DOCSLIB.ORG

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

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

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.
Recommended publications
  • Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies

    Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies

    Arabic and its Alternatives Christians and Jews in Muslim Societies Editorial Board Phillip Ackerman-Lieberman (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, USA) Bernard Heyberger (EHESS, Paris, France) VOLUME 5 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/cjms Arabic and its Alternatives Religious Minorities and Their Languages in the Emerging Nation States of the Middle East (1920–1950) Edited by Heleen Murre-van den Berg Karène Sanchez Summerer Tijmen C. Baarda LEIDEN | BOSTON Cover illustration: Assyrian School of Mosul, 1920s–1930s; courtesy Dr. Robin Beth Shamuel, Iraq. This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 license, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided no alterations are made and the original author(s) and source are credited. Further information and the complete license text can be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ The terms of the CC license apply only to the original material. The use of material from other sources (indicated by a reference) such as diagrams, illustrations, photos and text samples may require further permission from the respective copyright holder. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Murre-van den Berg, H. L. (Hendrika Lena), 1964– illustrator. | Sanchez-Summerer, Karene, editor. | Baarda, Tijmen C., editor. Title: Arabic and its alternatives : religious minorities and their languages in the emerging nation states of the Middle East (1920–1950) / edited by Heleen Murre-van den Berg, Karène Sanchez, Tijmen C. Baarda. Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020. | Series: Christians and Jews in Muslim societies, 2212–5523 ; vol.
  • Clement's Gnostic Interpretation of the Old Testament

    Clement's Gnostic Interpretation of the Old Testament

    Clement’s Gnostic Interpretation of the Old Testament: Divine Pedagogy as the Basis for Clement of Alexandria’s Biblical Interpretation by Robert Geoffrey Thomas Edwards A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Wycliffe College and the Biblical Department of the Toronto School of Theology. In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Theology awarded by the University of St. Michael’s College. © Copyright by Robert Geoffrey Thomas Edwards 2014 Clement’s Gnostic Interpretation of the Old Testament: Divine Pedagogy as the Basis for Clement of Alexandria’s Biblical Interpretation Robert Geoffrey Thomas Edwards Master of Arts in Theology University of St. Michael’s College 2014 Abstract Clement of Alexandria’s interpretation of the Bible is based on his theological understanding of divine progress. This progress, or divine pedagogy, begins with faith (πίστις) and culminates in knowledge (γνῶσις) – that is, acquaintance with God. Clement refers to the one who has acquired this γνῶσις as the “true Gnostic.” By examining Clement’s interpretation of three Old Testament passages (Psalm 1, Genesis 1:26-27, and the Ten Commandments [Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21]) various facets of his gnostic interpretation become evident: his biblical interpretation is affected depending on the stage of the spiritual journey; the true Gnostic has privilege to interpret over and against the heretics; and Scripture is full of gnostic truths. This thesis contributes to the discussion of early “Alexandrian” biblical interpretation.
  • Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebanon

    Secret Sects of Syria and the Lebanon

    SECRET SECTS OF SYRIA AND THE LEBANON BERNARD H. SPRINGETT SECRET SECTS OF SYRIA AND THE LEBANON SECRET SECTS OF SYRIA AND THE LEBANON • a CONSIDERATION OF THEIR ORIGIN, CREEDS AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, AND THEIR CONNECTION WITH AND IN- FLUENCE UPON MODERN FREEMASONRY By BERNARD H. SPRINGETT, P.M..P.Z. LONDON: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD. RUSKIN HOUSE, 40 MUSEUM STREET, W.C. 1 INTRODUCTION A surprising amount of scorn and ridicule has been the reception accorded by Freemasons, both in Great Britain and in America, to previous attempts to place on record some very plain proofs that we are justified in saying in our Masonic Ritual that " we came from the East and proceeded to the West." The plain fact that much of what we now look upon almost entirely as Freemasonry has been practised as part and parcel of the religions of the Middle East for many thousands of years, lies open for anyone who cares to stop and read, instead of running by. But it is frequently and scornfully rejected by the average Masonic student, and this seems to betoken an unwillingness to credit Masonry with an existence of more than two or three hundred years at most. It is painful to those who, like myself, take a justifiable pride in the antiquity of Masonry, far exceeding that of any other religion in the world known to mankind, to hear it so frequently condemned as completely legendary. In the following pages I have attempted to bring together, from a very large number of sources, reliable evidence as to the prevalence amongst the inhabitants, ancient and modern, of Syria in general and the mountains of the Lebanon in particular, of various ceremonial rites, manners and customs.
  • Charisma, Medieval and Modern

