Book
The Gnostic discoveries : the impact of the Nag Hammadi library / Marvin Meyer.
Record details
- ISBN: 0060821086
- ISBN: 9780060821081
- Physical Description: vi, 239 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: [San Francisco] : HarperSanFrancisco, c2005.
Content descriptions
| Bibliography, etc. Note: | Includes bibliographical references (p. 211-239). |
| Formatted Contents Note: | Fertilizer, blood vengeance, and codices : the discovery of the Nag Hammadi Library -- Coptic texts from the sands of Egypt : the Nag Hammadi Library and the Berlin Gnostic Codex -- "They will not taste death" : the wisdom of the living Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas and the Thomas texts -- The wisdom of insight : the fall and restoration of Sophia in the Secret Book of John and Sethian texts -- Valentinus the Christian mystic : salvation through knowledge in the Gospel of Truth and Valentinian texts -- Hermes, Derdekeas, Thunder, and Mary : revealers of wisdom in other Nag Hammadi texts. |
| Summary, etc.: | In 1945 an Egyptian peasant discovered a jar filled with ancient manuscripts. Painstakingly restored and translated, these fragments came to be known as the Nag Hammadi library. Included are gospels of Jesus's life that never made it into the modern Christian Bible as well as a treasury of lost, esoteric wisdom that portrays a side of Christianity suppressed by the institutionalized church. Through them we glimpse an alternative perspective on Jesus and his earliest followers, including the influence of Gnosticism on their beliefs. "Gnosticism" designates a series of ancient religious movements which permeated Judaism, Greco-Roman religion, and what now appear to be different varieties of Christianity. Some of these alternative views, including Jesus's relationship to Mary Magdalene, have revolutionized biblical scholarship. Meyer provides an overview of all the texts and their contents and discussing their meaning and significance for us today.--From publisher description. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Nag Hammadi codices. Gnosticism. Heresy. |
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