Jewish? Christian? 60 1.2.5. Sethian Soteriology 67 1.2.6. The Sethian Literature: Direct and Indirect Sethian Texts 70 1.2.6.1. Direct Texts 71 The Apocalypse of Adam 71 The Apocryphon of John 72 The Gospel of the Egyptians 73 The Hypostasis of the Archons 74 The Three Steles of Seth 75 Zostrianos 76 1.2.6.2. Indirect Texts 77 Marsanes 77 The Melchizedek Apocalypse 78 The Thought of Nor ea 78 Allogenes 79 The Trimorphic Protennoia 80 Untitled Apocalypse .....80 The Gospel of Judas 81 1.2.7. Conclusion 82 1.3. The Egyptian Context 84 1.3.1. Introduction 84 1.3.2. Finds in the Desert: Nag Hammadi 84 1.3.3. The Egyptian Diaspora 89 1.3.4. Alexandria 95 1.3.5. Egyptian Christianity 97 1.3.5.1.Clement of Alexandria 105 1.3.5.2.0rigen 107 1.3.6.
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