    Charisma, Medieval and Modern

    Charisma, Medieval and Modern Edited by Peter Iver Kaufman and Gary Dickson Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Religions www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Peter Iver Kaufman and Gary Dickson (Eds.) Charisma, Medieval and Modern This book is a reprint of the special issue that appeared in the online open access journal Religions (ISSN 2077-1444) in 2012 (available at: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/charisma_medieval). Guest Editors Peter Iver Kaufman Jepson School, University of Richmond Richmond, VA, USA Gary Dickson School of History, Classics, and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, EH, Scotland, UK Editorial Office MDPI AG Klybeckstrasse 64 Basel, Switzerland Publisher Shu-Kun Lin Production Editor Jeremiah R. Zhang 1. Edition 2014 0'3,%DVHO%HLMLQJ ISBN 978-3-03842-007-1 © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. All articles in this volume are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. However, the dissemination and distribution of copies of this book as a whole is restricted to MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. III Table of Contents List of Contributors ............................................................................................................... V Preface
  • Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies

    Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies

    Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies Editors Johannes van Oort & Einar Thomassen Editorial Board A. D. DeConick—W.-P. Funk—I. Gardner C. W. Hedrick—S. N. C. Lieu—A. Marjanen P. Nagel—L. Painchaud—B. A. Pearson S. G. Richter—J. M. Robinson—M. Scopello W. Sundermann—J. D. Turner—G. Wurst VOLUME 68 Paradise Reconsidered in Gnostic Mythmaking Rethinking Sethianism in Light of the Ophite Evidence By Tuomas Rasimus LEIDEN • BOSTON 2009 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rasimus, Tuomas. Paradise reconsidered in Gnostic mythmaking : rethinking Sethianism in light of the Ophite evidence / by Tuomas Rasimus. p. cm. — (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean studies ; v. 68) Revision of the author’s thesis (doctoral)—University of Helsinki and Université Laval, 2006. Includes bibliographical (p. ) references and indexes. ISBN 978-90-04-17323-1 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Sethians. 2. Ophites. I. Title. II. Series. BT1390.R38 2009 273'.1—dc22 2009029148 ISSN 0929-2470 ISBN 978 90 04 17323 1 Copyright 2009 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
  • Dositheos Notaras, the Patriarch of Jerusalem (1669-1707), Confronts the Challenges of Modernity

    Dositheos Notaras, the Patriarch of Jerusalem (1669-1707), Confronts the Challenges of Modernity

    IN SEARCH OF A CONFESSIONAL IDENTITY: DOSITHEOS NOTARAS, THE PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM (1669-1707), CONFRONTS THE CHALLENGES OF MODERNITY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY Christopher George Rene IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Adviser Theofanis G. Stavrou SEPTEMBER 2020 © Christopher G Rene, September 2020 i Acknowledgements Without the steadfast support of my teachers, family and friends this dissertation would not have been possible, and I am pleased to have the opportunity to express my deep debt of gratitude and thank them all. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, who together guided me through to the completion of this dissertation. My adviser Professor Theofanis G. Stavrou provided a resourceful outlet by helping me navigate through administrative channels and stay on course academically. Moreover, he fostered an inviting space for parrhesia with vigorous dialogue and intellectual tenacity on the ideas of identity, modernity, and the role of Patriarch Dositheos. It was in fact Professor Stavrou who many years ago at a Slavic conference broached the idea of an Orthodox Commonwealth that inspired other academics and myself to pursue the topic. Professor Carla Phillips impressed upon me the significance of daily life among the people of Europe during the early modern period (1450-1800). As Professor Phillips’ teaching assistant for a number of years, I witnessed lectures that animated the historical narrative and inspired students to question their own unique sense of historical continuity and discontinuities. Thank you, Professor Phillips, for such a pedagogical example.
  • Archons (Commanders) [NOTICE: They Are NOT Anlien Parasites], and Then, in a Mirror Image of the Great Emanations of the Pleroma, Hundreds of Lesser Angels

    Archons (Commanders) [NOTICE: They Are NOT Anlien Parasites], and Then, in a Mirror Image of the Great Emanations of the Pleroma, Hundreds of Lesser Angels

    A R C H O N S HIDDEN RULERS THROUGH THE AGES A R C H O N S HIDDEN RULERS THROUGH THE AGES WATCH THIS IMPORTANT VIDEO UFOs, Aliens, and the Question of Contact MUST-SEE THE OCCULT REASON FOR PSYCHOPATHY Organic Portals: Aliens and Psychopaths KNOWLEDGE THROUGH GNOSIS Boris Mouravieff - GNOSIS IN THE BEGINNING ...1 The Gnostic core belief was a strong dualism: that the world of matter was deadening and inferior to a remote nonphysical home, to which an interior divine spark in most humans aspired to return after death. This led them to an absorption with the Jewish creation myths in Genesis, which they obsessively reinterpreted to formulate allegorical explanations of how humans ended up trapped in the world of matter. The basic Gnostic story, which varied in details from teacher to teacher, was this: In the beginning there was an unknowable, immaterial, and invisible God, sometimes called the Father of All and sometimes by other names. “He” was neither male nor female, and was composed of an implicitly finite amount of a living nonphysical substance. Surrounding this God was a great empty region called the Pleroma (the fullness). Beyond the Pleroma lay empty space. The God acted to fill the Pleroma through a series of emanations, a squeezing off of small portions of his/its nonphysical energetic divine material. In most accounts there are thirty emanations in fifteen complementary pairs, each getting slightly less of the divine material and therefore being slightly weaker. The emanations are called Aeons (eternities) and are mostly named personifications in Greek of abstract ideas.
  • GNOSIS and NAG HAMMADI Anne Mcguire

    GNOSIS and NAG HAMMADI Anne Mcguire

    12 GNOSIS AND NAG HAMMADI Anne McGuire Introduction Introductory remarks on “gnosis” and “Gnosticism” “Gnosticism” is a modern European term that !rst appears in the seventeenth-century writings of Cambridge Platonist Henry More (1614–87). For More, “Gnosticism” designates one of the earliest Christian heresies, connected to controversies addressed in Revelation 2:18–29 and in his own day.1 The term “gnosis,” on the other hand, is one of several ancient Greek nouns for “knowledge,” speci!cally experiential or esoteric knowledge based on direct experience, which can be distinguished from mere perception, understanding, or skill. For Plato and other ancient thinkers, “gnosis” refers to that knowledge which enables perception of the underlying structures of reality, Being itself, or the divine.2 Such gnosis was valued highly in many early Christian communities,3 yet the claims of some early Christians to possess gnosis came under suspicion and critique in the post-Pauline letter of 1 Timothy, which urges its readers to “avoid the profane chatter and contradictions of falsely so-called gnosis.”4 With this began the polemical contrast between “false gnosis” and “true faith.” It is this polemical sense of “false gnosis” that Bishop Irenaeus of Lyons took up in the title of his major anti-heretical work: Refutation and Overthrow of Falsely So-Called Gnosis, or Against Heresies, written c. "# 180.5 Irenaeus used 1 Timothy’s phrase not only to designate his opponents’ gnosis as false, but, even more important, to construct a broad category of
  • Nag Hammadi Codex II in Its Fourth

    Nag Hammadi Codex II in Its Fourth

    2 CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . 5 ABSTRACT . 8 DECLARATION AND COPYRIGHT STATEMENT . 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 10 1. INTRODUCTION . 11 The Nag Hammadi Codices after ‘Gnosticism’. 11 Order and Themes: Alternative Scripture? . 15 Pachomian Ownership? Arguments from Codicology . 21 Ideological Affinity? . 29 Introducing the Pachomian Sources . 29 Pachomian Ideology and Practice . 35 2. THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN AS A THEMATIC PROLOGUE . 45 The Significance and Prominence of the Apocryphon of John . 45 The Narrative . 48 Sexual Complexity: Asceticism and Anti-Feminism? . 62 Carnal Union and Spiritual Unity . 64 Feminine Wiles: The Placement of Sexual Desire in Codex II . 67 Sex: Despicable or Distorted? . 72 Knowledge Revealed and Preserved . 77 The Struggle of the Soul . 79 3 3. ETHICS AND PRACTICE: ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE BODY, THE WORLD, AND OTHERS IN THE GOSPELS OF THOMAS AND PHILIP . 83 Defining ‘Asceticism’ . 83 The Gospel of Thomas . 86 Origins of the Text and the ‘Ascetic’ Argument . 86 The Counter Debate . 89 A More Nuanced Position? . 92 The Gospel of Philip . 108 Metaphorical Marriage? The Bridal Chamber . 108 ‘Appropriate’ Sexuality . 114 Social Responsibility and Attitudes towards Other Christians . 127 4. THE DEMISE OF COSMIC THREAT AND REWARD FOR THE DEVOTED: THE HYPOSTASIS OF THE ARCHONS AND ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WORLD . 135 The Consequences of Earthly Actions . 135 The Hypostasis of the Archons . 138 Making a Mockery of Malice . 145 Sexuality: The Roles of Eve and Norea . 156 Reinterpreting the ‘Chosen Generation’ . 161 On the Origin of the World . 164 Eschatology Cosmic and Individual . 164 5. UNDERSTANDING AND LIBERATING THE SOUL: THE EXEGESIS ON THE SOUL AND THE BOOK OF THOMAS THE CONTENDER .
  • Christianity As the Pleroma

    Christianity As the Pleroma

    CHRISTIANITY AS THE PLEROMA. BY THE EDITOR. [continued.] GNOSTICISM AND THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION. WE call Christianity the grandchild of paganism because there is an intermediate link between Christianity and the ancient polytheistic paganism of Graeco-Roman mythology. Ancient pagan- ism represents a stage in the religious development of mankind which has become typical for all religions characterized by being limited to well-defined boundaries. These boundaries were very narrow in the beginning. There were state religions in Athens, in Sparta, in Ephesus, in Syracuse, in Rome, in the several cities of Egypt, in Tyre and Sidon, in the great centers of population in Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia etc., and the mass of people in each district came little in contact with their neighbors. But as trade and commerce expanded, people of different cities became acquainted with each other and with their several religious views. The different legends were retold in foreign countries and persisted there, so far as it was possible, side by side with the native religion. We know that much confusion originated in this way ; e. g., the genealogies of the gods were different in different cities, and so were the mar- riage relations between gods and goddesses. Thus in Greece when the different local traditions were combined and systematized, the conflicting traditions were adjusted as well as could be done in the haphazard way in which the religious development took place. It is in this shape that Greek mythology has been preserved in the well-known poem of Hesiod, and students of classic lore are some- times puzzled by the many contradictions.
  • A Defense of Basilides the False

    A Defense of Basilides the False

    A Defense of Basilides the False In about 1905, I knew that the omniscient pages (A to All) of the firstvolume of Montaner and Simon's Hispano-American Encyclopedic Dictionary con­ tained a small and alarming drawing of a sort of king, with the profiled head of a rooster, a virile torso with open arms brandishing a shield and a whip, and the rest merely a coiled tail, which served as a throne. In about 1916, I read an obscure passage in Quevedo: "There was the accursed Basilides the heresiarch. There was Nicholas of Antioch, Carpocrates and Cerinthus and the infamous Ebion. Later came Va lentin us, he who believed sea and silence to be the beginning of everything." In about 1923, in Geneva, I came across some heresiological book in German, and I realized that the fateful drawing represented a certain miscellaneous god that was horribly worshiped by the very same Basilides. I also learned what desperate and admirable men the Gnostics were, and I began to study their passionate speculations. Later I was able to investigate the scholarly books of Mead (in the German version: Fragmente eines verschollenen Glaubens, 1902) and Wo lfgang Schultz (Dokumente der Gnosis, 1910), and the articles by Wilhelm Bousset in the Encyclopedia Britannica. To day I would like to summarize and illustrate one of their cosmogonies: precisely that of Basilides the here­ siarch. I follow entirely the account given by Irenaeus. I realize that many doubt its accuracy, but I suspect that this disorganized revision of musty dreams may in itself be a dream that never inhabited any dreamer.
  • Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism and New Testament Interpretation

    Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism and New Testament Interpretation

    Grace Theological Journal 8.2 (1987) 195-212 Copyright © 1987 by Grace Theological Seminary. Cited with permission. NAG HAMMADI, GNOSTICISM AND NEW TESTAMENT INTERPRETATION WILLIAM W. COMBS The Gnostic heresy alluded to in the NT and widely repudiated by Christian writers in the second century and after has been in- creasingly studied in the last forty years. The discovery in upper Egypt of an extensive collection of Gnostic writings on papyri trans- formed a poorly known movement in early Christianity into a well documented heresy of diverse beliefs and practices. The relationship of Gnosticism and the NT is an issue that has not been resolved by the new documents. Attempts to explain the theology of the NT as dependent on Gnostic teachings rest on ques- tionable hypotheses. The Gnostic redeemer-myth cannot be docu- mented before the second century: Thus, though the Gnostic writings provide helpful insight into the heresies growing out of Christianity, it cannot be assumed that the NT grew out of Gnostic teachings. * * * INTRODUCTION STUDENTS of the NT have generally been interested in the subject of Gnosticism because of its consistent appearance in discussions of the "Colossian heresy" and the interpretation of John's first epistle. It is felt that Gnosticism supplies the background against which these and other issues should be understood. However, some who use the terms "Gnostic" and "Gnosticism" lack a clear understanding of the movement itself. In fact, our knowledge of Gnosticism has suffered considerably from a lack of primary sources. Now, however, with the discovery of the Nag Hammadi (hereafter, NH) codices, this void is being filled.